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Doctors – Take Our Professional Contentment [“Happiness”] Survey

By Ann Miller RN MHA

[Executive-Director]

www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com

Today, when patients communicate through instant messaging, Twitter, Facebook, and other Web 2.0 electronic mediums, they might feel that health providers are already more like the virtual “Doctor” than the all-too-human “Bones.”

The Contemporary Practice Milieu

Before long, according to one technology expert, 20% – 50% of all doctor-patient communication will be virtual. But we suggest you pause before rocketing ahead into this brave new future that advocates call Health 2.0—the application of social media tools to the health care environment.

Electronic technology in all of its forms has obviously had a profound impact on medicine. We focus here on just one of its most notable effects: the changing doctor-patient relationship. We believe Health 2.0 has the potential to deepen this relationship—or not. It depends on how you use it.

Our Guidance

There are an almost overwhelming number of social media tools for managing the doctor-patient relationship. How do you choose the right ones? We offer some guidance in this essay by focusing on three issues:

• What matters most in the doctor-patient relationship?
• What counts as a good relationship?
• How should you use social media tools to build a relationship?

We have found that there is no one best way to use Health 2.0 technology. But, there is just one rule. As the novelist E.M. Forster said, “Only connect.”

The Survey

And so, we ask you to opine:

• Has your doctor-patient relationship changed in recent years with the rise of the Internet search engines like “Dr. Google and Dr. Oogle” [for dentists] and the push to empower patients to take a greater role in their own care via HD-HCPs, private or direct payment models, etc?
• Are patients more demanding of your time and attention than in the past? Do they understand the economic pressures that affect your practice? Do they care, or should they even care?
• How do you handle noncompliant or uncooperative patients? What strategies work best or least? Is this issue underappreciated by the people pushing to base a greater portion of reimbursement on quality measures and outcomes?
• How much time each week do you spend on paperwork, phone calls to payers, insurance companies, and other administrative tasks? How much has this increased in the last few years? Have you reached your breaking point, yet?

Assessment

Please give us your thoughts and opinions in the text box below.

Conclusion

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Silverman, Jennifer. “Impact of Virtual Visits on Doctor-Patient Relationship Unclear: an end to ‘true medicine’?” Ob.Gyn. News 38.21 (2003): 29.

Filed under: Ethics, Information Technology, Surveys and Voting | Tagged: bedside manner, collaborative medical care, doctor-patient relationships, health 2.0, physician relations | 4 Comments »