Health 2.0: Can you have a doctor visit on Facebook?

The world of online health communities is morphing and evolving even as we sit here at our keyboards and google “flu symptoms” then tweet that we’ve got a cold. So what IS emerging from the cutting edge of online health communities? How do they differ and what do they have in common? The Health 2.0 conference presented an impressive array of new online breakout health community models. You can get the run-down on them all here. Check it out:

In Irving, Texas, Dr. Jeff Livingston is an Ob-Gyn who has been using MySpace to connect with pregnant teen patients. Now he has a Facebook HIPPA-compliant portal on a page for MacArthur Ob-Gyn. His practice is reaching patients through a variety of multi-media approaches. Patients can talk to him through Facebook. While his patients wait for their exam, they can watch educational videos. So what do his patients think of this? His teen patients say “how are you going to ignore a message, when you see it on Twitter, and on Facebook. This gives you a better way to connect with your doctor, rather than when you just see him face-to-face.” Read more »