Facebook For Physicians Could Help Save Lives

The secure online forum, iRounds, allows doctors to collaborate with other doctors and specialists around the world–or expedite communication with those in the same building.

By Alex Apple Sullivan on July 25, 2012.

  

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Doximity, the largest online professional physician network, Doximity, recently launched iRounds, a social network that provides physicians with a forum where they can discuss cases, ask for second opinions, and consult colleagues across multiple disciplines in real-time. Doctors utilizing the platform to consult fellow physicians can see which publications, specializations, board certifications, and other qualifications another doctor has obtained in order to determine with whom to interact. The platform is the first forum for doctors that is secure under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and only verified Doximity physicians and medical students are granted access to participate.
Currently, there is no other online collaborative community for physicians, which means that in order to consult on cases and other clinical work, doctors must communicate via fax and telephone, or in person. According to Doximity founder and CEO Jeff Tangney, miscommunication is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., so the hope is with access to a network of 60,000 peers that includes over ten percent of U.S. physicians, iRounds will makes collaborative interactions more efficient, easy, and beneficial, and save more lives.

Tangney explained the role of iRounds in the healthcare space:

iRounds enables doctors to consult with the largest online community of their peers on matters of real clinical and practical significance-specific patient cases, referrals, collaboration on research. Most physicians don’t have access to this kind of interaction after their residencies. iRounds fills the gap as physicians move on to private and hospital practice and no longer have the opportunity to participate in journal clubs and other collective clinical discussion.

The iRounds technology improves and streamlines collaboration and communication between physicians by taking such processes online. However, iRounds not only benefits inter-hospital communication, but also intra-hospital information sharing. Healthcare providers that implement the ActiveStrategy iRound system and adopt use of iPhones and iPads when performing rounds can eliminate the time-consuming data entry, since the information is already uploaded and compiled during the observation process.
Check out a video about iRounds here:
iRounds
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