Social media becoming more important in patient healthcare decisions

The hidden costs of U.S. health care for consumers: A comprehensive analysis produced by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, in Washington, D.C. had some startling findings on healthcare.  First is that consumers are concerned about health-related costs and are acting to avoid higher exposure.Among the hardest-hit consumers are those with medical problems, seniors, and those caring for others.  Study finding also suggest that there is growing awareness,and increasing use,of alternative and over-the-counter products. It also seems that the  use of social media for health is increasing as well.

National Research Corp., a health care research company based in Lincoln, Neb., recently surveyed more than 22,000 Americans and found that nearly 16% use social media sites as a source of health care information. Of those, 94% said Facebook was their preferred source, followed by YouTube with 32% and Twitter with 18%.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, 82.3% of those surveyed who used social media trusted the information on a level of 3 or higher, and 78.8% gave a level of 3 or higher to the likelihood of social media influencing their health care decisions.

Is the information on social media reliable ?

Jeremy Greene, MD, PhD, an instructor in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Harvard Medical School, co-wrote a study published online Oct. 13 by the Journal of General Internal Medicine that looked at the promotional activity on 15 Facebook groups dealing with diabetes.

His research found that although the Facebook pages provided a forum for reporting personal experiences, asking questions and receiving feedback, “promotional activity and personal data collection are also common, with no accountability checks for authenticity.”

Dr. Greene’s research, which included 480 unique users and 690 comments over 15 Facebook pages, found that 27% of the posts featured promotional activity, usually presented as a testimonial, for products not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Two-thirds of the posts included unsolicited sharing of diabetes-management strategies.

The researchers looked at only the 15 most recent posts on each page. They found that each group had an average of 9,289 participants. The majority of participants posted only once, but of the 9% who posted three or more times, 30% were clearly promoting products, and 3% of the promotional posts contained inappropriate or unsupported therapeutic claims.

So what could this all mean ?

1. As healthcare costs continue to increase many more patients may go online and use social media before consulting a physician. This delay could cause a patients condition to worsen and this add costs to the healthcare system in this country.

2. Marketers of healthcare products should remind patients not to self-diagnose and should link them to CREDIBLE pages within social media.  Remind patients of the danger of an inaccurate diagnosis.

3. HCP’s should point patients in the right direction when it comes to online health information.  Help them get trusted and good health information.

4. Insurers may want to think about programs requiring customers to get a physical exam at lease once a year.  Those who do not get physicals should get increases in their premiums as they are putting all of us at higher risk for increased costs due to possible worsening health conditions.

5. HCP’s are eventually going to have to learn to communicate better with patients and explain treatment options to them or they risk patients non-compliance with Rx medications or recommendations.  Treat the whole person not just the disease.