feature
Australia’s first true doctors’ social network
By Narelle Schuh
moderated by a GP specialist. There
is information on finance, practice
management, travel and leisure and
forum topics, polls and blogs.
e-healthspace was
featured at the
international iStrategy
conference in November
2010 as the only
Australian example
of a successful online
doctors’ community.
Some 2,500 doctors have already
logged onto Australia’s first secure,
online social community just for
doctors, www.e-healthspace.com.au,
since its launch in September 2010.
Allowing for frank and open
discussion, the site aims to foster a
community of health professionals
that move towards using technology
as a tool for creating better patient
outcomes. The community allows
users to draw on the extensive
knowledge and experience of the
network to strengthen clinical
decision-making and positively impact
patient outcomes.
Through e-healthspace doctors
can share ideas, work through
case studies, increase knowledge,
interact with colleagues, access
specialist support, ask questions and
seek answers. A panel of experts is
available to respond to information
requests and members can watch
cases unfold over two weeks that are
12 I THE NSW DOCTOR I February 2011
The private forums are provided for
members to discuss industry issues,
share best practice and promote
conversation within the health
community. The site recognises a
doctor’s life is not just about medicine
and offers doctors an opportunity to
share personally in the confidence only
medical professionals have access.
At the recent international social
media conference in Sydney - www.
istrategy2010.com - the Managing
Director of LinkedIn described the
growth of professional networks,
showing how increasingly people
are keeping their private lives and
professional lives separate online.
Sites such as e-healthspace have had
great success overseas with the US
site Sermo claiming more than 115,000
members with 50,000 posts and a
million plus comments.
e-healthspace was born from
multimedix.com.au, a secure online
community for registered Australian
medical practitioners set-up two years
ago by Bowral GP, Dr Stephen Barnett.
Dr Barnett came-up with the idea for
multimedix while trying to track-down
old university classmates for a reunion.
After launching the site he discovered
a vicious circle when starting a social
network – without members you
cannot generate enough content and
without content you can’t attract new
members. Reaching around 400 users
Dr Barnett realised he needed help to
progress the project.
eMedia had been working in the
online continuing medical education
area for some years with their flagship
e-healthlearning.com.au website
and 12,500 registered medical
professionals. They were looking to
extend value to their users by creating
a social network and so e-healthspace.
com.au was born with Dr Barnett
as the projects’ Medical Director.
All currently registered users of
e-health learning are automatically
enrolled in e-healthspace so critical
mass has been achieved and the
e-learning content acts as a catalyst for
conversation.
e-healthspace was featured at the
international iStrategy conference in
November 2010 as the only Australian
example of a successful online doctors’
community. Future directions for the
site include improving the interface
to make it even more user friendly,
expanding to include specialists,
launching “groups” to allow users
with a special interest to form an
interest group online and making the
education/community association
more seamless so it is easier to move
between these platforms.
AMA develops social media guidelines
The AMA launched guidelines for doctors and medical students using social
media in late November 2010 in response to the NSW Medical Board general
warning in September 2010 about disclosing confidential information on sites
like Twitter and Facebook.
Chair of the Federal AMA Council of Doctors-in-training, Dr Michael
Bonning says the advice is designed to help doctors and students maintain
professionalism and avoid legal problems. “As more and more people use this
as a primary communication tool it’s becoming a place where these social missteps can happen.”
While doctors and medical students are increasingly participating in online
social media, evidence is emerging from studies, legal cases and media
reports that the use of these media can pose risks. Inappropriate online
behaviour can potentially damage personal integrity, doctor-patient and
doctor-colleague relationships and future employment opportunities.
The practical guidelines assist doctors and medical students to continue to
enjoy the online world while maintaining professional standards. “Doctors
have recently faced disciplinary action for their online behaviour,” says
Dr Bonning. Doctors are counselled against referring to adverse patient
outcomes in their status updates or other online posts even when being
careful not to identify the patient or hospital. Doctors are also warned against
accepting patient friend requests on their personal profile.
The guide calls for doctors and medical students to:
- Be careful about what you say and how you say it – consider confidentiality
and defamation.
- Keep your friends close and others not so close – doctor/patient
boundaries, other boundaries and colleagues’ online conduct.
- Consider the destiny of your data – extent of access to your information,
employee and college trainee background checks, university regulations
and other issues with employment.
- Take control of your privacy – Facebook’s privacy settings.
- Maintain professional standards online.
The full guidelines can be viewed at www.ama.com.au/socialmedia
www.amansw.com.au I 13