Conference Buddies

State of the Medical Blogosphere

Speakers: Kerri Morrone Sparling: www.sixuntilme.com
Kevin Pho: www.kevinmd.com
Nicholas Genes: www.medgadget.com, www.blogborygmi.com
Kim McAllister: www.emergiblog.com
10/15/2009, 9:45am – 10:45am

Evolution of the Medical Blogosphere

• 60% of patients use the internet as their first source of information
• Doctors need to get on board to connect with their patients, answer questions about medical news and new medical info
• Patients are blogging about their experiences as a way to find other people like them
• People are leaving the Blogosphere due to privacy and employer issues
• Issues with patient privacy when doctors blog, new parameters as to what doctors can and cannot share emerged
• Social media presence is essential for all doctors stay relevant and credible
• Patient blogging can help other patients with managing their diseases (shared experiences, what to expect, medication reactions doctors didn’t mention but many people experience, how to administer your meds in the least painful way)
• Social and mainstream media will someday merge into one entity
• Very few people read medical blogs, blogging is a way to get into mainstream publications
• FTC is looking at blogging and full disclosure, bloggers must share whether they are being compensated for writing their blog
• If you are only on Facebook or Twitter, you might not be connecting with your audience. Being on different social networks allow you to connect with people who might be interested in you but does not participate in all the social networks
• Being a patient blogger allows you to connect with other people who have the same condition as you do

Questions & Answers

How can medical companies blog without violating FTC and FDA regulations and still get the word out on their products?
Independent bloggers have more freedom to say what they feel without worrying about that. They can link to the medical devices pages, or the companies can get the blogger to link to them