Facebook, Twitter & CCP’s

The Online Perfusion Community

Becoming a Community implies More than having the initials “CCP” in common…

I encourage anyone that is interested- to consider Facebook as a personal option for staying in touch as a community.  It’s intriguing- the possibilities seemingly limited only by our imagination.

It’s not like some heavy duty commitment or anything like that.  It just means having a FB page of your own and being linked to posts from one centralized location (CircuitSurfers Facebook) that the prefusion community can gravitate to.

In the event of a crisis, recall, shortage or whatever comes down the pike that wasn’t scheduled on your Iphone or Blackberry- well that would be a good place to start and sort things out, and as well- it would be a great place to chat with some of you guys 🙂

The Way I look at it…

You know…  We (perfusionists) thrive on the edge.  The edge of technology, the farthest jump and the greatest save.  That’s what we do.  Always linked to unexpected developments and unforeseeable outcomes.  That is certainly what we live for, train for, and again… what we do.

Well technology certainly isn’t slowing down for us, but have we slowed down in our acceptance of paradigm shifts regarding information access and exchange?

Well our students haven’t balked, as is evidenced by their own social network and Facebook presence.  I visited for the first time the other day and was very impressed– indeed envious that we didn’t have that sort of network when I was going through my training (not quite the Pleistocene era yet ladies and gentleman- but close…)

Social Media

“Social Media is a powerful and phenomenal platform to educate patients.  Social Media can help raise awareness of health issues and it offers a forum to collaborate and connect.

Social Media gives a voice to patients and it allows for the conversation to get started with their doctors and other health care professionals.

Health information is communicated in real-time and in a transparent style. Health Care is about the patient, the most important member of the health care team.  Patients want accurate, trustworthy and transparent health information.  Social media allows doctors and other health professionals to engage and share information.

Social Media is all about connection, collaboration, community, respect and patient engagement and empowerment.

Twitter offers an opportunity for doctors to provide instant feedback, faster than they can even from blogging.  This can range from providing updates on surgery, which Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital has done, to giving opinions on the latest, breaking studies.  Twitter can provide more transparency to what goes on in the physician’s world, and allow both patients and other doctors to interact with one another in a quick, convenient way.”

-Kevin Pho, MD  ( https://healthin30.com/2011/03/social-media-medical-social-networking-part-2/ )

HOW ARE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE PATIENT CARE?

“Some medical professionals are using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and Blogs to connect with patients to share trusted and accurate health information and to empower patients to be proactive in their health.  Others use it to simply collaborate with colleagues by exchanging journal articles and some medical professionals use it to “brand” their practice or highlight their latest book.

Big companies have a message to share and health care professionals can tap into what these fortune 500 companies are doing and learn from them.  Medical professionals have a message to share as well—whether it’s sharing a blog post, communicating late breaking health news or simply sharing health information that can help improve lives or raise awareness; social media taps into the lightning fast world of real-time information.”

( https://healthin30.com/2011/03/social-media-medical-social-networking-part-2/ )

Bottom line

It’s important for us, as healthcare professionals, to understand that Google, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, health news and information sites and online patient community sites will never replace academics, classrooms, self study,  or libraries. It’s simply a tool that offers additional information, and it allows the conversation to get started between specialized health providers.

Medical Icons on FB

Here are a few examples of online resources found on Facebook.

Center for Disease Control

Food & Drug Administration

National Library of Medicine

National Institute of Health