The doctors’ thoughts on social media are probably correct

Posted by Paul Roemer on January 18, 2010

Some more thoughts on the post on KevinMD’s site stemming from Dr. Gwenn’s blog.

Justifiable on-line road rage.  I run a consulting firm.  You know what?  I hate it—running the firm, that is.  The consulting is great fun.  I am guessing that being a physician is a lot like that.  Very few of you became doctors to run a business, let alone one that is front and center on the evening news, Twitter, and every other blog on the planet.  Add to that a government who is changing the business model without any thought to how it impacts your business.  They want a nationalized healthcare system whereby each patient can be accessed by any doctor—that has nothing to do with your effort to treat actual people.

Interesting discussion, and the comments are spot on, especially the, “Where’s the beef” comments.  It is silly to expect that overlaying a few technologies makes things better.  This reminds me a little of Dorothy running around in ruby slippers, and the magic answer was clicking her heels three times.  Unless K-mart had a big sale on ruby slippers, there is no quick win technology for doctors lining the shelves of Office Max.

To rub salt in the wound, the government is forcing more technology on physicians, namely EHR.  If the technology was as great as the prognosticators write, doctors would be scrambling to be first in line.  Has that happened?  Of course not.  Instead, the government is taking a Tony Soprano approach, offering rebates for doctors who take a course they don’t want to take, alternatively, burying bodies off the New Jersey Turnpike.

So, some tactical thoughts starting with EHR.  Don’t do anything yet.  You have at least a year.  Yeah, you won’t get the ARRA money—that’s according to what’s written.  Guess what?  Nobody else will get it either.  The ONC will have to change either the timing of Meaningful Use, or the rules, or both.  I think they will push it back.  Twelve to eighteen months from now, someone will offer a robust, shrink-wrapped solution that makes sense.  If you’re interested, here’s a link to an audio interview I did for doctors about an EHR strategy—it’s just ideas, I’m not pushing anything.  Go to EMRFIX.com and search for the link.

Other practical thoughts.  There are a few hundred thousand doctors, none of whose Hippocratic Oath said anything about healthcare 2.0, or offered any training on how to get there, or whether you should even try to get there.  Most of my physician friends set up their business model on a whim and a prayer, like all entrepreneurs do—like I did.  There are probably as many business models for doctors as there are doctors.  The good news is that some have done better figuring out the business side of healthcare than others.  It’s not an ego thing.  It’s not about being intellectually gifted and not being smart enough to figure out something as simple as running a business.  Why?  Smart has nothing to do with it.  There are things to be learned from the efforts of others, and there are ways that some of the technologies can help.

Those things?  Blocking and tackling.  Business processes.  Social media.  Eliminate the rework.  Eliminate whatever tasks that don’t add value to your business.  Are there activities you can outsource?  Payroll?  Can you have someone design a website that will answer questions for your patients so they don’t have to call you?  Can you collaborate with other doctors?

Just some ideas.  You are justified in your angst.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Social Media, an example
• Help! I’ve OD’d on Ibuprofen: Medicine and Social Media
• Doctors have a duty to engage in social media
• Experiments in Social Media

This entry was posted on January 18, 2010 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Rants & Musings, healthcare 2.0, social media. Tagged: healthcare, social media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.