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Being An EMR Physician Champion

Like other hospitals around the nation, our small little community hospital in NE Ohio is on the road towards electronic medical records. Yesterday and today, the hospital team asked me to accompany them on a site visit to see how an Indiana hospital implemented the system. The picture above was seen in our commute to this out of state destination. Who knew that northwest Ohio had a huge wind farm?

Of course, one advantage is that they have went through this process already, and we can ask very detailed and technical questions about what they did. And, this dialogue has been very helpful. The disadvantage is that each hospital and each hospital situation is different. For example, variables include the size of the hospital, size of the community, size of the medical staff, are the physicians employed by the hospital, how many IT (information technology) staff are available at the hospital at any given time, and many other factors.

When it comes down to it, I have learned when it comes to physicians and provider staff, they don't like change whatsoever, and it comes down to change management. I mean, I totally understand. No one likes change, and to learn new and different processes takes time and effort.

In reading a lot about how other hospitals manage change, it's about setting expectations and framing the argument correctly. For example, when it comes to EMR implementation in the hospital or clinic setting, it does come back to patients. Implementation of an EMR has the factors of patient safety, quality patient care, and work flow efficiency. The next step is about scripting those talking points and spreading that message across the organization.

I'm probably a freak in that I'm enjoying this challenge of being an EMR Physician Champion for my hospital. I may be biased, but I think physicians are the most resistant to change. Yet, if you're able to gain their trust and their buy-in, physicians can be your biggest ally in bringing about change in the organization. Our go-live date for computerized order entry is in 4 months and maybe I'll write about this topic in the future.....

Social Media and #aafpcod

 

Last week was another big step in the progression of social media and the Family Medicine community. The Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) took place last week in Philadelphia with the first part of the week being the policy making part of the meeting called the Congress of Delegates. The 2nd half of the week was the educational sessions called the Annual Scientific Assembly.

I reviewed the advocacy part of the week (the Congress of Delegates) in Family Medicine Rocks Episode 281. (also check out the video above) I reviewed the brief history of social media and the AAFP which started for me at the 2010 leadership meeting called the Annual Leadership Forum and National Conference of Special Constituencies (ALF/NCSC) meetings.

Just a year later, which has been documented on this blog in the past, at the 2011 ALF/NCSC meetings, this was a significant moment for social media and the AAFP in which the AAFP Board of Directors signed up and explored twitter. Just a few months later, the AAFP made social media a priority with the launching of a Leadership Blog on the website, and the starting of the AAFP President facebook page and twitter account.

Through the 3 days of the Congress of Delegates meeting in Philadelphia last week, those on twitter were able to get over 2 million impressions on the internet. Now, I know that other meetings do a lot better. But, given that social media was not even on the AAFP radar just 2 years ago, this is a huge accomplishment. (including video streaming of Congress of Delegates events)

In addition, I invite you to check out the AAFP Storify account to review the tweets from the meeting. Check out my full analysis on Family Medicine Rocks Episode 281. Welcome to those of you who are new to this website. I also encourage you to check out my twitter account, facebook page, you tube page, linked-in account, and podcast page. Enjoy!

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Best Moment As A Family Physician

 

On the AAFP website, they ask this question "What is your best moment as a Family Physician?" It's a cool way for members to think back and reflect on those moments that keep us going when we have those tough days. At the link, there is a video from the 2013 Family Physician of the year Dr. Thomas Albani and another video with my friend Dr. Deb Clements.

At the end of Family Medicine Rocks Episode 281 today, I took a crack at this question, and the result is the video below where I reflect on a story from residency that is a moment difficult to forget. It will probably be impossible for me to dilute down to the 20 words that they are asking on the AAFP website, but this was a nice exercise for me to think back to some real rewarding moments of being a Family Physician. Enjoy!

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Mayo Clinic Social Media Revolution

 

The 4th Annual Health Care Social Media Summit opened today at the Mayo Clinic. I was honored to be a panelist at last year's meeting, and this was my first experience at the #MayoRagan Social Media Summit. Unfortunately, I could not attend this year.

The big announcement that was just made at the opening session of this year's meeting was the release of a book by the Mayo Clinic Center For Social Media. The book is entitled "Bringing The Social Media Revolution To Health Care." I'm honored to be a contributor, and I'm proud to be a part of a distinct group of thought leaders who helped in the book's creation. My essay has to do with Why Blogging Matters.

The goal of the book is to empower, encourage, and inspire health care professionals to engage in social media. The book also hopes to re-energize social media veterans to be advocates and to bring revolution to health care. I want to be clear in that I do not make a dime from this book. Net proceeds from book sales will fund patient scholarships to attend events sponsored by the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media.

The cost of the book is $9.95 in paperback and can be ordered via amazon through this link. Bulk orders (like for 5, 10, or 15) are available directly from the Center by using this form. (Just as a friendly suggestion, I know a lot of people who would be interested in a kindle version of the book as well) Thanks again to the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media for asking me to be a contributor to the book. For those on twitter, I encourage you to follow this year's meeting with the #MayoRagan hashtag. The schedule for the 2012 meeting can be found here. Enjoy!

Dinner with Primary Care Progress

 

I had a very unique opportunity last night to have dinner with a rising star in Primary Care Advocacy. Dr. Andrew Morris-Singer is founder of Primary Care Progress which is an organization created following two significant events. First involves Dr. Andrew and what guided him toward primary care in the first place. In his standard presentation, he shares the story of how his own mother did not have a primary care physician and almost died because of our broken health care system. This event occurred when Dr. Andrew was a senior medical student.

The second event that caused the creation of the organization was the 2009 announcement at Harvard Medical School that the Primary Care Division was going to be defunded. At that point, Primary Care activists gathered to fight this decision and to try to build a new primary care vision for the school and for the community. As others around the country heard this story, other medical school campuses were interested in creating their own Primary Care Progress Chapter.

In the video below, you'll see the closing remarks made by Dr. Andrew from last night's presentation at Northeastern Ohio Medical University. There was also a great question and answer session from the students who attended the talk.

Following the close of the session, I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Andrew over dinner about Primary Care Progress and advocacy for primary care/family medicine. A realization occurred to me that to further the cause of the Family Medicine Revolution, collaboration must occur with organizations like Primary Care Progress.

The Primary Care Community must stop working in our silos and come together under the big umbrella (or big tent) of Primary Care, Practice Innovation, and concepts like the Patient Centered Medical Home. You can see from this week's National Primary Care Week and Voices For Primary Care project - there is common ground that can be found among Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and other primary care groups. We must stop working in our separate advocacy silos and come together with one Primary Care message.

Dr. Morris-Singer is a fascinating guy with lots of ideas, a strong advocacy background, and tremendous network of contacts that is growing everyday. I look forward to future collaborations with Primary Care Progress, and I thank everyone in my network who helped make the Voices for Primary Care initiative so successful. Hopefully this 2012 National Primary Care Week is a spark that will ignite a fire (Escape Fire?) of Advocacy that will carry through for the years to come...

Preview: Mayo Social Media Summit

 

Dr. Natasha Burgert joins me for an exclusive podcast interview on Thursday, October 11, 2012 for Family Medicine Rocks Episode 280. She is a pediatrician and the Social Media Manager for Pediatric Associates, Kansas City. Dr. Burgert is a Keynote Speaker at next week's Mayo Clinic Health Care Social Media Summit presented by Ragan Communications (Hashtag for meeting is #MayoRagan). 

In the video below, Dr. Burgert offers an exclusive preview of her Keynote Presentation entitled "With social media, patient education doesn't stop in the doctor's office." In addition to this, we'll discuss on the podcast her social media origins and how she integrates social platforms into her clinical practice. I also encourage you to check out the Ragan site and the Mayo site for more specific information about the meeting in general (there is still time to register for the meeting)

I hope you can join me tomorrow, Thursday, October 11, 2012 for Family Medicine Rocks Episode 280 for the full interview. If you cannot join live, you can always download the archived podcast (via iTunes or via RSS) and listen anytime, like on the flight out to Rochester LOL. In addition, if you haven't already seen, Dr. Burgert is quoted in a New York Times story from 2 days ago entitied, "Texting The Teenage Patient."

Finally, welcome to those of you who are new to my site. I invite you to look around. I also invite you to check out my other social media outlets like on twitter, on facebook, on youtube, on linked in, and the podcast link to the show. Enjoy!

Ohio Free Clinic Presentation

 

I'm honored to be the Opening Keynote Speaker at the Ohio Association of Free Clinics Annual Meeting that starts today in Columbus. The title of my talk is "Using Social Media For Public Relations & Building Awareness For Your Free Clinic." Thanks to the meeting organizers for opportunity to speak to the group.

As I do when I speak to other organizations, I'm going to say that social media is not a "Magic Potion To Success" and should not be something that should be delegated to just anyone. The only thing worse than no social media is bad social media.

Also when I talk to groups who are new to social media, there is a lot of fear that they have to overcome when they are trying to get into social. I will tell the group that, yes, there is some risk, but there is also tremendous opportunity when using social tools. The most powerful way to use social media in health care is the sharing of stories - especially patient centered stories.

My slidedeck is below for today's presentation to the free clinic association. I also invite you to check out my slideshare account for previous presentations to other groups. I hope to video record today's presentation to share with all of you as well. Happy Columbus Day Monday!

 

Escape Fire Movie

 

You probably have never heard of this movie. But, if you're in Primary Care Medicine, this may be the most important film you'll see this year. Escape Fire opens today, but only in a few theaters across the country. The great thing about the internet and social media is that you don't need to go to a theater to see this film as it is also available in the iTunes store (except for me, since I've been having problems with download this morning - Ugh)

What is this movie about? It is an examination of our broken United States health care system. You can see the trailer for the film below. Even in the brief trailer for the film, they outline the problem of increased payment for procedural medicine as opposed to primary care medicine. Of note, may of these points were brought out by Family Physician author Dr. Ted Epperly in talking about his book "Fractured." Dr. Epperly was interviewed on the Family Medicine Rocks Podcast a few weeks ago.

Reviews for the film have been positive including Roger Ebert, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Variety, and Rotten Tomatoes. Critics of the film state that this is just an informercial for "Obamacare." Who's right? Well you should check this out for yourself and make your own decision - especially if you work anywhere in the US health care system. And, if anyone sees a film made by the supporters of a different point of view, please let me know and I may talk about there film on the blog as well.

For me, the more that people try to educate the United States public about how our healthcare system works - I think that it adds to the discussion. The only way that we can change the status quo is for more and more people to better understand the problems and potential solutions to US Healthcare. I think this is a great kick off to next week's National Primary Care Week. 

 

National Primary Care Week

 

October 8-12, 2012 is designated National Primary Care Week which is a celebration of Primary Care medicine and an opportunity to raise awareness of how important it is for the United States. Our friends at Primary Care Progress have a great webpage with great information.

Something very cool that they have on their website is a page called "Voices of Primary Care" where primary care advocates show their support by taking a picture with a sign called "Primary Care Is..." I think this is fun, yet informational, and entertaining way to share their story. In the pic above, my sign says, "Primary Care is Hi-Tech AND High Touch..."

I have a lot of friends on what we call the Family Medicine Revolution, or #FMRevolution on twitter. I'm issuing a fun little challenge to #FMRevolution to jump on board for this year's National Primary Care Week by taking a pic saying why Primary Care and Family Medicine is important to you. Click on this link for more information and how to download your own sign.

Whether you're a medical student, resident, physician, patient, or anyone else out there, have a lot of fun with this. Be creative. And, most importantly, let your voice be heard for National Primary Care Week!

Internet Safety: Salem PD Presentation

 

I have the honor of presenting today along with our local police department and the county prosecutor's office on the topic of Internet Safety. Presenting to our local community about social media is an intriguing challenge for me. I mean, I've presented nationally to physicians about social media, and I've talked with my patients about social media. I've only had a couple of opportunities to present locally. I'll try to take some pics and share them with you.

Among the topics that will be covered will be cyberbullying and sexting. I only recently learned of the 2008 case of 18 year old Jessica Logan from the Cincinnati, Ohio area who committed suicide over a case of sexting followed by cyberbulling after their break up. How tragic.

In my section, I will be talking about the internet and social media framed around physical health, social/emotional health, and social media reputation. I've talked in the past about technology related physical ailments. In talking social/emotional, I'll be asking questions like "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely, and exploring "My So Called (Double) Life on Facebook." 

Welcome to those of you who are visiting the site for the first time, especially from my presentation. As promised, here are a few links which are good Social Media Resources for Parents and Teens:

The slides I used from my presentation are below. I also invite you to check out (and "like") the facebook page for this site. There's also my YouTube page, my podcast site, my twitter feed, my linked-in page, my slideshare page, and my twitter storify page. Enjoy!