- Top 10 Patient Groups Online – Last year for the first time, the Internet surpassed doctors as the top source of health information for adults in the U.S., according to Manhattan Research, a New York-based healthcare market research firm. More than 60% of adults go online to learn about diseases and treatments, visiting everything from healthcare websites and blogs to online patient communities. People with certain conditions are most likely to consult the Internet. Last month, Manhattan Research released its Digital DTC Relevance Rankings with the top 10 condition groups going online for information.
- Can a surge in physicians’ use of smartphones ripple to health IT adoption? … American Medical News – The availability of mobile technology could be the deciding factor for physicians looking for IT solutions that make them more efficient.
- “Is Social Media Right For Your Healthcare Brand”
Archive for the ‘physicians’ Category
May 18th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg 2 Comments »
CME: New Online Performance Improvement Programs for Physicians
As the technology partner of the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP), DLC Solutions is please to announce the launch of two innovative, online Performance Improvement Programs on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). These easy-to use, interactive professional development programs are designed to educate physicians on incorporating quality improvement (QI) initiatives into their practice, which can impact patient care and outcomes.
Throughout each module, physicians will be able to identify areas of practice strength and opportunities for improvement through the collection and comparison of patient and practice data. Physicians will be able to develop a QI plan, implement interventions, and complete a post-assessment process to determine if improvement was achieved.
Each self-paced module is accredited for 20 hours of American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Performance Improvement credit.
To participate in one of the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians’ Online Performance Improvement Programs, please visit: http://www.njafp.org/education/onlinecme.asp
May 21st, 2008 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off
Physicians, eCME, and Web 2.0
Physicians are often unfairly labeled as “slow-adapters” when it comes to using the Web for continuing medical education and professional networking. While we all would like to see the medical profession more engaged in e-health, I believe that much of that sentiment is a relic of the dot.com years when everyone raced to the Web to provide eCME without giving much thought to sound instructional design, user-friendly technologies, or the availability of Internet access in the clinical setting. Similar to other industries, the result was to be expected: low utilization and uptake.
Today, the evolution of the Web into a “read/write” medium, improved “best practices” within elearning, and the ubiquitous nature of broadband technology are providing fertile ground for innovation within online CME or eCME. And, contrary to popular belief, the demand among physicians is rapidly growing as well. The Datamonitor report entitled “CME: Leveraging Online Continuing Medical Education as a Channel of Influence” reported that “eCME is in high demand, with 87% of surveyed physicians in the US and an average of 94% of physicians in western Europe reporting that they would like to participate in eCME in the future.” The report goes on to say to that some of the primary barriers to eCME in the past have been lack of awareness, time, and poor application design. So, if you don’t tell anyone about your program and you produce user-antagonistic software, why should would one expect success? Hmmmm.
Recently, I came across an interesting report by Mahattan Research (2007). The report, entitled “Physicians and Web 2.0: Five Things You Should Know about the Evolving Online Landscape for Physicians” describes how physicians are using Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogs, podcasts, and online communities, for professional development and networking.
A few highlights:
- 300,000 physicians use blogs for any reason and 25,000 using them for professional education.
- Physicians who author a blog tend to be older with more professional experience.
- 100,000 physicians are loyal podcast users. Podcasts are focused on clinical news and specialty updates.
- 245,000 physicians contribute content or participate in an online community. Another 110,000 physicians are interesting in starting to participate.
While the report is brief, it does provide some general descriptive data about how physicians are using the Web in 2008. The report is based upon a random sample of 1, 353 practicing US physicians.
