Healthcare Social Media: An Interview with Kevin Pho, MD

  When we decided to focus on social technology and healthcare for this issue of TWC, I began to research which physicians were doing the best job harnessing these tools at the national level. That is how I came across a blog by Dr. Kevin Pho. Dr. Pho is an internist practicing in Nashua, New Hampshire. I felt a bit like the last person to show up at the “in” party, given that Forbes considers his blog a must-read and CNN named @KevinMD one of its five recommended healthcare Twitter feeds. His post that day was so interesting and so relevant to what we had been discussing, I decided to send him a message and ask for an interview. I didn’t really expect him to return my email. He not only responded to my message, but he also agreed to be interviewed for a TWC article on social media. This confirms my observation that often the busiest, most successful people are the ones who respond the most generously. His insightful answers to my (not very sophisticated) questions reveal a great deal about why he is so often quoted by the likes of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. So, here is an interview with one of the web’s most influential healthcare commentators, a physician who has figured out how to use social media in a masterful way. HOW DID YOUR BLOG GET STARTED?   I started KevinMD.com in 2004 because I felt physicians did not have a real voice in the popular media. Patients would come to me with an article they had read and ask, “Doctor, what does this article mean to me?” So, I began my blog as an opportunity for doctors to give meaning to information that patients were seeing. The topics are wide-ranging and include medical and scientific information that might have been watched recently on the news or issues pertaining to healthcare policy and healthcare reform. WHO FOLLOWS YOU?   Major media now follow the site, and I get about 20,000 visitors per day.   (Note: Kevin’s blog is cited regularly by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, FoxNews.com, British Medical Journal, SmartMoney Magazine, Detroit Free Press, Forbes.com, NPR, CNN.com, Newsweek, TIME.com, Chicago Sun-Times, Boston Globe, Indianapolis Star, AOL News, and American Medical News.) HAS IT HELPED GROW YOUR PRACTICE?   I started the blog as a way to give doctors a voice because the mainstream media does not have much physician content. I did not intend for it to be a marketing tool. However, an indirect benefit has been building my practice. It increases my visibility on the Web. Patients do not look for a doctor in the Yellow Pages anymore. They are likely going to find their next doctor using the Web. WHAT SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES CAN A CLINICIAN OR A HOSPITAL CLINIC USE TO GROW THEIR PRACTICE? HOW DO YOU USE PLATFORMS SUCH AS TWITTER?   The main networking sites are LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.   I use Twitter primarily as a listening tool. There is just too much information on the Web. With Twitter, you can follow a few thought leaders you trust. Let them filter the information on the Web. Every evening, I check on the posts from those thought leaders — that is how I stay up to date with the latest information. When they share an article, for example, then it is worth reading. I also use Twitter to share articles from my own site. WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK?   If a hospital or a clinician wants to spread the word about service, they must have a Facebook presence. There are many people for whom Facebook is the Internet. If you want to communicate with these people, it has to be via Facebook.   There are several critical things to remember as a medical professional about using Facebook. You can have a personal profile, and I would shield that from the public. Keep your practice profile separate from your personal one, and do not reveal personal information there. The second thing is to never reveal protected health information anywhere online. That seems so obvious, but it has happened, and the results can be disastrous to you and your practice. It also seems obvious that whatever you put on your profile should be professionally appropriate. Remember that whatever you post is going to be there forever, so think twice before you hit “Enter” because it is like a tattoo — you cannot get it off. Although they ought to know better, physicians have posted unprofessional statements that caused them to lose jobs. THAT BRINGS UP THE ISSUE OF WHAT TO DO IF A CLINICIAN FINDS AN UNFAVORABLE COMMENT ON A PHYSICIAN RATING WEBSITE. WHAT SHOULD HE OR SHE DO ABOUT THAT?   The fact is that if someone posts an unfavorable comment about you or your clinic on one of these sites, you can’t get it off. Physicians have sued trying to get these comments removed, and it hasn’t worked. However, studies show that 90% of physician reviews on these sites are positive. The best way to cope with a bad review on a site is with more reviews. There are three or four of these sites, which currently dominate the market. Here is my advice: encourage your patients to go to at least one of these sites and give you a review. The odds are that they will review you favorably. If there is a negative review out there, its effect will be minimized by having other positive reviews.   A second strategy is to ensure that you have created your own profile using the other media options we have mentioned. Because you control the content on your own profile, and because these have more content than the physician rating sites, your own profile will be ranked higher on an Internet search and patients are likely to find it first. So, the more you control your own online presence, the more you push down any negative presence. This is a compelling reason to have a social networking presence. It could be as simple as a LinkedIn page, and that page will get ranked high when your name is Googled. FOR THE MOST PART, OUR WOUND CENTERS SERVE THE OVER 65 DEMOGRAPHIC, SO MOST OF US QUESTION THE VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA DUE TO THE TECHNOLOGY GAP IN THAT AGE GROUP. DO YOU AGREE?   No, I don’t agree. That is a common misconception, but data suggest you are quite wrong. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 55- to 65-year-old women, and Facebook is the third most visited site for people over 65. Don’t underestimate the importance of social media among patients 55 and older. Author Note: I now understand why Dr. Pho has been so successful in using social media, and I am grateful this nationally recognized figure took time to talk to Today’s Wound Clinic. For more information about Dr. Pho and to follow his blog, go to: Web: www.KevinMD.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/kevinmd Facebook: www.facebook.com/kevinmdblog LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmd