Role Of Social Media In Healthcare

The Use of social Media in Healthcare setting

The unprecedented surge in the use of social media brought myriad transformation in every facet of the human society. Social media has become a critical part of people’s lives and many are becoming more and more reliant to its use. Social media has undeniably contributed to some breakthroughs in many fields in the past decades. It has led to the evolution of the healthcare industry to cater to the growing demand and to cope up with fast changing technology. Large numbers of hospitals, laboratories, medical schools and health science institutions using social media have sprung to meet these growing demands and stay to be on the top of competition.
Healthcare industry has been in the forefront

It can help them interact with patients remotely and to boost medical education and research. In the healthcare industry, social media equally provides a valuable tool to spread knowledge and health awareness to the public. Because public awareness and understanding of health information is vital in every community, to have an instant access to this information is an advantage. Helen Osborne, president of health literacy consulting, Natick, Massachusetts and founder of Health Literacy Month confirms, “In the healthcare industry, social media can be a powerful tool for health literacy- helping medical writers, clinician and other professional communicate health information in ways that the patients and the public can understand” (124). Having a constant interaction with medical experts is vital to prevent spread of disease and it can also serve as a line to a free and instant assistance in emergency situations that any person may have to deal with prior to hospitalization. In addition, within the medical and healthcare education, social media assists students in exchanging information with fellow students and other medical experts worldwide concerning rare medical cases, studies, and researches. Patients are also using social media to communicate and share their medical issues with other patients and create bonds with

However, these are very broad and sometimes very generic. Since social media post can be influenced by impulsive behavior and emotions, sometimes people posting on social media sites overlook the importance of the possible implications. A little kid can have a social media account just by forging his age. That same kid can be in a medical waiting lobby and can easily capture any medical event (which they call a you-tube moment) and post it on you tube without thinking of any complications. Can you sue that little kid? They can blame the parents or the