Physicians Practice - February 2008 - (Page 75)

IDEALAB ‘WHY I BLOG’ MOST OF MY PATIENTS DON’T KNOW IT. MOST OF MY STAFF DOESN’T UNDERSTAND IT. I AM NOT PAID TO DO IT. YET STILL, I AM ADDICTED TO BLOGGING. BY ROBERT L AMBERTS, MD I Web log, or blog, for short. For the uninitiated, this means I keep a publicly accessible journal/column/ soapbox on the Internet. I blog (mostly) on medical subjects — making me a medical blogger — on a Web site called distractible.org. I upload, or post, my writings regularly to this Website. People can read my posts — people anywhere in the world. My blog gets anywhere from 200 to 600 visitors per day. Some blogs get thousands. As a physician who’s as busy as you are, why would I take time to blog? Because people can comment on my posts. In fact, interaction between the author and readers via the comment section of a blog sometimes produces the most creative content. And, it’s an honor to see your writing cited in other blogs, or even in “traditional” media. (I was cited in The New York Times once. How cool is that?) • I enjoy the connection. Medical bloggers have become a bona ﬁde community. I now know people I would never have met in real life, heard. As a blogger, I do what I can to articulate just what havoc the current problems in healthcare are wreaking on us primarycare physicians. The simple fact that a national magazine has asked me to write this article is witness to the power of that voice. Is blogging for you? Maybe. Do you have reasonable writing abilities? You’ll need them to get (and keep) a regular group of readers. Do you have enough free time? You must, in order to keep your blog fresh enough to keep people interested. If you can answer “yes” to these two questions, then I say go for it. If not, don’t despair. Be a blog reader. You can easily ﬁnd worthwhile medical blogs online (insert shameless plug for distractible.org here). A wide array of specialties, perspectives, and styles makes the medical blogging world an all-youcan-eat buffet for the mind. Whatever your interests or pet peeves, you’ll surely ﬁnd a like-minded blogger. We debate about homeopathy. We rant about drug companies. We moan about the MRSA “crisis.” We cry about falling reimbursement. We demonize insurance companies. If you have thought it, someone has probably blogged about it. My only warning: It’s very easy to over-indulge at buffets. Are you OK with becoming obsessed? Blogging has a tendency to do that. But someone has probably already blogged about that, too. A wide array of specialties, perspectives, and styles makes the medical blogging world an all-youcan-eat buffet for the mind. TASTE TEST • I enjoy writing. Until blogging, I hadn’t had much opportunity to write. Now I can write serious pieces on the dysfunctional state of our healthcare system, alongside silly pieces about people being magnetized by MRI scanners. I don’t have to submit my entries to an editor (although sometimes that may be of beneﬁt), and I don’t have deadline anxiety. I write about whatever I want, whenever I want. • I like the attention. I never truly outgrew being a class clown, and so blogging seems so natural. What a heady feeling, knowing that many people are reading what I write and that they’re enjoying it. How do I know this? WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM including physicians from all over the world. I have exchanged ideas with people of different races, religions, and belief systems — people far beyond the conﬁnes of my suburban WASP world. I am truly grateful for this. • I feel a sense of responsibility. I represent an under-represented group: primary-care physicians in private practice. In general, physicians in my situation are too busy to get involved, and so they have little voice in today’s world. Any time spent away from seeing patients is money lost. This means that those with the greatest need for a voice, such as physicians, are those least able to get their voice • Robert Lamberts is a primary-care physician in private practice in Augusta, Ga. His comments are his own and do not necessarily reﬂect the views of Physicians Practice. FEBRUARY 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 75 http://distractible.org http://distractible.org http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - February 2008

Physicians Practice - February 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Your Future is in Your Hands Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Creating an A+ Practice Noteworthy Cover Story: Conquering Time: 5 Keys to a More Efficient Practice In Balance: A Family Affair Technology: Making EMRs Work in the Exam Room In Practice: "I've Got Some Bad News" The Tech Doctor - The EMR: Savior or Poseur? Ask the Experts NEW! Healthonomics: How to Handle Health Savings Accounts The Administrator's Desk: Finishing School for New Managers Human Resources: Is Your Partner Impaired The Great Practice Makeover: Too Well-Liked for His Own Good? Coding Idealab: 'Why I Blog' Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - February 2008

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