An Open Dialogue with Kevin M.D., Physician and Blogger
August 19th, 2009Author: Allison Blass
Kevin Pho, author of the medical blog KevinMD, is one of the most prolific medical blogs on the Internet. His day job is as a primary care doctor, board-certified in Internal Medicine, with a practice in Nashua, New Hampshire. In addition to his blog, he’s also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Newsweek, LA Times and the American Medical News. Kevin is also one of the most social-media savvy physicians, tweeting away at @KevinMD with over 13,000 followers.
DM: Why did you decide to start a blog? What did you hope to accomplish?
KP: I blog for several reasons. First, is to give a physician perspective on medical news. The media doesn’t necessarily provide an accurate medical context. And with new studies being released on a daily basis, it’s important for patients watching TV or reading the newspaper, to have some type interpretation when digesting this information.
Second, with health care reform in the forefront, I use my blog to advocate for issues that I feel are critical. Namely, the importance of primary care as a backbone to any type of health reform.
Finally, and this ties in with the last point, I blog to spark debate and discussion. Many health issues can be polarizing, and the comments on my blog contain some involved back and forth as my readers flesh out a topic.
How has social media affected you as a physician?
Social media has made it easier to share and disseminate my commentary. I have an opinion on pretty much any medical issue, and by using social media platforms like blogs and Twitter, I can better engage my audience.
You recently wrote about a doctor’s reputation online. What are some key tips that you think people in the medical profession should keep in mind when participating in social networks?
The biggest one is that whatever you say or write online, stays online. Forever. So or Tweet with a filter, because you never know when it’s going to come back and bite you. Write as if your boss and patients are reading it.
How do you think pharmaceutical companies should participate in social networking? Do you think there is a place for them?
Yes, there is certainly a place for the pharmaceutical industry.
Social media will soon overtake traditional forms of advertising, especially as more patients are seeking health information online.
Blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, for instance, will be essential tools to engage patients.
As a physician blogger, how do you prefer communication with PR professionals or in-house PR teams as pharmaceutical companies?
Twitter, using @kevinmd.
For healthcare PR professionals, what are your thoughts on blogger outreach to doctor, nurse and patient bloggers?
Instead of e-mail outreach, which can be saturating since my inbox receives 50 to 100 such e-mails daily, PR companies can engage in more formal partnerships with bloggers.
For instance, I belong to Better Health, a company comprising of a group of bloggers. One service that’s offered is the ability for PR companies to systematically disseminate information to the most prominent health professionals in the blogosphere, who can then choose to blog about it individually.
You are a must-read for many health bloggers. What three blogs do you recommend we add to our RSS feeds?
Dr. Val Jones at Better Health, Dr. Rob Lamberts, and MedPage Today Blogs,
