Kathleen O'rourke*, CubeSource Health, New York, United States Jeffrey Heckman*, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, United States Douglas Elwood*, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, United States Lisa Patel, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Plainsboro, United States Track: Research Presentation Topic: Building virtual communities and social networking applications for patients and consumers Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2012-09-12

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Background
Patient care is multidimensional; it involves a complex underpinning of clinical care, trust, communication, education, and increasingly collaborative and dynamic interactions among healthcare professionals and patients. As social media and other modern communication trends take shape in the healthcare industry, it is important to explore how these developments might influence the many components of healthcare delivery.

Objective
This study was designed to explore how a multifaceted social platform might influence patient education, communication, and activity. Furthermore, objectives included understanding the importance of making approaches to patient engagement in these areas personalized, innovative, accessible, and robust. By utilizing both web and mobile interfaces, as well as employing various strategies to build a comprehensive network of tools for patients, researchers were able to compare and contrast various modern approaches to patient engagement.

Methods
Patients from one of the largest and most well-respected support groups for amputees in the country participated in this study. This group, which offers peer support, community activities, advocacy and other resources through monthly meetings, was specifically chosen given the solid foundation already in place. Building off this baseline structure, different interventions were offered including: an Internet portal for videos, education, and other support information; social media outlets including Twitter, HootSuite, and Facebook; a call line which provided opportunities for patients to connect in real-time; and social networking events.

Results
The aforementioned interventions were introduced over a period of 24 months. During this time period, patient use and satisfaction with the interventions were monitored and examined against each other and against the offerings of the traditional baseline support group model. Results indicate that patients are extremely eager to be part of larger social networks and take advantage of available channels in large numbers. Furthermore, different outlets are additive, not contradictory, as patients welcome the myriad of options and use them in different ways over time. Interestingly, as users became more familiar with one channel, they grew to become masters and “teachers” of that particular approach, integrating their peers into the environment while expanding their presence in new domains. Nearly uniformly, patients were extremely desirous of more real-time opportunities for engagement in education, peer support, and social networking.


Conclusions:
Innovations in technology are driving powerful changes in the way individuals engage in healthcare delivery. Specifically, the way they communicate with others, educate themselves, and respond to challenges, is evolving. This study explores how patients in an already formed support group react to various interventions for increased communication and education. Results point to a dramatic increase in involvement and engagement in activities and information surrounding a unique disease state. Mobile devices present a tremendous opportunity to provide patients with even greater access to these powerful tools that support the current dynamic in healthcare delivery.