Ready for Consumer Empowerment?
Back in the days when I was the Vice President of a publishing company, we started publishing email addresses of writers. People found this a very convenient way to write letters to the editors and writers and it was widely used. Many great e-conversations were had. But, there was also a very small group of people that wrote nasty, inflammatory emails to us. They wrote in ways they'd never converse with you face to face. It's very easy to be ridiculous when you are anonymous.
Consider that, in 2008, there are thousands of "rate my" sites out on the web, a ton of bloggers and the ability to post a comment on just about anything.
It's now coming to health care. Angie's List, Health 2.0, Rate my Doctor, etc… Anyone can post a comment about a provider or practice. 99% will be good and constructive. 1% will drive you crazy. They will be the ridiculous, anonymous ones that will write in manner that would not be expressed in a verbal conversation.
Someone having to wait an extra 5 minutes in a waiting room can tell the world about it. They don't care that you just had to deal with chest pain as a presenting condition for the patient before them, this person had to wait an extra 5 minutes and they're mad! I don't believe this wave will be stopped and I'm surprised it hadn't started sooner.
So, what can you do? Get ahead of the wave and go on the offense. Embrace the internet. Give people an outlet to communicate with you before flaming you on the web. Post your own statistics on your care delivery. Get people to post good and honest things about you .
Don't compromise your care delivery, but be cognizant of what's happening. You won't stop 'em all, but a little more interaction will go a very long way. And, you may find that the glowing reviews you will receive on the internet will be of great value.
Dave Morin
CEO
Cielo MedSolutions
Labels: healthcare consumer, patient care, personal health records, PHR
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