b'| LEADERSHIP GUIDECrowdsourcing Q&A How can healthcare providers balance the immediate use of the internet with the time-consuming task of reviewing literature when seeking guidance on the care of their patients? One experienced clinician offers his guidance.By Joe DarrahT hough hes a strict believer in following evidence-based medi- patients health status, Aviles has traditionally shied away from this cine, Frank Aviles Jr., PT, CWS, FACCWS, CLT, ALM, AWCC,methodology. is no stranger to innovation. Its one of the hallmarks of hisIt took me a very long time to embrace social media platforms, but industrythe treatment of patients who are living with chronic, non- our societys increased use of and reliance on technology in the general healing wounds. New products and modalities become available onsense has changed my perspective somewhat, he said. The potential what seems like a near-constant basis, and as the wound care serviceto connect with countless wound care clinicians and experts around line director at Natchitoches (LA) Regional Medical Center, Aviles isthe world has become too tough to resist, and I am thrilled to have this well accustomed to being clinically versatile.type of access to my peers and their expertise.But hed be the first to tell you that hes been a bit old fashionedToday, he remains cautious about the sharing of patient informa-when it comes to his acceptance of the internets place in healthcare,tion and/or photos online and the subsequent gathering of what often especially as it relates to the gathering and researching of informa- amounts to opinions, which may come across as attempts at making a tion for purposes of patient care. The notion of seeking advice onlinedigital diagnosis in some cases, through the use of social media. But at through crowdsourcing, which is generally defined as the obtaining ofthe same time he has become a proponent of partaking in this practice information or input by enlisting a large number of people, either paidif its done carefully and not in abandonment of traditional research. or unpaid, typically online, has not been an appealing habit for health- Aviles recently spoke with Elite to discuss his thoughts on how cli-care providers, in his opinion.nicians might want to consider utilizing available sources for this pur-According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Global Health,pose in a responsible fashion.crowdsourcing has the potential to be hugely promising, especially1. In your experience, do healthcare providers seem more likely in global health, due to its ability to collect information rapidly, inex- today to turn to social media to seek medical guidance as opposed to pensively, and accurately. 1However, rigorous ethical and regulatorytraditional research? controls are needed to ensure data are collected and analyzed appro- I believe that healthcare providers, and especially patients, are turn-priately, the study concluded, and crowdsourcing should be consid- ing to social media to seek immediate answers and guidance from ered complementary to traditional research methods. 1With concernsothers who may have treated patients with similar conditions. We that people may be too quick to approach the keyboard as opposedcan access technology with our mobile devices anywhere, and as such to referencing research journals for clinical consultation, in additioncan connect with experts, join specific expert groups, and read per-ISTOCKto the potential HIPAA violations inherent with sharing details oftinent research articles that are shared. According to a 2013 study, www.elitecme.com |2020| LEADERSHIP GUIDE 27'