When Reshma Khan, MD, a rheumatologist at the Family Arthritis Center, Jupiter, Fla., relocated from Michigan three-and-a-half years ago, she missed the camaraderie and friendships she’d made in Michigan. “I’m a very social person, and after finishing my research, residency and fellowship in Michigan, I missed those close friendships [when I moved to Florida],” Dr….
(Reuters Health)—Social media groups that bring together patients, family, friends and healthcare providers can improve patients’ outlook and reduce their anxiety and depression, a recent U.S. study suggests. In a nine-month experiment with liver-transplant patients, researchers found that participants came to rely heavily on a closed Facebook group, both for information about their condition and…
Social media has revolutionized my practice. I stay current with Twitter content from other rheumatologists, patient organizations and medical journals. I am also an active member of the international Twitter-based rheumatology journal club, #RheumJC. Still, I was recently surprised when my patient’s name appeared in a friend request. This same patient was following me on…
Forty-five years ago, a computer engineer in Boston sent an electronic message between two computers some 10 feet apart. It took another 10 years or so before the electronic mail message was dubbed email—a term now, perhaps, more ubiquitous than any other in the lexicon of modern communications. Despite the seemingly definitive place email communication…
Connecting online via Facebook chats has enabled rheumatologists at Nemours to educate patients and their families
Facebook chats organized by the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City help rheumatologists convey information online to patients
Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Flickr. These are common social networking sites that you may use regularly to keep up with friends, colleagues, news, and information. Now you can keep up with the ACR on these sites too.