hospital impact

Online communities for a particular disease diagnosis demonstrate the usefulness of the group for some diseases. Group office visits have been studied and found to work particularly well for a disease diagnosis that needs constant reinforcement, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Patient all sign a confidentiality consent, then participate in a group office visit for questions, interaction and education.those requiring a physical exam are taken off individually. The physician can see patients more efficiently and patients encourage each other in their efforts to acheive better health.

Tony, as you know, I have always applauded you for hanging in with what I describe Hospital Impact to be: A Social Learning Experiment.

In the circles where I research and write, it is well known that in the US are economy is most challenged because of the lack of financial support for social and knowledge capital. The way we practice medicine in this country is a deeper representation of why that is so.

Our ability to invest and empower social and knowledge capital is also represented by how many people in their hearts know that the practice of evidential based medicine and any integral approach has to embrace a new practice and orientation to how we finance health care in this country.

I am blessed that I write and have a consulting practice that takes care of me and on the investment side and from other views and experiences I am too aware of how many ventures that could shift the practice of health and wellness in this country have gone belly up. It is a big challenge because most MBA's and expert system folks, e.g. Doctors are not trained to take an integral approach and our finance systems block this.

I spent 3 years helping a start up out of Mt. Sinai hospital in the hopes and dreams I could do the work I wanted to do in evidential based medicine.

Will an integral approach ever happen?
Read the Black Swan, to see what it will take.

I don't know if the catastrophe in this country has gotten painful enough for a Black Swan in health care to emerge. However, I know I may have a shot in Park City UT to create something with others who do not blog or spend their life in email. I have never lived in a community with the hunger to invent change, e.g. this community.

Great example of how these online connections turn into offline face-to-face "real" friends and connections. Online medical communities by themselves probably aren't worth too much. But when used correctly and intently, they can facilitate real-life meet-ups that otherwise may not have happened. Hats off to Jen, Maarten, and Martin for taking the initiative to reach out.

Thanks for posting Tony! We will definitely keep you posted on things to come. Progressive hospitals adding value by combining the value of online and offline interaction is truely imporant. Also see

Thanks for posting Tony! We will definitely keep you posted on things to come. Progressive hospitals adding value by combining the value of online and offline interaction is truely imporant. Also see Jen's post on tracking the path from Health2.0 to 3.0 to 4.0 (love all the number hoopla ;-)

Hi! I read this with interest, partially because I work for Ning :)

However, I also just blogged about http://www.radrounds.com, a network for radiologists - the more I looked into it th more resources I found there. I was really impressed with all of the ways they are using both standard Ning network features as well as external features to provide a great mix of learning/discussions/socializing.

Thanks for the thoughtful post!
Laura