The Bloggers in Healthcare
Most of today’s comments posted on the never ending list of healthcare related blogs seem to fall into two distinct categories, those that ponder and those that protest the issues of the day. Those that ponder tend to reiterate the healthcare news of the day incorporating an individual perspective that emanates from an industry leader, healthcare professional, or other personality that has dealings close to the issues we see. Much of the postings purport similar issues with varying perspectives. Some offer possible solutions while others pose questions that most of us have but no real plausible answers to the issues they describe. Some of my own postings on this site and others have posed questions regarding changing our current healthcare delivery method but without any substantive offer of resolve. Clearly the issues of healthcare today are not easily mitigated; otherwise we would not be in the mess we are in.
The other popular blog content relating to healthcare seems to be generated by healthcare professionals that work in the clinical environment. The prose here quite often has a bite to it, describing the woes of healthcare providers after a day of dealing with the infirmed or injured public. Some of the content relates to the actual business dealings of healthcare where providers are venting their frustrations about the free market system we have. Paperwork, claim forms, reimbursement rates, collections, overhead, and other business related issues are all fair game.
In some ways this volley of issues is comparable to a perpetual tennis match, where the ball is represented by healthcare and the two players are represented by the common blog contents. Back and forth, back and forth, after awhile it seems pointless to continue, but it keeps going.
Issue after issue is dissected ad nauseam. Commentary and analysis are provided free of charge for anyone who will lend a moment of time, and a click of the mouse. Each frustrating moment of the previous clinical day for many bloggers is laid out like a cathartic, a venting of pent up pressure from dealing with some of the more mind numbing issues that many providers deal with daily.
Periodically our postings are paid tribute to with brief comments from others. Other times our literary efforts go without notice it would seem except for the efforts of Google Analytics, StatCounter, and other webpage tool applications.
Healthcare bloggers are a subculture of healthcare, obsessed with the keyboard and undying desire to acquire an audience. We commend those few each year that have articulated well, provided keen insight, or have garnered popularity within the catacombs of the World Wide Web with “blogger awards”. The coveted blogger award, nothing more than a few lines of html code proudly displayed on the recipient’s home page for all to see. A validation of sorts indicating that their content ranks above others within the community. Clearly a true calling for a few, a hobby for others, a coping mechanism I suspect for many, healthcare blogging as well as other blogging is all the rage.
About the Author
Mike Pringle is the author of Healthcare Today where he offers commentary and insight regarding today’s healthcare issues. Additionally he provides regular commentary for Red Scrubs and editorial content for Future Healthcare. He has over 20 years of nursing experience working both domestically and internationally. Mike has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and a Masters Degree in Public Administration with a Healthcare emphasis. He specializes in both Emergency and Critical Care Nursing. He currently works at Falmouth Hospital as a Shift Manager for the emergency department.
