Online Social Media Transforming Health Care, Report Finds

from Philanthropy News Digest, April 24, 2008

Social media on the Internet is empowering, engaging, and educating healthcare consumers and providers as part of a new movement called “Health 2.0,” a new report from the California HealthCare Foundation finds.

The report, The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media (28 pages, PDF), found that consumers are increasingly using social media — including social networks, blogs, wikis, and videos — for emotional support as well as to manage health conditions, challenging the notion that health care happens only between a patient and a doctor in an exam room.

According to the report, health-related social networks are proliferating rapidly, while new services are under development to help consumers move efficiently through networks without having to be a member of groups that pertain to their illness or interest. Web sites such as DiabetesMine, a blog started by a journalist with adult-onset Type 1 diabetes; the social health network and online forum PatientsLikeMe; and numerous Facebook groups, Flickr photosets, and YouTube pages are all part of the movement devoted to health-related media.

While the regulatory environment for Health 2.0 is still in its infancy, the study found that people in search of health information and support are often willing to trade off aspects of their privacy in exchange for services, as long as the process is transparent. Moreover, social media proponents who address safety concerns note that collective wisdom is, by its nature, self-correcting, and that misinformation is usually quickly removed from such sites.

According to the report, the growing demand for transparency and openness will drive the evolution of social media in health. “Consumer-generated content in health has found a receptive audience in Web 2.0,” said report author Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. “Patient opinion leaders have emerged in many disease areas. They will become a key influence on other consumers and, increasingly, the organizations who serve them.”

“Social Media’s Transformational Impact on Health Care.” California HealthCare Foundation Press Release 4/22/08.

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