The Responsibility of Being a Key Opinion Leader in Healthcare and Medicine in a Digital Social World
“With great power comes great responsibility”. – Voltaire
What does it mean to be a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in healthcare and medicine in today’s digital social world? We had a lively discussion on Twitter around the post, “Doctors: Become a key opinion leader using social media” by Lukas Zinnagl MD on the blog at KevinMD.com. This comment concerned me: “A tweet from guys like Bryan Vartabedian (@doctor_v) can help and harm your brand in an instant.”
I dislike marketing posts that pushed medical KOLs in regards to a brand.
Kevin MD chimed in with this comment, and I agree: “There is a role for MD KOLs in the national health reform conversation. SM is a way to get MD voices heard.” I believe that the best use of a doctor’s influence is in providing great patient education for better health outcomes. That is my purpose in using social media tools. It is also the purpose of Brian Vartabedian, not promoting or killing pharmaceutical brands, as anyone who reads his blog, 33 Charts, would agree.
I decided to make this video to share my views and hear your thoughts.
“Am I here to guide brands? Am I here to recommend brands? Or hurt a brand? No. Am I here to educate you? Yes. Am I onboard social media and making these videos and content available to you to improve your level of understanding? Yes.”
Watch this video and add your definition of what it means to be a Key Opinion Leader in Healthcare and Medicine today in the comments below.
Hi Howard, as usual you drill into meat of what matters in healthcare social media, including the responsibility of it’s ‘leadership.’
I have previously expressed myself on twitter as well as via the post: The Triple Aim Sets the Agenda for Healthcare Social Media Community:
http://xanatemedia.com/2012/07/the-triple-aim-sets-the-agenda-for-healthcare-social-media-community/
More recently with the media shift to politics given the ‘what’s at risk’ in the November election, has the Affordable Care Act squarely in the crosshairs of but debate, I’m inclined to post some thoughts provisionally titled: ‘Politics, social media and the silence of the lambs’ as so many seem silent on this issue. Where is the civics responsibility?
In the run to the passage of ACA, as one who tweeted the Senate Finance Committee’s consideration of the Bill and all markups and amendments, the resounding silence on health reforms was astonishing.
Your honest reflection is appreciated. Make no mistake Dr. Luks, you are an opinion leader as is Bryan. We’re all leaders, and yes, responsibility follows this lofty status.
Keep doing what you are doing!
So sorry to miss the chat.
Gregg
Thanks Gregg.
One more posted to ACO.watch.com:
‘A Gentle Appeal to Healthcare Social Media Thought Leadership’
http://acowatch.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/a-gentle-reminder-to-the-healthcare-social-media-thought-leaders/
I agree with Lukas too. Pharma & Med Device companies are now actively recruiting physician bloggers in an effort to drive influence… and it does work.
For independent doctors who are not on payroll for such companies it’s about their reputations too. Advocating for a cause, an endorsement, or a brand next to their name will have profound impact on their public view.
[...] "With great power comes great responsibility". [...]
One thing the social web has been particularly good at is spotting a fraud. It’s happened time and time again – to the chagrin of the discovered frauds. That’s one of the reasons that I like the “new” KOL model better than the old one … because they’re more likely to be folks who are creating great, trustworthy content – time after time. It’s a meritocracy.
I have no problem with docs leveraging their influence in association with a brand – as long as they stay true to what brought them their influence in the first place – being a credible voice in the most important topic there is – health. Dr. Zinnagl was right about Bryan Vartabedian; his words carry a lot of weight. Luckily Bryan, like most of the “online doctors” I’ve come to know, has even stronger integrity and character than he does thought leadership. The best doctors can’t be bought – and the ones that can won’t maintain their influence for long.
Thanks for keeping this subject going, Howard … will be curious to see where the physician community nets out. Am I too much of a pollyanna?
Greg… Thanks.
I agree. Not only does social media enable that thought leader to achieve the position… it can suck the social capital away equally as fast. Bryan, Wendy, & Natahsa IMHO, (and in agreement with you) have far too much integrity (and new media maturity) to allow that to happen.
[...] “Am I here to guide brands? Am I here to recommend brands? Or hurt a brand? No. Am I here to educate you? Yes. Am I onboard social media and making these videos and content available to you to improve your level of understanding? Yes.” [...]