Social media has become an integral tool and part of many healthcare organizations both in marketing and communications aspects. For example, in the United States, an estimated 90 percent of healthcare facilities have a Facebook page (Norton & Strauss, 2013). Social media is no longer an option. To engage with the patients, social media has facilitated the connection. The evolution in the use of social media has, in turn, led to the invention and adoption of e-doctor whereby patients access their doctors from the comfort of their house. The social media coupled with the internet has in turn been am inevitable evolution in access and delivery of healthcare services. The use of social media has subsequently led to the adoption of telehealth or telemedicine (Wernhart et al, 2019). This paper analyzes a selected article on social media adoption in the healthcare sector, its impact on the sector, and measures that would be an idea to ensure the provision of safe care and protect your patients’ private information.
The adoption of social media, internet, and related technologies has led to the invention and use of telehealth also regarded as telemedicine. Authored and published in 2019, the article, ‘ eHealth and telemedicine: Practices and beliefs among healthcare professionals and medical students at a medical university’ by Wernhart, Gahbauer, and Haluza addresses the impact of digitalization which is being evident in the modern era in almost every aspect of human life including the healthcare delivery (Wernhart et al, 2019). The article provided an assessment of how the current and future healthcare players/professionals perceived social media and related technology in health, and whether their perception varied. While some professionals advocated for the use of technologies due to increased and improved patient-doctor relationships, others raised concerns over the security of the data provided and privacy issues (Wernhart et al, 2019). Despite the increased and widespread utilization of telemedicine, the major concerns have been data privacy, security, responsibility issues as well as information reliability. According to Wernhart et al (2019), the findings in the article would be ideal in raising awareness in terms of the need to bridge the gap that existed between digital age groups and professional groups especially in healthcare delivery.
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The use of telemedicine has greatly revolutionized the healthcare sector not only in terms of service delivery but also, the relationship between doctors and patients, data storage, home-based care, etc. the increased use of telemedicine has had both positive and negatives impacts in the healthcare sector. The use of this tool has led to increased accessibility of the services by the people (Jones et al, 2014). This has, in turn, led to reduced cost of healthcare services and improved patient outcomes. With 2/3 American snow using mobile phones, the use of telemedicine software has increased access to health care services. This subsequently proved a lesser costly method of getting healthcare services. In terms of advantage to the doctors and other professionals’ caregivers, telemedicine has helped them in building their customer base. For example, instead of a doctor referring his/her patient to another expert or professional, it has been a norm for the doctor to provide a connection to another expert via the internet hence the customer getting all-inclusive services from one center.
Despite the positive impact of telemedicine to both the patients, healthcare professionals, and the organizations, the use of this tool has had downsides. One of the major issues to pull down the use of telemedicine is rescued security and lack of privacy between the caregiver and the patient. With constant access to information from one party to another through unregulated internet and web platforms, there has been a concern on how much secure is people's details from third and unwanted parties (Zilber, Monken & Quevedo-Silva, 2019). Additionally, there has been reduced physical examination of the patients a reality that has reduced the quality of care given. Finally, the use of telemedicine has been confined to a specific population such as ones living in towns or developed areas. Those in marginalized areas may find it difficult accessing social media powered healthcare services. The notion that the telemedicine is reliant on human power for effectiveness, any glitch would mean devastating and unwanted results ().
Due to increased concern for patient safety in the care given as well as the need to protect patients’ private information, different measures can be implemented. One is through advocacy for caregiver and family engagement (Zilber et al, 2019). This ensures the private information remains within the concerned few, over being spread all over the social media platforms. Additionally, this ensures the best care services are given. Additionally, the patient should be left to give consent for their private information to be sent over to another person. For example, if a facility or doctor feels the need for a third person in giving, it should be left to the discretion of the patient to give the consent in information being shared. Other measures include; creation of safe patient experience, provision of a safe hospital environment as well as giving patients access to clinicians' notes.
In conclusion, technological advancement experienced today has had varying impacts on different sectors impacting human life. Social medial internet, telemedicine, and subsequent technologies have revolutionized the delivery of healthcare services. Some of the merits entail access to healthcare services at any given time and location, increased customer satisfaction and ability to build a strong patient base by the caregivers. For the case of facilities/hospitals, it has been easy in making a follow-up on patients. However, disadvantages such as lack of patient information privacy, reduced physical examination, and possibility of technology glitch have threated the quality and delivery of healthcare services.
References
Jones, D. S., Moses, R. E., & Moses Chaitt, M. (2014). Social Media and Device Use in Health Care, Part Two: Realizing the Inevitability Thesis. Journal of Health Care Compliance , 16 (6), 15–22.
Norton, A., & Strauss, L. J. (2013). Social Media and Health Care - The Pros and the Cons. Journal of Health Care Compliance , 15 (1), 49–51.
Wernhart, A., Gahbauer, S., & Haluza, D. (2019). eHealth and telemedicine: Practices and beliefs among healthcare professionals and medical students at a medical university. PLoS ONE , 14 (2), 1–13.
Zilber, S., Monken, S., & Quevedo-Silva, F. (2019). Adoption of Social Media by Small- and Medium-Sized Healthcare Enterprises. Brazilian Business Review (Portuguese Edition) , 16 (5), 453–469.
