Blog

Family Medicine Conference Memories

Right now from all across the country, medical students and family medicine residents are making their way to Kansas City for The National Conference. Always an exciting time since it is the beginning of the academic year where students and residents take their next step in training.

Back in medical school (has it been 20 years already), this meeting was my first exposure to the Fundamentals of Family Medicine where "a family physician offers continuing, comprehensive, compassionate, and personal health care in the context of family and community." Through this conference, I fell in love with my specialty.

This meeting also helped me develop My Advocacy Voice through leadership opportunities at the conference. I wrote my first campaign speech there. I ran for my first national office there. I learned (the pain) of parliamentary procedure there. My social media advocacy work today can be traced all the way back to this annual summer event in Kansas City.

Now that I have mentioned Social Media Advocacy, this is my periodic plea to the Family Medicine community (affectionally knows as Family Medicine Revolution or #FMRevolution on twitter), that these four days are an opportunity to showcase Family Medicine all over social media - whether it be tweets, facebook updates, blog posts, or whatever. Please, please, please, please - take this opportunity to share why you love Family Medicine and why everyone from medical students, to the general public, to law makers - why they should pay attention to Family Medicine and why it's important. There. I've said my peace. Let's move on... 

I'm also excited to announce that the Mike Sevilla Radio Program will be broadcast live during the Opening Party on Thursday, August 1, 2013 at 6pm Eastern Time. There will be a reporter LIVE from the exhibit floor to give an update on what is going on. How exciting is that? Track the conference on twitter with the #AAFPNC hashtag and on facebook.

Finally, from the way back machine, is the video above where I gave a 2010 blog update from the meeting (as Doctor Anonymous). At the end of the video, I made the "big" reveal and showed my real name for the first time to my audience. The National Conference has special meaning to me, because it has made me into the Family Physician and Social Media Activist that I am today.

Culture Of Permission

Last week, there was this interesting video conference talking about this fall's Medicine X Conference. Our pals @Doctor_V and @SeattleMamaDoc were on the google hangout talking about physicians and social media. They were also talking about their upcoming session at MedX. The hangout was moderated by our friend @afternoonnapper.

Why don't more physicians participate in social media? The obvious topics of (lack of) time and (the fear of) risk were mentioned. But, another topic that was mentioned was a "Culture of Permission" mentioned by @Doctor_V.

What is this culture of permission? I get this question all the time as well: "Hey Mike, who did you ask before you started utilizing social media?" Did I as my practice, my hospital, my malpractice attorney, or my wife? Actually, I did not. But, he's right in that there is this culture that exists that physicians must ask permission before doing something "risky" like use social media. 

People focus too much on the bad and potentially bad stuff that can happen with social media. Of course they are out there. However, there are positive aspects to social media as well - like patient education (meaning patient education with right information and not wrong information), establishing a positive online presence for physicians, and utilizing social media for advocacy.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend Medicine X this year. But, I will continue to monitor their brilliant marketing of this meeting, as I anticipate more of these google hangout sessions leading up to the fall event. Many say MedX is one of the best meetings of the year to attend. I would agree with that! 

Who Inspires You?

With everything going on in the news, I've been asking myself "Who Inspires Me" these days? When I was growing up in Northeastern Ohio, I was like other kids and inspired my sports figures and people I saw in the movies.

As I get older, I'm finding out that the people we hold on high pedestals are flawed just like us. The higher regard we hold these people, the more disappointment that occurs when we learn that they are just as human as we are.

Inspiration comes from within, and the best thing that we can do is look in the mirror. Even though we may not like what we see, the only thing we can do is improve ourselves, and draw strength from within. 

I talk about this more in Episode 311 of the Mike Sevilla Radio Program. You can view the video above. You can listen above or below, and also download the entire episode right here. Subscribe to the podcast here. 

If you like what you read and hear, I encourage you to subscribe to the blog right here. Also follow me on twitter and Facebook. Also check me out on Linked-In and YouTube. Enjoy! 

Primary Care Progress Interview

Thanks again to Primary Care Progress for the opportunity to be on their webinar last week talking about Health Care Social Media (#HCSM). You can watch the webinar above, and there is also just the audio portion of the webinar in the player above and below. I have also made available the audio portion for download and you can download the audio file here. 

To make it easier for you to navigate this hour long session, I have the following show notes below with time stamps (FYI, the time stamps are for the audio file only and NOT for the youtube video above).

I'm glad there were so many audience questions during this session, hopefully questions that you have as well. So, feel free to click forward and click back on the timeline to the questions that you find most interesting. Enjoy!

First Days of Blogging and the Beginning of Social Media Career (4:50) 

  • Why did you decide to dive right into social media in 2006?
  • How did you find an audience? 
  • How did you know you were becoming a success in social media? 

Change from Doctor Anonymous to Family Medicine Rocks (9:40) 

  • Why did you decide to reveal more of your personality and no longer be anonymous?
  • Did you find your audience changing when you changed to Family Medicine Rocks?

My Take On Current Social Media Landscape (12:15)

  • What's most exciting about social media these days?
  • Why do you invest so much time in social media? 
  • What do you tell newcomers (especially medical students and trainees) about social media on how to get started?

Social Media Break and Return (16:50) 

  • What actually discouraged you from continuing in social media?
  • Has social media changed since you started? 
  • What are the lessons you learned when you were off? 
  • How does someone achieve transparency and authenticity in social media? 
  • Why do you think medical students and other trainees should formally learn social media during their training? 
  • Why can't physicians and clinicians ignore social media? 

Questions From The Audience

  • 29:00 - What advice do you have for separate personal and professional social media accounts?
  • 31:05 - What social media resources do you recommend for patient education? 
  • 33:05 - Who are your "go to" people in health care social media? 
  • 35:42 - What is your favorite social media platform to experience audience connection? 
  • 37:25 - What is your reaction to Jenny McCarthy being named as new co-host on The View? 
  • 42:06 - What are your most effective methods to make sure you get your message out there (especially for those new to social media)?
  • 44:44 - Is there any money to be made in social media? 
  • 46:32 - Do you encourage your clinic to use social media? 
  • 47:34 - I avidly blog and tweet, should I add a facebook presence? 
  • 50:13 - What are the most common reasons why clinicians say they do not use social media? 
  • 53:00 - How can you change the negative view of social media that deans and other medical school faculty have? 
  • 56:46 - Where is the innovation in health care social media? 

 

Scope Of Practice Webinar

Watch live streaming video from alliancehealthreform at livestream.com

Last week, the Alliance For Health Reform along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored a discussion and webinar on the topic of Scope of Practice whose guests included our pal Dr. Reid Blackwelder, AAFP President-Elect, along with a representative of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. You can view the full webinar above. (Also, check out my audio comments from the podcast below, or download the entire Mike Sevilla Radio Show Episode 309 here)

 "Scope Of Practice" discussions are usually code for advocating for state laws to allow for more Independent Practice Nurse Practitioners, meaning that these providers can work fully independently without the need for a physician collorabative agreement that is state law in many states.

The AAFP position is that team based care through the patient centered medical home model is the ideal model. Nurse practitioners are certainly part of the care team, but the leader of this patient care team is the Family Physician. Debates in public and private forums have been happening for months. 

As far as this particular webinar, both sides did delineate their talking points effectively with spirited debate. NP says that there's data stating that NP care is equivalent to FP care. AAFP states that data is not ideal, and people need to look at that data more closely. NP says they're needed in increase access to care. AAFP states that current data states that most NP goes in to specialty care and won't actually increase access to primary care. 

Yesterday, a physician writing on the Kevin MD site stated, "Our primary care and scope of practice debates make no sense." While I do not agree with the entire essay, I think the general public doesn't really care about these political debates at the organization level. This in-fighing really frustrates me and other people. The best thing about this particular webinar was the last 10 minutes, in which all the panelists agreed that the larger problem is reform of this broken fee for service health care system. My hope is that more common ground can be found so that all primary care providers can focus on what's best for patient care as opposed to whose turf it is.

My Visit with Primary Care Progress

It's 4:30am as I write this at Logan airport. My flight home leaves in 2 hours. What a great time to do some writing and reflecting on the past couple of days here in Boston with my new friends at Primary Care Progress. I talked about the organization in the previous episode of the podcast.

On Day One of my visit, I had the opportunity to meet the team who works at the Cambridge, Massachusetts office. Although I wasn't surprised, the energy and the synergy that this team generates is palpable. The goal is clear and it's Primary Care Advocacy. Every person proudly shared their role in how that was going to happen. Day One ended with an interview of me that was recorded via webinar. I'll expand about the interview in a future post. (You can listen to the audio from the webinar in the player above, or download this link, and listen anytime)

On Day Two, I had the opportunity to tour an ambulatory office that has fully integrated the team based care model, also known as the Patient Centered Medical Home model. Our tour host even was able to show some data on how this model is really impacting chronic disease outcomes. At this office, the patient care team includes a physician, nurse, physicians assistant, medical assistant, and social worker. There's also a pharmacist and mental health professional on staff.

I still have a lot to learn when it comes to the world of non-profit organizations and advocacy at the organization level. The best way I contribute to the Primary Care cause is going to work every day and doing the best I can to take care of my patients. However, it's exciting to me to find other creative ways to share my Primary Care story. This is through breaking down silos by seeking out other individuals and organizations who have the similar goals. Thanks again to Primary Care Progress for your hospitality and for inspiring me to continue my own advocacy work!

Mike Sevilla Show Ep309

Live from Boston, I did a podcast this morning from the hotel room. I didn't think the bandwidth would hold up, but I'll leave that judgement up to you.  Check out the Mike Sevilla Radio Program Episode 309. At the beginning of the show, I share a local Boston story that has turned into a national story about a recent magazine cover.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to register for the Free webinar tonight with Primary Care Progress in which I will be interviewed about Social Media: My history in social media, the current healthcare social media landscape, and it's future. The webinar will be tonight, July 18, 2013 at 6pm Eastern Time. Even if you cannot join live, still register because you'll be sent a link after the event and have access to the archived webinar.

In addition to the above topic, I also talked about the Scope Of Practice Webinar attended by our friend Dr. Reid Blackwelder, AAFP President Elect. I play a couple of soundbites from yesterday's event on the podcast, with my analysis. Finally, I share some thoughts of my flight to Boston last night, especially in the background of the recent San Francisco airline crash.

You can listen to Episode 309 above in the player, or download the entire episode here and listen anytime. In addition, I invite you to follow me on Twitter, check out my YouTube site (with my TV interviews), and see my Linked-In page. Enjoy! 

 

Dr. Mike Sevilla Webinar July 18

I'm excited to announce an exclusive interview I'm having with our friends at Primary Care Progress. Our chat will be LIVE on Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 6pm Eastern Daylight Time via free webinar.

We will be talking about social media and how you can utilize it better for messaging, for advocacy, and for other goals. And yes, we'll also be talking about my social media break - how that happened, what I learned from it, and my social media future. 

In addition, I'll be answering your questions. You can leave questions on the PCP Facebook page and the PCP website. I'm hoping to get record turnout for this unique event and show our friends at Primary Care Progress the power of social media communication. 

To register for this FREE webinar, just click this link and head on over to the Primary Care Progress site. Hope to see you next week! I'm looking forward to it! 

Alaska 2013

Following the announcement of my social media break, I took much needed vacation in Alaska. There are captions to some of the photos, and if you click on the thumbnail, you should be able to make the images larger. Enjoy!