Using Twitter to “Live Tweet” a Kidney Transplant @UofUHealthCare

University of Utah Health Care (@UofUHealthCare) pushed the healthcare social media agenda forward yesterday, as well as heightened the bar for transparency in healthcare, as they “live tweeted” a kidney transplant. Not only were they tweeting progress of the surgery, they were posting photos and interacting with the media to answer questions. The team also engaged their patients in this process, even posting photos of the donor in recovery.

University of Utah Health Care (@UofUHealthCare) pushed the healthcare social media agenda forward yesterday, as well as heightened the bar for transparency in healthcare, as they “live tweeted” a kidney transplant. Not only were they tweeting progress of the surgery, they were posting photos and interacting with the media to answer questions. The team also engaged their patients in this process, even posting photos of the donor in recovery. While I have seen surgeries tweeted in the past, I have not seen anything on this scale, or so inclusive of every person — patient and provider — in the delivery of care, in such a high-stakes surgery. Kudos to them!

Below is a screen shot of a Storify story I captured on the event (click here for full version), but for those interested in, or leading, healthcare social media, I highly recommend seeking out @UofUHealthCare ‘s tweeter feed from yesterday. It’s a text book lesson in new media and transparency!