In the UK, more and more patients do not hesitate to file complaints against their doctors. A trend that is reinforced with the influence of social networks.
Medical errors, poor diagnosis, complaints about the quality of care … Between 2006 and 2012, the number of complaints recorded by the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates medical practice in the UK, nearly doubled, reaching 10,347 annual complaints. But today there is no evidence of a deterioration in the quality of care. So a study was done to find out why patients suddenly complained so much to their doctors.
Tweets and statuses to the rescue
According to the researchers, the role of the Internet and social networks has become very important for patients, in order to better understand their symptoms and to share about the treatments and care received. Thanks to specialized forums, but also thanks to conversations on Facebook or the exchange of tweets, Internet users sometimes find answers to questions that they did not dare ask their doctors, or additional information. And sometimes, according to the authors of the study, this research leads them to doubt, often wrongly, the word of the practitioner.
In France too, the number of complaints lodged with the Council of the Order of Physicians is on the rise. In 2011, for example, the number of complaints related to diagnostic errors increased by 24%. The same year, the Hospitals and Clinics mutual fund paid out more than 175 million euros in compensation to dissatisfied patients. Better informed about their health, patients would also tend to treat doctors with less deference.
Connected doctors
However, if the Internet can help increase patients’ mistrust of the profession, it is also a valuable tool for physicians, as well as for epidemiologists. Today, one in five doctors is registered on Facebook, or on Twitter, and 79% of them have a smartphone. This allows them to communicate more easily with their customers, and to download applications useful for their daily practice. Many of these connected doctors have, for example, downloaded a database of drugs on their cellphones, or medical training games.
Equally important, social networks allow epidemiologists to adjust their forecasts, especially with regard to influenza, thanks to avalanches of facebook statuses and tweets from Internet users to announce their little ailments during the colder months of winter. .
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