Today, was a busy day at the office. Lots of comings and goings. My Blogging Doc was in today and it is his custom to walk patients out and bid them good day or give them some parting bit of advice or reassurance.

It was interesting hear the conversations between patient and doctor as they passed my door. One conversation consisted of a patient asking for clarification of what she could/should do to improve certain symptoms. The Blogging Doc quickly, but politely asked the patient to drop by his blog. He had a whole article there that would explain two or three things she could do. It was then the LIGHTBULB went off!

Just yesterday I was reading the travails of NHS Doc who constantly is having to weigh the patient’s needs for education and requirements jam packed schedule. The post mostly focuses on how media coverage of healthcare “advances” and direct to consumer marketing are impacting his practice– but that is a discussion for another day.

Then thinking back to my previous post on the obstacles that keep healthcare blogs from being more popular and a post I read at Future HIT about the resistance IT people see when trying to implement new technologies for clinicans… all of a sudden, it hit me!

Surgeons will invest time in learning how to implant a new device or a new procedure that will produce better outcomes. Nurses will learn to use a new piece of equipment, electronic medical records or use a computerized medication dispensing system if it is clear that it will help the patient or make their job easier. Granted… I realize this is not a new idea.

When we are talking about blogs, busy, stressed and overworked clinicians want a clear articulation of how blogs can help them before investing time into it.

Well here it is… medical blogs can be an efficient way of conveying a clinicians thoughts and instructions designed to help patients take a more active role in their health. I think they could be especially helpful in:

  • giving mutli-step instructions for improving health behaviors
  • providing motivation for patients to take up healthier lifestyle habits
  • describing patients who have inspired him or her with how they handled healthcare issue (all HIPAA compliant, of course)
  • providing a summary of what to expect after a procedure or course of treatment
  • providing a list of community resources that patients can use

    • The list could go on and on….

    In the new healthcare industry, with shorter visits with the doctor and difficulty getting appointments, I truly believe that medical blogs might be worth the investment of time.

    I think the greatest promise for medical blogs is the idea that they could actually enhance the provider-patient relationship. Educational efforts play a big role in this aspect of the art of medicine.

    Dare I dream… but in the ideal world, a good medical blog could make a patient feel like he or she has had their 10-12 minute appointment extended to include some genuine collaboration between clinician and patient to improving one’s health.

    Everybody chime in here…. I enjoy the debate and conversation.

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