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WHY DO WE NEED TO CONNECT HEALTH?
The role of social media is to connect people. hcsm is an acronym which represents Health Care Social Media. Virtual communities on social platforms (eg. patient groups on Facebook) connect people with common objectives and these collectives can be used to educate, accelerate innovation and improve analytics. There are many hcsm geographic communities globally taking into consideration our environmental and economic disparities between countries. Some of these include Canada (hcsmCA), Europe (hcsmEU) and Australia (ANZ).
In the past, health care has worked in silos which made it difficult for patients to navigate the system. Health data is also fragmented because we have numerous processes to collect it and a myriad of websites which usually don’t release the information. The proposed changes on the internet (web 3,0) also called the “Internet of Things” suggests that holistic data and collaboration could be possible to close these gaps and in theory optimize precision medicine. New technologies like mobile applications could empower many individuals with the right tools to improve outcomes and access to care, however online navigation could become more challenging for many of the general population and data would still be dispersed.
hcsmSA moderates a monthly Twitter chat to discuss health issues in South Africa with a diverse community of members that share their perspectives relating to eHealth. These members include doctors, scientists, startups, entrepreneurs, patient advocates and organisations, charities, journalists, IT developers, design companies, marketing companies, pharmaceutical companies, academic sector, nurses, caregivers etc. The meetings are recorded on transcript and open to the general public for research purposes on www.symplur.com. The #hcsmSA hashtag is used beyond the chat by members to share articles for educational purposes and to grow the community.
Medicine needs to evolve with the internet and because of recent discoveries in human genomics. Personalized medicine is designed according to a patient's personal DNA - January 2015.
AN ABSTRACT IDEATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH ONLINE
The way we search for information is going to change, in the near future we will connect. Connected health can be used to educate doctors about global technology where there is often a gap between patient and physician because the patient tends to follow trends more intensely. Information online has also not been completely reliable therefore regulating it for health is essential. Improving access to care using digital tools will reduce stress on our public facilities. Online communities provide a central channel to send out emergency messages to the public to improve disease control. Medical education can be updated in real-time online to stay current with emerging technology and reach a wider audience at a limited cost. One network improves participation because it makes interacting easier online for users who are not as tech-savvy or who have limited access and time.
The evolution of the internet is here, it’s called web 3.0, technology will dramatically change our world by 2020 and connected health plays a major role.
Follow the #hcsm geographic communities on these hashtags below. A comprehensive list is available on www.symplur.com
#hcsm – Global
#hcsmGH – Ghana
#hcsmla – Latin America
#hcsmanz – Australia / New Zealand
#hcsmasia – Asia
#hcsmca – Canada
#hcsmeu – Europe
#hcsmin – India
#hcsmny – New York
#hcsmse – Sweden
#hcsmsv – Silicon Valley
