Can Social Media Save Lives?

This provocative title of a webinar to be held next week is part of the growing optimism about the potential for social media in the process of health care. Some recent examples come to mind:

This provocative title of a webinar to be held next week is part of the growing optimism about the potential for social media in the process of health care. Some recent examples come to mind:

• Report from the Change Foundation in Toronto on Using social media to improve the quality of patient experience (I was on the advisory board for this report)
• An App that Looks for Signs of Sickness – Mobile-phone activity can provide a warning of disease flare-ups.
• Community Health Data Initiative – more on this later
• Case Study: Radboud Hospital Supports Young Cancer Patients With An Online Community

We are witnessing a shift from social media for pure marketing toward engagement and beyond, to changing the care process.