| Summary: | 碩士 === 高雄醫學大學 === 醫務管理暨醫療資訊學系碩士在職專班 === 106 === Objectives
Social media blooms while users are accustomed to unveiling scandals or inside stories. Virtually all practices from all professions could be scrutinized under magnifying glasses. This phenomenon is especially commonplace in the field of medicine, where medical disputes on the internet very often explode into devastating wildfire even before justified investigations are initiated. In the face of such calamitous yet unstoppable strikes, how should health care providers cope?
Methods
The qualitative study investigates the opinions and coping strategies of healthcare providers towards exposed medical disputes on social media, particularly factors affecting their decision making. In-depth interviews were conducted for twenty certified physicians to collect first-handed information. Ten parameters that delineate the physician’s demographic characteristics, years of practice, specialty, seniority of employment, levels of hospitals in practice, whether or not with management experiences were compiled and analyzed.
Results
First, specialty and seniority of employment are two factors that significantly influence the interviewees’opinions and coping strategies towards exposed medical disputes on the internet. Regardless of levels of hospital practiced, all doctors agree that prompt response and clarification of untrue accusations are of prime importance. Legal actions should be implanted if necessary. Doctors from regional hospitals or medical centers usually comply to standard procedures led by the hospital’s legal departments. Doctors from local clinics tend to reconcile with the accusers in private before the event become catastrophic.
Secondly, internet medical scandals tremendously sever doctor-patient relationships, which are now full of skepticism and conflicts. Physicians would rather devote their time and energy on treating patients in true medical needs. In contrast, a vicious cycle results from defensive medical practice that lowers patient care quality and increases medical resource wastage. No healthcare providers, patients or the society in general benefit from such scenarios.
Conclusion
This study showed that exposing medical disputes on the internet is unstoppable and medical scandals on social media have caused great distress. Apparently, physicians still fell short in medical dispute coping abilities. Hospitals are advised to build new standard operative procedures(SOP) managed by a specialized multidisciplinary team to solve medical crisis on the internet. To cope, physicians need a renovated multidisciplinary team that incorporates lawyers, social workers and publicists specialized in media manipulations. Doctors could consult with lawyers at the beginning if legal issues exist; social workers could aid in understanding the accusers’ motives and appeals; while publicists straighten untrue accusations through available media in time to protect healthcare providers’ dignity and the hospital’s reputation.
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