From Wikipedia:
Nurse practitioners manage acute and chronic medical conditions (both physical and mental) through comprehensive history taking, physical exam, and the ordering of diagnostic tests and medical treatments. NPs (within their scope of practice) are qualified to diagnose medical problems, order treatments, prescribe medications, and make referrals for a wide range of acute and chronic medical conditions.
Everyone these days talks about the shortage of primary care providers – ironic, because people with better access to primary care have better outcomes (duh). And nurse practitioners do exactly that, in many different settings. In an increasing number of states, they’re finally being authorized to practice independently.
Check it out!
Are there tips for care providers to effectively use social media without being “overwhelmed” with HIPAA-sensitive, individualized questions from their patients?
Sure! I know someone who has a simple social media policy, saying they’re happy to connect on social media (“Like my page on FB, say hi on twitter”) but that social media is neither safe nor private and thus not even legal for personal consultations. They post this in their practice and sometimes add it to their privacy policy or staple it to statements or discharge summary.
Some notes from the later breakout session on social media:
“Don’t use social media to practice medicine – use it to talk about medicine”
Symplur.com’s healthcare hashtag project: http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags and its list of disease hashtags http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/diseases/
Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media: http://network.socialmedia.mayoclinic.org/
As I said in the session, your questions are welcome!
Just found your blog Dave – very nice and bookmarked!
I’m proud of St Senator Hernandez of CA and his attempt to allows NPs to practice more independently – which lost in Sacramento this year unfortunately. But – we will be back next year!
Thanks for taking the time to come to ##AANP14. It was a pleasure to meet you and hear your thoughts. And thanks to Deb Kiley for having the foresight to invite you to speak!
It was great to meet you, Barbara. Your work is inspiring!
I got a request from AANP from an attendee for some links to sites I’d mentioned. I posted them today.