"How does a health agency listen to patient complaints in the era of social media? Each unit, clinic or hospital has a formal process, but most complaints aren’t filed, they are spoken between family members or said in the waiting room? How does a modern health care agency learn from those?

This is where the new world of social media kicks in. Patients are contributing thousands of bits of information on Facebook in a group called, “I just spent 6 hours at IHS just for them to give me Tylenol.”

Angel White Eyes writes from Pine Ridge that she got the idea after getting sick a couple of months ago. “I was throwing up and coughing up blood. Plus had flu symptoms. I contemplated on going to IHS all weekend because I knew they'd only give me Tylenol.”

Her Facebook friends convinced her to go into the clinic anyway. “After sitting at IHS for 4 hours, I told them all my symptoms, and they said I had a virus and gave me some Tylenol and cough syrup and told me to stay home,” White Eyes said."

Get the Story:
Why the Indian Health Service should embrace Facebook (Mark Trahant 3/8)

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