New/Digital Media + Health = ?

When I think of healthcare, I traditionally think of barriers. Barriers to access or afford healthcare. Geographic, socioeconomic, and educational barriers. There are also communication barriers to overcome, from general public health education to basic health literacy where people are able to read and understand written directions from their health care providers. And, there is a barrier between healthcare organizations and patients and consumers who want to use new and “social” media tools to communicate in different ways with their healthcare providers.

Healthcare is surprisingly progressive in terms of using new, digital and social media tools to communicate with their public. However, due to the nature of the “emerging” medium, there are no standards or best practices. There has been no place to share or really learn about successes and effective communication in healthcare. Thus, it was essential to develop a community or central focal point to bring together professionals from a wide range of healthcare organizations and perspectives to discuss, build, and evolved best practices in health communications. Participants from hospitals, physician practices, government agencies, universities, PR/marketing/advertising firms, non-profits, student groups, and more should be able to collaborate through candid questions and answers from both leaders and those in the trenches working to improve healthcare communications. Thanks to #hcsm, they can!

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#hcsm, or healthcare communications & social media, is a hashtag conversation that started in January 2009 that has evolved into a large community on Twitter. Using the 140-character messages to enable the conversation, anyone with an interest in health communications can engage in an informative discussion about a wide variety of topics.

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The discussion is moderated via @HealthSocMed, with a moderator who leads the discussion each week. The moderator provides topics, selected from community suggestions, to cover each week. The topics are not limited to social media, and include all aspects of communications, but based on the audience participation and the nature of the communication channel, often trend to include some aspect of social media with most discussions. Anyone with a Twitter account and an interest is able to participate in the conversation.

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However, it is not required to have a Twitter account to watch or “lurk” in the conversation, with the help of search.twitter.com and the new search abilities on the home page of Twitter.com, so the conversation for the most part has few barriers to participation. There is no fee or credentials required to participate. Participants are asked to respect one another, to stay on topic while using the hashtag during the specific appointed hour, and not to “spam” or sell products or services to the community. Although Sunday nights are the main conversation, you can check out #hcsm any time during the day or night to find interesting conversations and links to #hcsm-related information.

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One of the benefits of this medium being “new” and “emerging” is that it is flexible and open-sourced. Meaning, we have the power and opportunity to influence the way we will use it for years to come. This is why I believe #hcsm is important; it gives #hcsm participants & contributors the opportunity to make waves & share their innovative insights with everyone.

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Public health probably has the most to benefit from emerging digital media trends and technologies – because we, the public, can help guide and develop it to fit our needs. We also have the opportunity to use these tools to reach people who previously have had no access. In the hands of public health professionals, the power and reach of social media may be limitless. We can set the agenda for change, and we can make an immediate difference.