Doctors and Social Media: What are the appropriate boundaries for the doctor/patient relationship?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA   Continuing on the topic of physicians use with social media, David Harlow, Esq, Health Care Attorney and Consultant at The Harlow Group, LLC in Boston, answers a series of questions focusing on the legal aspects of physicians engaging in social media. Q: Barbara – What are appropriate boundaries for the doctor/patient relationship? A: David Harlow, Esq. – Most physicians and authorities agree that a health care professional should…

Read More...

Engage With Empathy

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Original post, “Engage with Empathy” published on The Huffington Post on 6/27/12 in the Healthy Living/Health News Section. Do you feel connected with your doctor or other health care providers? Do you partner with your providers? How important is patient engagement to you? What words do you use to define patient engagement? Do you consider yourself an empowered patient or health care consumer? What is patient engagement? Here is…

Read More...

mHealth: Valuable information in PwC report, but are the findings remarkable?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA A recent report, (PDF link) “Emerging mHealth:  Paths for growth,” commissioned by PwC, (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) the Economist Intelligence Unit, is well executed, however it’s important to understand the research sample for this survey. Is it possible that the results of the survey would be different if the sample was broader in terms of the types of patients questioned and the doctors and executives from payer organizations that were selected were…

Read More...

Health Care: Less Blame and More Engagement

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA [This is a follow-up post to Social Media:  3 Notable Quotes in the Social Health Space.] Health care happens before you visit with your doctor, nurse practitioner or other health care provider. Health care is about you. You have the choice to be an empowered, engaged and proactive consumer, and you have the choice to take action to live a healthier life.  It’s important to partner with your doctor…

Read More...

5 Buckets to Patient Engagement and the Role of HIT

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA What is patient engagement? Patient engagement is a connection between patient, caregiver and health care provider.  A trusted relationship forms and mutual respect is fostered.  Patients and their families are empowered and they are active in health care decisions.  However, patient engagement begins before the initial interaction with health care providers. When patients and consumers recognize the need to be in charge of their health, patient engagement evolves.  Patients…

Read More...