Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Social Media in Medical Practice

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In the medical profession, patient privacy and maintaining the confidentiality of the patient medical record are very imperative. It is the mandated upon health care practitioners to make sure that the integrity of the health process be kept intact at all times, at all costs, given the sensitivity of personal health records. An emerging trend in the medical profession is the use of social media; it is an evolving an expanding practice that is taking shape in the medical field. The question that needs to be considered is the legal and ethical implications of social media inclusion in medical practice. There are benefits and drawbacks associated with the utilization of social media in medical practice.
Benefits of Social Media in Medical Practice
At my current medical practice, the owner physicians have indicated a great desire to implement the use of social media to market their practice. Given the legal and ethical considerations of the medical profession, it is very important to understand the benefits and setbacks associated with social media. Firstly, there are a variety of social media platforms that are in use today, and the one that the Medical Practice should use is Facebook. The reason that Facebook should be used is that it is a popular platform that has a wide-ranging reach. Since the core reason for the social media use is to market the medical practice, the most viable platform to use is Facebook. Through this, it will be possible to reach out to many people and, in the process, market the health care institution to its intended audience.
The use of social media in medical practice has significant benefits that will be of great help in marketing the health care institution’s medical practice. One of the benefits of using social media, and in particular, Facebook, is that it will provide a feasible platform through which the physicians will be able to communicate with their patients and potential patients with ease and convenience. It will be possible for the physicians and patients to communicate without having to physically visit the health care institution. In case of any questions that patients will be having, the physicians will be in a position to answer through an online channel, thus saving time and money for the patients. Social media utilization in the medical filed makes it possible to make medical information available and also tailors it to fit the needs of a particular patient (Househ, Borycki &Kushniruk, 2014). Through the information provided via the social media platform, the medical services offered by the hospital will be known by patie...