Too Busy For Medical Podcasting & Blogging? You’re Too Busy NOT To.

Dr. Man Nguyen recently wrote a very thought provoking comment.

Doctors, he notes, are extremely busy — I mean extremely busy. Especially compared to years gone by, with older physicians recalling — and much missing — a clearly different sense of camaraderie that we no longer seem to have time for.

If he — a young MD recently out of residency — is so rushed that he emails his wife, how much more so are the older generation of physicians?

Information Overload Is A Chronic State Of Being

As a modern medpro, you juggle email, prescription refills, lab reviews, decreasing reimbursement, marketing responsibilities, staffing issues,

“Just Work Faster And Harder” may have worked in the 19th century. But it’s information that is snowing you under, not physical objects, and information can accumulate at the speed of light.

EMR, CME, and malpractice worries, and that’s just during your day job. The most common strategy to deal with all this seems to be “Just Work Faster And Harder” — see more patients, take more calls, speak faster on the phone.

That may have worked in the 19th century. But it’s information that is snowing you under, not physical objects, and information can accumulate at the speed of light.

Try to deal with your morass of tasks the old fashioned way, and you’ll likely hit “the engine ceiling,” as I referred to it. You can only race your internal “engine” so fast before you reach your limit, or break down. Burn out, missing irreplaceable family time, or feeling professionally isolated is the result.

If you count yourself among the medpros in this situation, you may be wondering as Dr. Nguyen is, Am I supposed to adopt new blogging and podcasting technologies, on top of everything else?

Absolutely.

It’s a 21st century world, and it’s time to adopt some 21st century tools to deal with it.

You Cannot Get Ahead By Working Harder, You Must Work Smarter — Much Smarter.

Please read that again.

“Smarter” includes

1. acknowledging the realities of info overload, decreasing reimbursements, and more consumer driven healthcare
2. adopting well-proven solutions from other professions to deal with these challenges, and new marketing and PR strategies to recruit and retain more patients
3. reaching out to your patients, as well as networking with your peers, from the resultant breathing space generated post recharging

If you set up a podcast and blog with your website, you will generate a community around it…and this will re-energize you, and remind you why you entered medicine in the first place.

I believe that the heart of physician disenfranchisement lies in the disconnect from the heart of the profession, and the isolation as colleagues and organizations seem to pass you by. This is compounded by tension in your personal life, which has the same forces at work of information overload and decreasing time.

At a minimum, if you set up a podcast and blog with your website, you will generate a community around it, and this will connect you with folk who care about the same things you do. And this will re-energize you, and remind you why you entered medicine in the first place.

New Media Can Greatly Enhance Medpro And Patient Interactions

Especially with the new era of “new media” like podcasting, blogging, videocasting, and Web 2.0, information exchange is happening with more speed, personalization, and relevance than ever before. The older Internet paradigm was, Wow, look at all this info out there, I might be able to find anything if I know where to look.

Looking for a needle in the universe gets tedious, as we all know.

The new 2.0 model is, Hey, Ted, thanks for shooting me the link on that Gardasil article, it answered all the questions my family had; here are some links in return I know you’ve been wondering about, plus the Digg, del.icio.us, Technorati, and Google Alert resources to rank these stories, and automatically notify you of any related developments.

Feeling overwhelmed? So does the rest of the world…Time to suck it up, brah, and get with the program.

These developments are happening whether we integrate them into our practices or not: insurance payers, upper management and marketing departments, and large scale corporations are already adopting them. Most importantly, our patients and the public as a whole are using them — not because this social networking is a fad, but because it pulls people together, and empowers them.

Instead of trying to find things by yourself, you garner an online community of friends and colleagues who push helpful selected info/news/suggestions your way.

In essence, this is exactly the solution to the problem that many medpros face.

These Technologies Can Work For Medpros, As Well As Professional Bloggers

If you are reading this, you are at least potentially aware of the benefits, but remember: When done properly, these technologies can connect like-minded folks regardless of geography or time, and generate stimulating, energizing discussions — the opposite of disenfranchisement.

There are about 55 million blogs out there, and a number of folks whose job it is to make sense out of the trends therefrom. If they can do it facing the greatest information overload the world has ever known, so can you, with similar strategies and tactics. Feeling overwhelmed? So does the rest of the world, and for some time, too. Time to suck it up, brah, ditch the horse and buggy, and get with the program.

Ever multiplying problems demand your attention — in the professional, personal, and family realms. Embracing new technologies and strategies will enable you to handle these — and re-invigorate yourself doing it.

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