On the user side, one of the barriers to the growth of Digital in healthcare is that not everybody likes or uses technology.

Whatever else the future holds for healthcare, it will certainly involve more extensive applications of digital technology. That’s not to say HCPs have been slow to adopt it.  Many branches of healthcare have already been busy harnessing the potential of digital in smart technical ways: gene sequencing, diagnostic imaging, telemedicine, electronic medical records and so on. 

In this three-part blog, we look at ways in which social media can become integrated into the fabric of our nation’s health care; we look at how it can and must become a means of fostering all-round well-being, from simple fitness all the way through treatment adherence to chronic disease management.  Part One looked at the quality dimension, part two tackled cost and value, and in this final part three, we explore the role of influence -- and offer a closing perspective.

INFLUENCE

Those of us working at the intersection of social media and health have to become adept at thinking across two very different time scales: short and long.