Dr. Vartabedian has an online blog that offers some great advice for fellow physicians and doctors who may be dabbling in social media, especially in a blog post from last month called: Doctor-Patient Dialog on Social Media: A Bad Idea?. Here, Vartrabedian stresses that engaging in specific conversations about a patient’s medical health using social media tools, like a blog, is inappropriate and carries risks let alone exposes both parties to privacy violations. And yet, he also still makes it a point to stress how important it is for physicians to connect with their online E-patients.

So what is a doctor to do? How can doctors find the right balance when using social media tools, blogs, and their website to connect with patients? The healthcare industry is heavily regulated, but there are opportunities for a successful medical social media campaign.

We believe that physicians should begin by developing a strong online presence via their website or blog. Developed with their end user in mind, a physician’s website should be a place where patients can establish a connection with the medical practice as a whole. The online site should anticipate what patients will need from it, and should become an extension of a doctors staff. The content on the site should be personable and engaging and kept up to date on a regular basis. From here, the internet can become a very powerful referral tool and at GWT we’re here to help any doctor tap into that resource and connect—appropriately-- with their E-patients.

Photo Credit James Jordan