Healthc Inform Res.  2017 Jul;23(3):208-217. 10.4258/hir.2017.23.3.208.

Blogs as Channels for Disseminating Health Technology Innovations

• Joshi A
• Wangmo R
• Amadi C

• KMID: 2403311
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4258/hir.2017.23.3.208

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to describe the features of health informatics blogs on the Internet.
METHODS
A search was conducted in August, 2016 using the search engine, Google, and key words: "˜mobile health blog,'"˜telehealth/telemedicine blog,'"˜Electronic Health Record blog,'"˜personalized health record blog,'"˜population health decision support system blog,' and "˜public/population health dashboard blog.' The first 24 blogs resulting from each key word search were recorded, generating 144 blogs. A total of 109 unique blogs resulted after removing duplicates and non-functional sites.
RESULTS
Blogs with "˜.com' extensions were most prevalent (72%, n = 79). More than half of the blogs (79%, n = 86) were created by industries. Mobile health (88%, n = 96), telehealth (82%, n = 89), and health IT (78%, n = 85) were the predominant topics covered. Health providers (44%, n = 48), industries (33%, n = 36), patients/consumers (25%, n = 27) and payers/insurance providers (19%, n = 21) constituted the most common target audience. Blogs catering to payers commonly used "˜.org' extension (n = 10 out of 21), compared to "˜.com' (n = 7) or "˜.gov' (n = 2) (p < 0.0001). Significant differences were also observed by topics covered health IT (p = 0.007), subscription (p = 0.048) and LinkedIn social media (p = 0.019) across the website extensions.
CONCLUSIONS
Further research is needed to examine the use of blogs as channels of communication of best evidence in health informatics research among diverse stakeholders. The role of blogs as policy informatics tools need to be evaluated in order for stakeholders to collaborate, coordinate and share opportunities and challenges of various public health programs and policies.

Keyword

mHealth; Electronic Health Records; Personal Health Records; Telehealth; Blogs

MeSH Terms

Biomedical Technology*
Blogs*
Electronic Health Records
Health Records, Personal
Informatics
Internet
Public Health
Search Engine
Social Media
Telemedicine

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 Unique blogs generated across the various key word searches.

• 

  Figure 2 Distribution of blog type by website extensions.

• 

  Figure 3 Distribution of blog type by website extensions.

Reference

1. Pinto LF, Rocha CM. Innovations in Primary Health Care: the use of communications technology and information tools to support local management. Cien Saude Colet. 2016; 21(5):1433–1448. PMID: 27166893.

2. Song H, Omori K, Kim J, Tenzek KE, Morey Hawkins J, Lin WY, et al. Trusting social media as a source of health information: online surveys comparing the United States, Korea, and Hong Kong. J Med Internet Res. 2016; 18(3):e25. PMID: 26976273.

3. Rainie L. Online health seeking: how social networks can be healing communities [Internet]. Washington (DC): Pew Research Foundation;2010. cited at Jul 30. Available from: http://www.pewinternet.org/2010/10/25/online-health-seeking-how-social-networks-can-be-healing-communities.

4. Brownstein JS, Freifeld CC, Madoff LC. Digital disease detection-harnessing the Web for public health surveillance. N Engl J Med. 2009; 360(21):2153–2157. PMID: 19423867.

5. Sundstrom B, Meier SJ, Anderson M, Booth KE, Cooper L, Flock E, et al. Voices of the “99 Percent”: the role of online narrative to improve health care. Perm J. 2016; 20(4):49–55.

6. Marketing Charts. The Blogosphere: still growing after all these years [Internet]. Gulfport (FL): Marketing Charts;2007. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from http://www.marketingcharts.com/online-and-mobile/social-media/the-blogosphere-still-growing-after-allthese-years-236/.

7. Lagu T, Kaufman EJ, Asch DA, Armstrong K. Content of weblogs written by health professionals. J Gen Intern Med. 2008; 23(10):1642–1646. PMID: 18649110.

8. Zeng X, Harris ST. Blogging in an online health information technology class. Perspect Health Inf Manag. 2005; 2:6. PMID: 18066374.

9. Huh J, Liu LS, Neogi T, Inkpen K, Pratt W. Health vlogs as social support for chronic illness management. ACM Trans Comput Hum Interact. 2014; 21(4):23. PMID: 26146474.

10. Patel R, Chang T, Greysen SR, Chopra V. Social media use in chronic disease: a systematic review and novel taxonomy. Am J Med. 2015; 128(12):1335–1350. PMID: 26159633.

11. Lefebvre C. Health communication and informatics in Healthy People 2020 [Internet]. place unknown: socialmarketingblogs.com;2008. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from http://socialmarketing.blogs.com/r_craiig_lefebvres_social/2008/10/health-communicationand-informatics-in-healthy-people-2020.html.

12. Healthy People 2020. Health communication and health information technology [Internet]. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services;2016. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/health-communication-and-health-information-technology/objectives.

13. Reed RB, Chattopadhyay A, Iwema CL. Using Google blogs and discussions to recommend biomedical resources: a case study. Med Ref Serv Q. 2013; 32(4):396–411. PMID: 24180648.

14. Stephens D. Top six health IT trends shaping healthcare in 2016 [Internet]. place unknown: Talix.com;2015. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from http://www.talix.com/blog/top-six-health-it-trends-reshaping-healthcare-in-2016.

15. Blanton J. The importance of subscribers [Internet]. place unknown: 210consuting.com;2012. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from: http://www.210consulting.com/social-media-advisors/the-importance-of-subscribers/.

16. Kissmetrics Blog. 50 ways social media can destroy your business [Internet]. place unknown: Kissmetrics;c2017. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/social-media-can-destroy/.

17. Patel N. Don't accept guest posts unless you follow these seven rules [Internet]. place unknow: Quick Sprout;2013. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from https://www.quicksprout.com/2013/02/18/dont-accept-guest-posts-unless-you-follow-these-7-rules/.

18. MarketsandMarkets. Telehealth Market by component (hardware (blood glucose monitors), software (integrated), services (remote monitoring, real-time interactions)), end user (providers, payers, patients), & mode of delivery (web, cloud) - global forecast to 2021 [Internet]. Hadapsar, India: MarketsandMarkets;2016. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/telehealth-market-201868927.html?gclid=CNXNsLqSvdECFVRsG wodz_MFrQ.

19. Pearl R. 5 tips for breaking into the business of healthcare [Internet]. Jersey City (NJ): Forbes;2014. cited at 2017 July 31. Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2014/07/17/5-tips-for-breaking-into-the-business-of-health-care/#68d220bb1107.

20. Michael S. 2015 Social media marketing industry report: how marketers are using social media to grow their businesses [Internet]. place unknown: Social Media Examiner;2015. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiembOXlr3RAhUGchQKHf55Bv0QFggoMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.socialmediaexaminer.com%2FSocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2015.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEOQs38iObo6gXJrh5zecw83WoViQ.

21. Shepard C. 10 Illustrations of how fresh content may influence Google rankings (updated) [Internet]. Seattle (WA): Moz.com;2016. cited at 2017 Feb 20. Available from https://moz.com/blog/google-fresh-factor-new.

22. Eysenbach G. Infodemiology and infoveillance: framework for an emerging set of public health informatics methods to analyze search, communication and publication behavior on the Internet. J Med Internet Res. 2009; 11(1):e11. PMID: 19329408.