Content of Weblogs Written by Health Professionals

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Medical weblogs ("blogs") have emerged as a new connection between health professionals and the public. OBJECTIVE:To examine the scope and content of medical blogs and approximate how often blog authors commented about patients, violated patient privacy, or displayed a lack of professionalism. DESIGN:We defined medical blogs as those that contain some medical content and were apparently written by physicians or nurses. We used the Google search term "medical blog" to begin a modified snowball sampling method to identify sites posting entries from 1/1/06 through 12/14/06. We reviewed five entries per blog, categorizing content and characteristics. RESULTS:We identified 271 medical blogs. Over half (56.8%) of blog authors provided sufficient information in text or image to reveal their identities. Individual patients were described in 114 (42.1%) blogs. Patients were portrayed positively in 43 blogs (15.9%) and negatively in 48 blogs (17.7%). Of blogs that described interactions with individual patients, 45 (16.6%) included sufficient information for patients to identify their doctors or themselves. Three blogs showed recognizable photographic images of patients. Healthcare products were promoted, either by images or descriptions, in 31 (11.4%) blogs. CONCLUSIONS:Blogs are a growing part of the public face of the health professions. They offer physicians and nurses the opportunity to share their narratives. They also risk revealing confidential information or, in their tone or content, risk reflecting poorly on the blog authors and their professions. The health professions should assume some responsibility for helping authors and readers negotiate these challenges.

Opinions of Students from a Brazilian Medical School Regarding Online Professionalism

“…3 This violation was also observed by Lagu et al; however, the posts were carried out by people who identified themselves as medics or nurses. 6 In our study, more than 90 % of participants considered inappropriate posts that involve violation of patients' privacy. However, we observed that a significant proportion of participants did not recognize the publication in social media of photos of medical students playing with hospitalized children or holding newborns in the neonatal unit as a violation of patients' privacy.…”

“…Other studies also have sought to quantify the occurrence of inappropriate online behaviors. [3][4][5][6] In the study by Chretien et al, for example, 60 % of American medical schools referred to incidents involving unprofessional postings by their students and 13 % of them corresponded to cases of violation of patients' privacy. 3 This violation was also observed by Lagu et al; however, the posts were carried out by people who identified themselves as medics or nurses.…”

The Patient–Doctor Relationship and Online Social Networks: Results of a National Survey

“…For the most part, these have focused on the preponderance of easily searchable data on the Internet, 20 professionalism, 21 and the posting of potentially inappropriate material on various types of Web 2.0 formats, including YouTube, 22 weblogs, 23 and Twitter. 24 The structure of OSNs are such that they can dramatically blur the line between public and private spaces.…”

The Reflective Writing Class Blog: Using Technology to Promote Reflection and Professional Development

“…Firewalled in-house servers may afford additional security. Many public medical blogs are currently struggling with similar issues of privacy, anonymity, and reflection upon the profession 24 . This area warrants further exploration.…”