How to Avoid Social [Media] Anxiety

Pediatricians can optimize their communication and outreach to parents, other physicians, and their community through appropriate use of social media, but they have to know the boundaries.

"If you are a child advocate like me, you can use social media to help get good information out for parents to use as a bridge to you," Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe said in an interview. "I use social media to get people to my website so they can see useful information, for example, on how kids should spend time online or use cell phones."

"The benefit for other pediatricians who may be following me is they can then take my articles, post them, and spread them around," said Dr. O’Keeffe, a pediatrician in Wayland, Mass., and CEO of Pediatrics Now (www.pediatricsnow.com).

"As a health expert, you are immediately respected online, but you want to be respected for providing the right information."

Know your boundaries and what you are willing to say and not to say, whether you are communicating through a closed health system patient portal or via open social media like Facebook or Twitter, Dr. O’Keeffe said. "Be thoughtful and use these platforms wisely."

Think before you post, said Dr. Bryan S. Vartabedian, a pediatrician and frequent Twitter user. "Always keep in mind your digital footprint. That’s the permanent record of everything you’ve said or recorded on the Web. Whatever you say can usually be found, so think before you hit ‘publish.’" Dr. Vartabedian is on the pediatrics faculty in the division of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Most patients – and in pediatrics this includes parents – like using some form of social media or online connection to their physician or physician’s office, Dr. O’Keeffe said. They might find your practice more user friendly if they can make an appointment, request a prescription refill, or get test results online.

"There seems to be a limit to what people want to connect to their doctor for," Dr. O’Keeffe said. "There is a feeling that that sort of ‘connectedness’ is not appropriate for bad test results, for example, or discussing a diagnosis."

"Public platforms are good for the sharing of general information, such as educational material, news, or links," Dr. Vartabedian said.

How receptive a patient or parent might be to communicating online really depends on the scope of the intended interaction, one study has shown.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea to have physicians communicating directly with patients [or parents] ... when it comes to general social media like Twitter and Facebook," Dr. O’Keeffe said. An inability to protect patient privacy is one major reason.

Appropriate use of a Facebook page could include providing information on your practice, such as office hours, or educational material, she said. Also, you can use Facebook to promote a community event or health campaign as long as your official role, if any, is appropriately disclosed. "If it’s Immunization Awareness Week, you can use your Facebook page to post information, and you can be part of national events that way."

"As a health expert, you are immediately respected online, but you want to be respected for providing the right information," she said.

Most physicians understand the benefits of Facebook, but "they either get Twitter or they don’t," said Dr. O’Keeffe, who goes by @DrGwenn on Twitter.

Dr. Vartabedian explained it this way: Twitter allows a doctor to tailor a digital signal such that he or she receives information from a select group of individuals. "To me this is the biggest advantage or benefit of Twitter," he said.

The big caveat is that things can sometimes be misunderstood in the context of 140 characters, said Dr. Vartabedian, who is @Doctor_V on Twitter. Also, "we have to pay strict attention to the idea that doctor-doctor and doctor-patient dialogue should never involve the discussion of patient-specific information," he said.

"I advise pediatricians just starting out online to be concerned about who they are connecting with and not about the numbers," Dr. O’Keeffe said. It should be about the quality of connections, not a competition for numbers, she added.

"Whatever you say can usually be found, so think before you hit 'publish.'"

You also can use social media like Twitter to connect with physician colleagues. "I have found Twitter to be invaluable at some of the major medical meetings I’ve attended," Dr. Vartabedian said. "It is allowing the emergence of a ‘back channel’ dialogue which offers invaluable input." In other words, attendees fill each other in via Twitter on the relevance of a particular study or provide additional context beyond what a presenter is saying at the podium.

Electronic medical record systems can foster consultations between physicians also, Dr. O’Keeffe said. One physician can e-mail or message another within the same system privately and forward a copy of a patient’s chart. "It’s not social media per se, but it’s social. It’s a closed loop through the electronic medical record system and a good way to get an opinion from a colleague on a specific patient." She added: "It can be very helpful when you’re just not sure." As an added benefit, the consultation becomes part of the permanent medical record.

No matter which platform or site you choose for online communication, it is important not to misrepresent yourself. "Because of the anonymity of all of these platforms, it can be easy to overstate your position or come on too strong," she said. "I’ve seen some people banter more on social media than when you see them in person – or the opposite can happen, and they are very outspoken in person and very meek online."

Dr. O’Keeffe and Dr. Vartabedian said they had no relevant financial disclosures.

Pediatricians can optimize their communication and outreach to parents, other physicians, and their community through appropriate use of social media, but they have to know the boundaries.

"If you are a child advocate like me, you can use social media to help get good information out for parents to use as a bridge to you," Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe said in an interview. "I use social media to get people to my website so they can see useful information, for example, on how kids should spend time online or use cell phones."

"The benefit for other pediatricians who may be following me is they can then take my articles, post them, and spread them around," said Dr. O’Keeffe, a pediatrician in Wayland, Mass., and CEO of Pediatrics Now (www.pediatricsnow.com).

"As a health expert, you are immediately respected online, but you want to be respected for providing the right information."

Know your boundaries and what you are willing to say and not to say, whether you are communicating through a closed health system patient portal or via open social media like Facebook or Twitter, Dr. O’Keeffe said. "Be thoughtful and use these platforms wisely."

Think before you post, said Dr. Bryan S. Vartabedian, a pediatrician and frequent Twitter user. "Always keep in mind your digital footprint. That’s the permanent record of everything you’ve said or recorded on the Web. Whatever you say can usually be found, so think before you hit ‘publish.’" Dr. Vartabedian is on the pediatrics faculty in the division of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Most patients – and in pediatrics this includes parents – like using some form of social media or online connection to their physician or physician’s office, Dr. O’Keeffe said. They might find your practice more user friendly if they can make an appointment, request a prescription refill, or get test results online.

"There seems to be a limit to what people want to connect to their doctor for," Dr. O’Keeffe said. "There is a feeling that that sort of ‘connectedness’ is not appropriate for bad test results, for example, or discussing a diagnosis."

"Public platforms are good for the sharing of general information, such as educational material, news, or links," Dr. Vartabedian said.

How receptive a patient or parent might be to communicating online really depends on the scope of the intended interaction, one study has shown.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea to have physicians communicating directly with patients [or parents] ... when it comes to general social media like Twitter and Facebook," Dr. O’Keeffe said. An inability to protect patient privacy is one major reason.

Appropriate use of a Facebook page could include providing information on your practice, such as office hours, or educational material, she said. Also, you can use Facebook to promote a community event or health campaign as long as your official role, if any, is appropriately disclosed. "If it’s Immunization Awareness Week, you can use your Facebook page to post information, and you can be part of national events that way."

"As a health expert, you are immediately respected online, but you want to be respected for providing the right information," she said.

Most physicians understand the benefits of Facebook, but "they either get Twitter or they don’t," said Dr. O’Keeffe, who goes by @DrGwenn on Twitter.

Dr. Vartabedian explained it this way: Twitter allows a doctor to tailor a digital signal such that he or she receives information from a select group of individuals. "To me this is the biggest advantage or benefit of Twitter," he said.

The big caveat is that things can sometimes be misunderstood in the context of 140 characters, said Dr. Vartabedian, who is @Doctor_V on Twitter. Also, "we have to pay strict attention to the idea that doctor-doctor and doctor-patient dialogue should never involve the discussion of patient-specific information," he said.

"I advise pediatricians just starting out online to be concerned about who they are connecting with and not about the numbers," Dr. O’Keeffe said. It should be about the quality of connections, not a competition for numbers, she added.

"Whatever you say can usually be found, so think before you hit 'publish.'"

You also can use social media like Twitter to connect with physician colleagues. "I have found Twitter to be invaluable at some of the major medical meetings I’ve attended," Dr. Vartabedian said. "It is allowing the emergence of a ‘back channel’ dialogue which offers invaluable input." In other words, attendees fill each other in via Twitter on the relevance of a particular study or provide additional context beyond what a presenter is saying at the podium.

Electronic medical record systems can foster consultations between physicians also, Dr. O’Keeffe said. One physician can e-mail or message another within the same system privately and forward a copy of a patient’s chart. "It’s not social media per se, but it’s social. It’s a closed loop through the electronic medical record system and a good way to get an opinion from a colleague on a specific patient." She added: "It can be very helpful when you’re just not sure." As an added benefit, the consultation becomes part of the permanent medical record.

No matter which platform or site you choose for online communication, it is important not to misrepresent yourself. "Because of the anonymity of all of these platforms, it can be easy to overstate your position or come on too strong," she said. "I’ve seen some people banter more on social media than when you see them in person – or the opposite can happen, and they are very outspoken in person and very meek online."

Dr. O’Keeffe and Dr. Vartabedian said they had no relevant financial disclosures.

Pediatricians can optimize their communication and outreach to parents, other physicians, and their community through appropriate use of social media, but they have to know the boundaries.

"If you are a child advocate like me, you can use social media to help get good information out for parents to use as a bridge to you," Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe said in an interview. "I use social media to get people to my website so they can see useful information, for example, on how kids should spend time online or use cell phones."

"The benefit for other pediatricians who may be following me is they can then take my articles, post them, and spread them around," said Dr. O’Keeffe, a pediatrician in Wayland, Mass., and CEO of Pediatrics Now (www.pediatricsnow.com).

"As a health expert, you are immediately respected online, but you want to be respected for providing the right information."

Know your boundaries and what you are willing to say and not to say, whether you are communicating through a closed health system patient portal or via open social media like Facebook or Twitter, Dr. O’Keeffe said. "Be thoughtful and use these platforms wisely."

Think before you post, said Dr. Bryan S. Vartabedian, a pediatrician and frequent Twitter user. "Always keep in mind your digital footprint. That’s the permanent record of everything you’ve said or recorded on the Web. Whatever you say can usually be found, so think before you hit ‘publish.’" Dr. Vartabedian is on the pediatrics faculty in the division of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Most patients – and in pediatrics this includes parents – like using some form of social media or online connection to their physician or physician’s office, Dr. O’Keeffe said. They might find your practice more user friendly if they can make an appointment, request a prescription refill, or get test results online.

"There seems to be a limit to what people want to connect to their doctor for," Dr. O’Keeffe said. "There is a feeling that that sort of ‘connectedness’ is not appropriate for bad test results, for example, or discussing a diagnosis."

"Public platforms are good for the sharing of general information, such as educational material, news, or links," Dr. Vartabedian said.

How receptive a patient or parent might be to communicating online really depends on the scope of the intended interaction, one study has shown.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea to have physicians communicating directly with patients [or parents] ... when it comes to general social media like Twitter and Facebook," Dr. O’Keeffe said. An inability to protect patient privacy is one major reason.

Appropriate use of a Facebook page could include providing information on your practice, such as office hours, or educational material, she said. Also, you can use Facebook to promote a community event or health campaign as long as your official role, if any, is appropriately disclosed. "If it’s Immunization Awareness Week, you can use your Facebook page to post information, and you can be part of national events that way."

"As a health expert, you are immediately respected online, but you want to be respected for providing the right information," she said.

Most physicians understand the benefits of Facebook, but "they either get Twitter or they don’t," said Dr. O’Keeffe, who goes by @DrGwenn on Twitter.

Dr. Vartabedian explained it this way: Twitter allows a doctor to tailor a digital signal such that he or she receives information from a select group of individuals. "To me this is the biggest advantage or benefit of Twitter," he said.

The big caveat is that things can sometimes be misunderstood in the context of 140 characters, said Dr. Vartabedian, who is @Doctor_V on Twitter. Also, "we have to pay strict attention to the idea that doctor-doctor and doctor-patient dialogue should never involve the discussion of patient-specific information," he said.

"I advise pediatricians just starting out online to be concerned about who they are connecting with and not about the numbers," Dr. O’Keeffe said. It should be about the quality of connections, not a competition for numbers, she added.

"Whatever you say can usually be found, so think before you hit 'publish.'"

You also can use social media like Twitter to connect with physician colleagues. "I have found Twitter to be invaluable at some of the major medical meetings I’ve attended," Dr. Vartabedian said. "It is allowing the emergence of a ‘back channel’ dialogue which offers invaluable input." In other words, attendees fill each other in via Twitter on the relevance of a particular study or provide additional context beyond what a presenter is saying at the podium.

Electronic medical record systems can foster consultations between physicians also, Dr. O’Keeffe said. One physician can e-mail or message another within the same system privately and forward a copy of a patient’s chart. "It’s not social media per se, but it’s social. It’s a closed loop through the electronic medical record system and a good way to get an opinion from a colleague on a specific patient." She added: "It can be very helpful when you’re just not sure." As an added benefit, the consultation becomes part of the permanent medical record.

No matter which platform or site you choose for online communication, it is important not to misrepresent yourself. "Because of the anonymity of all of these platforms, it can be easy to overstate your position or come on too strong," she said. "I’ve seen some people banter more on social media than when you see them in person – or the opposite can happen, and they are very outspoken in person and very meek online."

Dr. O’Keeffe and Dr. Vartabedian said they had no relevant financial disclosures.