On Saturday, a group of public health experts held a panel to discuss how social media tools can transform medical care, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The group met in advance of the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia this week.
Experts said Facebook, Twitter and other social media applications can help health organizations communicate with the public about disease outbreaks and other health issues.
Mark Marosits -- co-founder of Worldways Social Marketing and co-leader of the panel -- said health organizations also can use social media to promote themselves as the "authoritative voice" on a particular topic (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/8).
Social Media for Medical Procedures
In related news, more physicians are tapping social media tools to share real-time updates of certain medical procedures, the Miami Herald reports.
For example, some doctors are using Twitter to provide patients' families or the general public with step-by-step surgery updates.
Doctors say the tools help them educate the public about certain procedures and reduce anxiety among patients' families.
However, some observers say physicians should consider privacy concerns when contemplating social media-based communication (Shah, Miami Herald, 11/9).