Web 2.0 has come to medicine, revealing some intriguing analogies between medicine and the Internet -- and life in general.
In medicine it has been fashionable to describe the approach to diagnosis and treatment in the form of decision tree algorithms, many of which can be found online, with numerous branch points -- "if this then that," and then the next decision point "if this then that," etc. The problem with such a system is that if you make one mistake, then you go down an erroneous path and often end up at a wrong answer dead-end.
Probably many people live life like that, stuck in wrong answer dead-ends and feeling rather desperate when they finally realize the answer is wrong.
However, if you can see that there are shortcuts between most of the points on the algorithm, that most of the arrows go both ways, and that the algorithm reflects only the dimensions you can see and there are lots of others you can't, the whole thing is a lot more complex than you thought -- but that complexity multiplies manyfold the likelihood of a successful resolution. When you realize all that, then you see it is all good and most problems have a solution or two or three!
Getting back to medicine, one way to keep things "real" and have solutions emerge is to engage and discover from a community served what the real needs are and how one can best meet them.
The medically oriented communities I'm talking about can be online, social-networking communities. There are such medical online communities generating worldwide consensus -- communities in developing countries, communities with many different levels of engagement and different manifestations of global citizenship.
Medicine and Web 2.0 are a good fit, as you can see in videos associated with particular sites. Examples of what I'm talking about: The doctor's bag depicted in the Jordon Shlain On Call Medical Group presentation is a marvelous combination of new and old tech. The sense of community in Jay Parkinson's presentation is outstanding.
On these and other Web 2.0 medical sites, you will be struck by three things: 1) The ideas are appealing -- they really seem logical and workable for today's society; 2) the approaches could not possibly be rendered in an algorithm -- they are just too varied and heterogeneous for that; 3) the communication approaches described really resonate as the community engagement of today.
One reason Web 2.0 and medicine go well together is that technology is key to engaging communities in an effective way, keeping medical approaches relevant to real needs. We think of technology as enhancing diagnosis and treatment, the science part of medicine, but it also equally well can enhance the art of medicine, the humanistic, people side, and the doctor-patient relationship.
Another reason Web 2.0 is a fit for medicine is that there is global connectedness via the Internet.
Indeed, many of the same approaches that work in medicine, including Web 2.0 applications, will work equally well for other aspects of human endeavor in our increasingly connected society.
— Kim Solez, MD, Director of NKF cyberNephrology at the University of Alberta
I think social search integrated into medhelp websites would be awesome. Many of the references you find (at consumer self medhelp reference sites) are HORROENDOUS. Not only do the symptoms often overlap and provoke hypochondria(joke), it is a PAIN sifting through and getting satisfiying data.
I'd like to see a medical website that has a solid base of aggregated data(video, images, audio, newsfeeds and articles CATEGORIZED effectively) allows for user interaction(similar to a social network), offers Q&A, group creation for CONSUMERS. OH and of course has a social search application integrated so I can more quickly find what I'm looking for!!
This blog has changed my perception of the Internet as a medical tool. Up to now, I've seen online medical advice as a poor excuse for getting real medical help. In fact, if someone has a disease, I can't see why they'd get themselves tangled in an online Web when doctors have the same information and know how to filter it.
After all, that's why they went to eight years of professional school.
But the examples Kim gives here are great instances of how the Internet creates a new paradigm for medical data. It's not just about self-diagnosing your possible disease or second-guessing your doctors. Thanks fot that, Kim!
Hello, Doctor Solez!I really enjoyed your post,but a stupid answer came to me.
Why should we compare and find analogies between medicine and the Internet? Both were developed by humans, so I guess the basic logic of "scientific everything" that was created by people is the same.
One of the great benefits of Web 2.0 is the online collaborationbetween people across the world in pooling their knowledge together for aparticular health related topic.
My wife and I have benefited immensely from belonging to theKids with Food Allergies web site.
When you have parents from across the country providinginformation it creates a stronger plan to tackle a particular health issue.
It is safe to say that we know more about food allergiesthan the doctors in the area we live in but, we found out that one of thenation’s best is in NYC at Mount Sinai.
The four hour drive is well worth it but, we wouldn’t havefound out about it without the Internet.
Giving patients an additional way to access health care,
through electronic chat and video conferencing with physicians, is a
great way to expand the reach of healthcare workers, while reducing, or
maximizing the effectiveness of, office visits, and empowering patients to get more information, more easily.
Social networks might be a very effective tool of helping both patients and doctors communicate and share knowledge. A really effective "social network" that empowers patients to share and compare symptoms, diagnoses, and physician ratings, and gives doctors access to each others' expertise to assist in diagnosis and treatment, requires that all the players are valid and authenticated - that is, they're not scammers or spammers.
Physicians would would be identified by real name, institution, and a face picture, while patients, who should have the opportunity to protect their privacy with a handle and avatar, should also be required to validate their identity through some third-party validator.
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