I am hoping to crowdsource a research question:

How do you define meaningful use of social media by physicians in practice? Here is my plan:

• Option 1: Physicians use social media 'to practice' and engage with and treat patients
• Option 2: Physicians use social media 'to share' in a general sense medical resources, have a guarded SoMe persona
• Option 3: Physicians use social media 'to learn' from one another and build professional relationships without geographic boundaries.

I have been digging around for this answer for a few months and most folks with an opinion suggest that it is a blend of options 2 and 3, AND are very cautious about wandering down the path of option 1.

I hope you agree that this a fundamental question that must be settled (if not answered completely) before I dig further into finalizing a broader research agenda addressing SoMe in medicine...but there are hundreds of other that remain unanswered as it pertains to physician engagement with social media. Here are just a few things I am chewing on:

1. It may be easier to choose a few SoMe channels then to stick with a broad definition of SoMe as 'digital technologies allowing user-generated content to facilitate sharing and communication'...for example at this moment the uptake of Facebook vs twitter vs youtube vs professional communities is at once, slow, various, and scattered...what is the right way to frame the 'meaningful use' discussion.
2. What evidence is there that physicians engage in social media have improved patient outcomes? this would be a home run if data were credible and sufficient...and as I was taught in grad school 'the plural of anecdote is not data'
3. How do you measure the success of personalized learning plans? critical to option 3
4. How do docs know what is/who is credible when engaging in SoMe as a learning platform?
5. What factors predict whether a physician will adopt SoMe for 'meaningful use' in practice?

Anyway - your  thoughts are appreciated...with any luck I am only a few weeks away from beginning to study these questions and I am open to any and all insights you may have!

Look for me on twitter as @CMEAdvocate!

Best wishes,

Brian