A Social Network for Physicians
Computer and mobile-based social networks have revolutionized how we interact with each other – not just how we keep up with friends or craft personal relationships, but also how we do business. Healthcare is also undergoing a similar cultural transformation. For example, Twitter hashtags have emerged as a way for physicians to keep track of key developments in conferences happening across the world. “Crowdsourced” medical blogs like KevinMD.com attract millions of daily visitors from all walks of life who seek to better understand the complexities of healthcare.
That being said, social media also carries major risks for physicians when it comes to safeguarding our core principles of patient confidentiality and professionalism. It doesn’t take much in the way of slips-of-tongue or indiscreet rants to sink reputations, and undermine public trust in the profession, which is why medical associations like Canada’s CMA have guidelines to their members on how to conduct themselves online. Indeed, public-facing platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin aren’t the place to go for physicians seeking to tap into the expertise of fellow-physicians and communicate safely about patients, research, and cases, largely because they do not need to comply with the rigorous health information protection standards put forth by acts like HIPAA and PIPEDA. Hospitals and healthcare systems might be able to securely connect local doctors but are generally trapped within the confines of paging systems and professional emails that lag far behind our current communication methods.
It was this challenge of physician communication in the social media era that drove Canadian entrepreneurs Blair Ryan, Will Harris and Dr. Michael Clory to found The Rounds (née Boondoc) back in 2012. They realized that a physician-only social network could help address this challenge by providing a secure portal where physician members, whose identities are vetted by the team, could openly share their insights and concerns about different aspects of patient care, research, or system navigation. And as a consequence of these interactions, powered by the collective intelligence of the online medical community, patients would stand to benefit from being served by better-informed doctors.
Starting out with just 12 doctors in 2012, the network has shot up to over 6500 physician members, and is poised to reach 30,000 members through key partnerships that are underway. This growth has been driven by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, developers, marketers, strategists, consultants, and advisors, based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Rounds has emerged as a strong Canadian counterpart to Sermo and Doximity, two physician networks that are open only to Americans.
Harnessing Collective Intelligence
I recently spoke to Conor Cox, Manager of Strategic Partnerships at The Rounds, to shed some light on how the vision of a social network for Canadian physicians has panned out. The network’s interface is based on conversations with 600 physicians about their pain points in effectively networking with their colleagues. The Rounds thus has a HIPAA-compliant message platform that allows users to exchange texts and emails while ensuring the security of confidential information. This allows doctors to collaborate on challenging cases in real-time, by uploading and discussing clinical photos, documents, and test results.
Members are able to build their knowledge by discussing journal articles, posts, and questions shared by their colleagues. By following the frequently updated discussions (that can be customized to their interests), they can stay in the loop for not only local activities but also the latest medical research and healthcare industry events, and can be rewarded with Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits – evidence of ongoing learning that all physicians are required to demonstrate for their licensure.
Physicians seeking to network with their former classmates and colleagues from across the country can also connect with them easily, and will soon be able to find users based on year/university of graduation, location of practice, and speciality.
Moving forward, the network is incorporating industry partners (medical technology, pharmaceuticals) in a manner that adds value to physicians. This would include information about clinical trials that are seeking patient recruits or physician consultants, or updates about new health technologies that may be relevant for the patients in their practice.
By bringing conventionally fragmented groups and information sources together, The Rounds is headed towards making their mark on the healthcare landscape, and will be worth watching.
___
Dr. Aravind Ganesh is a neurology resident-physician and co-founder of the Calgary-based mHealth venture SnapDx. He is also a clinical researcher, public health advocate, and a Rhodes scholar, currently working with the University of Oxford’s Centre for Prevention of Stroke and Dementia.
What’s Up, Doc? is a weekly column covering the most interesting doctors, medical researchers, innovators, and health-related issues in Calgary and in our wider global community. If you are working on something that is changing healthcare, we’d like to hear about it. Send us a tweet at @snap_dx or email aravind@snapdx.co.
