Three Workplace Questions On Healthcare

Is your cholesterol getting high, or do you want advice on your last blood test results? Instead of making an appointment to see the doctor, many people are turning to the Internet, seeking healthcare and wellness-related advice online from a vast social network. According to a recent post on NPR’s Health Blog, “How’s Your Cholesterol? The Crowd Wants To Know,” people are turning to social media networks, health apps and online forums for healthcare advice. 

This is easier than ever, the article states, since lab tests are easily available from websites like LabCorp.com, and MyMedLabs.com. It’s easy to track your nutritional data through sites like FitDay.com, which can give you a breakdown of your diet’s nutritional value, naming the usual suspects—fat, carbohydrate, protein and calories—and a much more extensive breakdown with vitamin and mineral levels. Armed with lab tests, symptoms and nutritional data, many people are making the Internet the first stop before going the traditional healthcare route. And why not? 

While doctors earned their medical degrees and are experts in healthcare, how many would be intimately familiar with a patient on the Paleo Diet than hundreds or thousands of Paleos available on a website like PaleoHacks. Just like someone on the Atkins Diet or Sugar Busters or any of the other diets out there, these people speak a similar language and come from a base of knowledge (or misinformation) that is understood by others in the same mindset. While self-diagnosis and treatment from “the crowd” may be a new phenomenon, it can pose some interesting dilemmas for the healthcare and the workplace.

1. Privacy. All that medical information going over the company’s computer system can fall prey to hackers trying to steal employee personal or financial information. What would happen if they intercepted emails on medical information as well? Employee handbooks may need to be updated to cover liability and responsibility for personal information in a whole new way.
    
2. Lost productivity. According to a Forbes.com article, "Employees Really Do Waste Time At Work," a survey found that 64 percent of employees admit to spending time on the Internet at work every day! While surfing the net, checking emails or posting on Facebook is a misuse of company time, what about checking up on the results of your recent “crowd” post on your high blood pressure? If the company allows for taking time off for doctor visits, what about a minute or two to check on other “medical” results?
    
3. Should employees be allowed or encouraged to seek online advice? Employee Assistance Programs already offer smoking cessation and weight loss management programs over their websites. Companies sponsor health and wellness programs like Weight Watchers. Can referrals to social network “crowds,” as the article describes, be in the future? 

The article concludes with the example of a 60-year old former attorney who requested some tests and got some advice online that helped manage her particular medical problem. Many people “suspect” something may be wrong, but their healthcare providers won’t pay unless they have a diagnosed illness. With the rising cost of healthcare, the frustration of waiting endlessly in the doctor’s office, multiple follow-up visits, or sitting for hours with really sick people in the hospital’s emergency waiting room on a weekend, it’s no wonder people are turning to alternative ways to manage their health and seek advice. Working with your physician is always the best course of action when you need medical care. However, some are using the resources of the Web as another source of information to manage their health.

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