Author: Editor

The topic of this thematic issue of Health Affairs, patient engagement is variously defined; the Institute for Healthcare Improvement describes it as “actions that people take for their health and to benefit from care.” Engagement’s close cousin is patient activation—“understanding one’s own role in the care process and having the knowledge, skills, and confidence to take on that role,” as Judith Hibbard and coauthors explain.

Technology, payment reform, and advancements in social and behavioral sciences are creating a perfect storm, leading to rapid acceleration in our understanding of how to improve health outcomes in a networked world, let’s call it “networked health science.”

As the digital tools we have available to us become more refined and abundant, one might think creating Word-of-Mouth (WOM) would become easier, but does it?

This is a message that  should resonate loud and clear with providers, institutions or members of the healthcare enterprise world  who are ruminating over the upsides — and potential downsides of a wide reaching, multiple digital property~ *social media* presence.

Social networks serve as effective patient communication tools, but they can also be venues for patients to post criticisms and complaints. Knowing how to manage these types of comments can mean the difference between a marketing success and a social media flop. Here are two steps for handling criticism with care and using negative social media comments to your advantage:

Joan Justice has written a thought provoking article on what motivates individuals to take care of themselves.  How can we motivate people to take care of their health?  Is it even possible? Joan thinks it is, but it is not easy, will take a long time, and will be complicated and frustrating.  People are vastly different and what motivates one person won’t motivate another.  Some are very easily motivated (mirrors and bathroom scales) and some just aren’t motivated at all.  And then there are those in between who are motivated by peer pressure (online support sites), money (employer incentives), goal orientation (self-tracking), winning or prizes (gamification).

It’s still too early to tell if Graph Search, currently in beta and only available to a select number of users will be a game changer, especially in the healthcare world