The Official Omedix Blog

My job is basically to help doctors and medical practice use the Internet effectively.  I help them attract patients with their website, use patient education on their website to make their lives easier, etc.

In a lot of my meetings lately, it keeps coming up that it would be really cool if the doctor were interested in blogging on their website.  Here’s how it would work:

Either the doctor writes quick blogs posts written for patients.  They’d have information on what’s timely for their patients, new ideas in preventive care, new relevations in the literature, etc.  Or the doctor writes a sort of “online grand rounds” where he reviews interesting cases online with the goal of educating referring physicians.

The thing is, patients would absolutely LOVE this.  I kmow I’d certainly love it.  It’d be awesome to go to my doctor’s website, read his latest blog entry on say, eating healthy, or the importance of low sodium, and then to see him/her a few weeks later and be able to discuss what he had written about.  How cool would that be?

It would also serve an important role in helping me choose a doctor. I think the same goes for referring physicians.  Suppose you’re a PCP and you go online to read Dr. X’s cardiology blog where he talks about a common misconception PCPs often have when requesting cardiology consults.  Wouldn’t it be helpful for the PCP to read that?  Wouldn’t it make him that much more likely to refer to that doctor?

I don’t have the data (or raw anecdote) to back it up, but I’m convinced a doctor’s blog would make a big difference.

The thing is, almost every doctor I talk to seems, well, not to be so into it.  I met with a group of wonderful, passionate, very well-trained hematologist-oncologists today and they were really passionate about providing great care, but the idea of writing a blog entry represented “yet another thing at the end of the day” and it seemed like one too many.

I can undertand that position, but I think in 5 years (if not sooner) most doctors will be expected to blog, and there may even be specialized “medical blogging” software designed to make the process more efficient.  Patients will then go to a doc’s website not just to find the office location, read the patient education, or check out the doc’s profile.  The patient will go to read the doc’s thoughts on the best way to treat atrial fibrillation.

Docs are already talking a LOT at places like Sermo.  When will they start reaching out online to patients?

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.