The Rise of Social Media: Implications for Disease Management, Patient Centered Medical Homes, Health Insurers and Accountable Care Organizations

The ever perspicacious and self-promoting Disease Management Care Blog has penned an editorial appearing in the latest just-released issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Population Health Management. Blog reading DMCB readers may appreciate the topic: the emerging nexus between social media (like Facebook, blogging and Twitter) and care management.

Calculating that social media aficionados may find printed paper unsatisfying, the DMCB is pleased to offer this 160 character (why 160, you ask?) tweet-like summary:

Social media promises 2B important addition to voice/print-based outreach 4 pop.-based outreach. Key concepts: pt. loyalty, synergy, privacy

Tweeters can stop here and return to more important pursuits, say, seeing what's new with Fergie. The rest of you can read on.....

Here's a more complete yet compact summary about social media's implications for the disease/care management industry. The DMCB suggests it also applies to patient centered medical homes, accountable care organizations and health insurers:

The various forms of social media (SM) have already begun to disruptively intrude into how consumers interact with health care. Many of your current and future patient-client-customers prefer to use SM because of its convenience and personalization. While little is known about its impact on patient self-care behaviors, early studies indicate the potential is significant. Therefore, you cannot afford to ignore it. As you embark in SM, keep in mind that a) the ultimate return on investment will be a function patient loyalty (though it will help with recruitment stats), b) SM communication is additive/synergistic - not substitutive, c) its participatory nature means the role of credentialed trained experts will change, d) short n' frequent will replace detailed and quarterly, e) the area is ripe for research and f) the downsides include unclear HIPAA rules and dysfunctional as well as predatory user behaviors.