Hey Doc, We Live in the Future

We live in the future. And you know it's true. This past weekend I was watching some reruns of shows from my childhood. I saw the Jetsons. I saw Star Trek. And that's when it occurred to me, we live in the future.

I watched as Mr. Spacely called George Jetson on his television. Well that's what we thought it was at the time. Little did we know that there would be Skype, Google Hangouts and FaceTime that would allow us to talk to someone face-to-face miles away or just around the corner. We can now see and converse with others without leaving our homes. Without leaving our offices. At the convenience of the caller and at the convenience of the one we called.

I saw Star Trek. And I'm sure it's occurred to you before now, that the “communicator” in the hand of Mr. Spock or Captain Kirk was actually a lot like a smartphone. Spock’s ability to turn that handheld device into something that would read the environment or Dr. McCoy’s ability to use it or something like it to scan a body was beyond belief. Now we have apps that power our iPhones and Android devices to do similarly futuristic things.

Look, it's easy to get bogged down in the rules and regulations of an industry. They're there to protect us all. Comply. But what if we allow our imaginations to lead for a minute as relates to the part of doctoring that really matters to us most, patient engagement.

We'd find ways to connect with those who can't get from their homes and to our offices.

What if we find ways to empower patients to tend to themselves, to know more about the environment that they're in and how it affects their health?

We'd have smarter patients and better health outcomes.

Okay enough of the hyperbole it's time to get real. We live in the future. But we practice too much in the past.

So here's what a savvy doctors going to do this year: tap into that Jetsons television thing and enable patients or colleagues to communicate via Skype or Apple’s FaceTime to explore what needs to be explored. 

My twitter-friend Dr. Howard Luks (@HJLuks on Twitter) says that he finds this approach to telemedicine useful in consulting with his patients and would invite conversation, by FaceTime no doubt, with doctors who might be trying to find their way toward the future.

Speaking of exploration, savvy doctors will learn how to use mobile devices and apps that run on them to help patients communicate with their doctor and to help the patient and doctor know more about the environment that they are in and how such circumstances affect their well-being.

Last March I met Dr. Daniel Kraft, MD (@daniel_kraft on Twitter) at SXSWi (South by Southwest Innovation conference). He was there to speak on health care innovation powered by smartphones. It was cool. And it would have seemed like “future talk” were it not for the number of people in the room already using one or more of the diet, exercise, sleep monitoring, cardio, diabetes and anxiety management apps he spoke of there.

Look, George Jetson would get out on the now ever so commonplace treadmill to exercise his dog. Maybe this is the year to exercise your medical practice. Maybe this is the time to rethink patient engagement so that we can get off this crazy thing called the status quo and into the future. Some of us are already there.

Hey Doc, Your Year to Connect

This year you’ll have 1000s of additional codes to choose from when you’re commenting on a patient file. You’ll have the challenge of meeting somewhat subjective patient performance expectations to maximize insurance reimbursements. And you’ll have more checkboxes to click in the EHR on your way to proving meaningful use. Sounds awful.

So, how will you make this a great year? You’ll connect.

Oh, not to technology though it’ll be there to facilitate the connections. But to people in ways that have proven challenging for some but profitable for others. And by ways, I mean social media, smartphone apps, and iPads. Still it’s not about the ways, it’s about the connection. It’s about the patient.

So, I thought you might enjoy three ideas that could help you achieve your purpose – the best health for your patients – and frankly help you suffer the codes, surveys and systems. Choose any one of them and you’ll be back to medicine.

First, use Social Media.

By now you’re aware that the tools we call social media have permeated our culture. They’ve raised expectations for openness. And they created expectations of connectedness. Here, however, are three specific platforms and ways to improve connections.

Facebook – yeah, the growth of teens has slowed but they’re not your patient. Make Facebook a place to share information that is helpful to others but not about others. Do this one thing, find a trusted content source and wrap your brand around it.

Pinterest – women are the primary decision makers when it comes to healthcare. Start a Pinterest account and make three boards. One should be the role of diet on those who have health issues related to your specialty. The second, a board the features exercise tips that benefit your patient community. And the third board, inspiration. Offer encouraging quotes, images of famous survivors or champions, and images that rest the soul.

Instagram – yeah, you’re right it’s for pictures. It’s the fastest growing and most popular app among the next generation of decision makers. Know how to take a picture of anything from equipment, to your staff, to things that give others a glimpse into what you find relevant.

Second, find an app. Don’t make one. Find one.

Sure you could make one but that’s really not necessary. There are hundreds of health apps that can make a difference in the wellbeing of your patient and might even prove helpful to you. We’ve written about them in Memphis Medical News. Click here to learn more in less than 700 words.

Third, tell a story.

iPads and fancy e-readers are the top of a lot of Christmas lists this year.  And you can put them to work for your practice. This idea is especially useful if your patients have chronic illness (i.e. diabetes), potentially life threatening diseases (i.e. cancer) or are expecting children (i.e. obstetrics, gynecology or pediatrics). It starts by imagining that you’re sitting with a patient to tell them what you do, what they might expect through the time you spend together, who your referring specialties are, what technologies you’ll use, resources that others find helpful and are willing to do so in a manner that deepens relationship instead of sending them around the web finding these things on their own.

Hey Doc, 

Don’t do these things because everyone else is doing them.

Do them because it will help improve the connection between you and your patient community. It will improve the nature of the dialogue that occurs when you’re with a patient or trying to explain an issue to the patient’s family.

Do it because it creates a deeper connection between you and the patient. A connection that new codes and checkbox-rich EHR systems don’t understand but that you know will lead to better health outcomes.

Do it because you’re a care giver; a healer. You’re all about the patient.

Do it because in this age of systems and policy changes, the one thing that can always change for the better is your relationship with those who count on you; the patient.

Yep, this year you’ll be asked (heck required) to do a lot of things. So, why not do at least one thing you like? 

Hey Doc, I Hope You'll Try This

The most important part of your social media presence is not what your hospital or practice has to say, but what your patients have to say – especially to one another. Peer-to-peer interaction is the heart of social media. Likewise, it’s an important variable in the health care.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, more that 7 out of 10 Internet users living with a chronic illness have gone online to find other people with similar health issues. As a trusted source for health care information, you can use social media to reinforce that role by creating a channel for their connectivity. Your effort provides value and supports patients during their journey to wellness.

Unfortunately, too much of what happens in a health care brand’s social media strategy is marketing and public relations centric. “We’re sponsoring a 5K.” “We have the best doctors.” And so on.

What if instead of posting content that merely announces information, you published open-ended content that creates engagement and starts conversation?

Treating your social media as a sort of water cooler for conversations allows you to move in and out of it as teacher and learner. It enables conversations wherein your patients and their friends as fans and followers learn from one another.

Did I just make this up? Nope. “These (social media) tools help us reach so many more people; we can bring shared interactions into our practice and that is powerful. This isn’t in addition to your job. This is part of your job.  This is a conversation, and that is what we are trained to do. We can engage learners, patients and peers,” Farris Timimi, M.D., medical director for the Mayo Clinic Center.

And, social media allows patients to have the conversation that you’re often reluctant to have – the one that says, “it’s going to be alright”.

It starts with “I’m newly diagnosed” or “My loved one is going through a difficult treatment” and all they’re really looking for is somebody who’s been there and can tell them what to expect.

Patients and their friends are hoping to find answers, information, advice and perhaps empathy. They are hoping to find someone who truly “gets it” or who shares their experience and has made it through. They’re even hoping for an opportunity to share hope with another.

You’re not a cynic. You’ve just been conditioned to focus on the serious business of medicine. But that sometimes gets in the way of the hope and promise of medicine - which is what most patients see as medicine’s role.

This notion of hope and connectivity was recently affirmed by a little social experiment. My teammates built a wall, placed it on a street corner in Memphis for one day and invited people to leave a thought related to health. We called it the “I wish you well” wall. There were over 1000 post-it-notes left on the wall and dozens taken by those who happened by.

We learned that patients, family members, friends and passers-by generally want the best for others. They’re notes were hopeful, often funny, sometimes poignant and full of promise. The notes were personal yet widely applicable.

We know that patients want to connect with you, but they also want to connect with one another. You don’t have time to build a wall for post-it-notes. So, use your social media presence to make it happen.

Post a subject header like “What’s the most meaningful thing a friend has done for you during your treatment?”

Your efforts will lead to connections, enable shared experiences and fuel a little hope for better health outcomes.

Come on. Try it. I wish you well. 

Hey Doc, It's Written on the Wall

On the wall leading to the poetry room at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, there is a corkboard covered with hundreds of colorful post-it notes. Each note includes a personal response to the question, “What book scared you the most as a kid?” The post-it note, although anonymous, gives the community a look into the hearts and minds of its customers, their friends and themselves.

Each note is part of a conversation. One that is carried on between those who stop to read the responses. One that takes place between the employee who posted the questions and those who gather them.  Heck, even one between those who decide which books to stock! And these are the kinds of conversations that you could be having with your patients if you only had your own wall.

But you do. Today's cork board is social media.

There are several platforms. And there are lots of opportunities to ask good questions, gather responses and better understand those who rely on you to reach their health care objectives.

Okay, so the responses aren’t anonymous. But they are voluntary. The right question doesn’t ask someone to give away personal health information but could give them an opportunity to share information on the periphery that might help you develop a strategy for meeting their needs.

It’s this simple. You’re a cardiologist. The post on your practice’s Facebook page asks this, “What’s your favorite cardio exercise?” Or, maybe it’s broader like, “Who inspires you to get off the couch and take a walk?”

By asking, “What’s your favorite?” you’re learning what most find doable and can share that with others. They’ll even share ideas with one another. And you may even find some new exercises that your particular audience is comfortable performing.

By asking, “Who inspires you?” you’re learning about motivations. Is it family? Is it sports heroes? Is it that hot new contestant on “Dancing with the Stars”? And with this information you’re learning more about what moves your patient to, well, move. It’s better than a lecture like, “Exercise now or die soon.” Oops. I’m sorry for the dramatic lecture title. I get a little excited about the topic of connecting you with your patient.

Dr. Bubba Edwards is a pediatrician in Memphis, Tennessee. On a wall at his office are the handprints of kids who have successfully (and heroically) received all of their shots. It’s just a handprint and a first name. But it’s a great encouragement for the anxious child being walked to the exam room in nervous anticipation of his school shots. And well, it’s just plain fun.

Okay, maybe your patients are too grown up for that. But they’re not too grown up to have fears of their own. They are not so grown up that we can’t encourage them to pursue the treatments that can improve and perhaps even save their life.

So you don’t have a wall for the handprints of your grown up patients? Sure you do. It’s called Instagram. The free picture and, dare I say, inspiration sharing smartphone app has nearly one billion users. Each user is posting pictures of everything from what they’re eating to where they’re spending the day with friends. Imagine your challenge, or encouragement, to a patient is that he posts pictures of his meals as a sort of accountability to eat well. There’s no mention of a condition that demands it. It’s merely a celebration of “I can do this.” Heck, with the plug-ins for your website that sort or encouragement can be shared with everyone who interacts with you there. It’s sort of like a handprint on Dr. Bubba’s wall.

And so, maybe there are things beyond prescriptions that can improve the quality of life for your patients. Maybe there are things beyond office visits that can help us stay connected. And maybe, just maybe, we can have some fun doing it.

By the way, what book scares you now? 

Update: My company is sponsoring a city-wide "wish you well" wall. Click here for info.