Whenever I talk to doctors??about using social media in medicine, they seem to think there are more cons than pros regarding this issue. I like reminding them about some major differences between 2000 and today:
| What would I do if… | In 2000 | Today |
| I need clinical answer | Try to find a collegue who knows it | Post a question on Twitter |
| I want to hear patient story about a specific condition | Try to find a patient in my town | Read blogs, watch YouTube |
| I want to be up-to-date | Go to the library once a week | Use RSS and follow hundreds of journals |
| I want to work on a manuscript with my team | We gather around the table | Use Google Docs without geographical limits |
Here’s what WebMD looked like in 2000 and what it looks like now:??
WebMD in 2000??
WebMD today??
The same for the website of the British Medical Journal:??
BMJ in 2000??
BMJ today??
CNN:??
CNN in 2002??
CNN today??
Sermo, the physician network:??
Sermo in 2006??
Sermo today??
Healthline:??
Healthline in 2000??
Healthline today??
Mayo Clinic:??
Mayo Clinic in 2000??
Mayo Clinic today??
There’s a long road behind us, and just imagine how these services will look like in 10 years time. Which means there’s an even longer road ahead of us. We must keep working hard to design better healthcare and to implement more efficient communication channels in medicine.
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