Post to Eugene Borukhovich blog

Dr. Brennan is a native of Santa Barbara, proud father of two boys, health care columnist, distance runner, AYSO soccer coach/board member, source/contributor to several national health magazines/websites and a medical consultant for the USA television show Burn Notice. On top of it all he is a dedicated pediatrician and in order to educate his local patients he runs www.sbpediatrics.com that receives up to 500 visitors a month.
Dr. Brennan says:

"My site serves several purposes for my local community, including offering timely health tips and patient education on topics such as breastfeeding and newborn care.  I also provide weblinks to reputable sites on health topics such as illness/disease, safety, anticipatory guidance and vaccinations.  It also allows me a way to provide links for local events and businesses that support children and families."

   
In a small community, with many practicing pediatricians a website is a must and is definitely not a differentiating factor. Nonetheless Dr.Brennan is hoping to eventually promote his site to families outside of Santa Barbara.
Because of the local nature of the website, Dr. Brennan receives email correspondence from local patients interested in his practice, from local businesses, groups and others who are interested in his opinions or looking for him to paritcipate in a community project.
But is that all enough to keep the healthcare consumers walking in the door of his practice. We turned to Dr. Brennan with a few social media questions and his use of the tools in order to promote his knowledge in the subject matter:
 

MHE: How often do you interact with patients using facebook?
Dr.Brennan:  On a weekly basis.
        

  

MHE: What kind of interactions are they: personal or professional
Dr.Brennan: I use facebook for both personal and professional uses.  Professionally I use it to send health tips and health     columns that I write.  Since it is not compliant with national privacy standards, I do not use Facebook to exchange sensitive medical infornation

  

MHE: How often do you use  social media tools to follow-up with patients (if at all)?
Dr.Brennan: I will occasionally have someone send me a health update - maybe once every 2 weeks.

  

MHE: Do you get any referrals through the use of social media?
Dr.Brennan: Yes

  

MHE: Do you find using social media a productivity saver or the reverse?
Dr.Brennan: Hard to tell, but it is enjoyable for me and my patients so it is worth the time spent.

  

MHE: Do you see social media as a threat to getting payments (i.e what if patients start using email/facebook/twitter to communicate with you completely)?
Dr.Brennan: Social media does not provide enough privacy to patients to exchange sensitive information so I will not use it to do a medical consult.  For that reason it will not replace office visits.

   
Not yet Dr.Brennan, but in today's fast moving environment with shifting business models,  yet unkown level of government intervention, the voice of the healthcare consumer is getting louder. New and innovative companies such as Hello Health & AmericanWell are on a brink of a paradigm shift in a doctor/patient relationship.
Dr.Brennan keep up the good work and thanks for the virtual interview!