NephLink: The Collaborative Advantage of Social Media

It seems that everywhere one looks in the healthcare media these days, there are stories about the competitive advantages of physicians using social media. For example, American Medical News recently published a very informative article entitled “Four Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Medical Practice,” which illustrates the ways in which physicians using social media as a listening tool can discover needed services, improve customer service, gather feedback on medications and compare and improve quality.

I don’t disagree that social media offers physicians a valuable listening tool that may well provide some competitive advantage. But I’m much more interested in the collaborative advantage social media offers as a community-building tool.

That’s why I agreed to serve as editor in chief of NephLink (www.NephLink.com), a new social-media community for physicians engaged in kidney care. NephLink will be a primary resource for nephrologists, but all physicians treating patients with kidney disease are welcome on the site. Physicians will be able to use NephLink to connect with each other, to access research and news and to consult on cases.

The simple truth is that as nephrologists we don’t talk with each other nearly as much as we should. We have conferences like ASN and NKF, where we get the chance to hear the latest research and consult with each other, but two or three times a year isn’t enough to overcome the artificial barriers between us—barriers we ought to work vigorously to tear down.

Why can’t DaVita physicians and Fresenius physicians and DCI physicians and  other physicians all learn from each other? Why shouldn’t a young doctor launching her practice have the chance to consult with those who are more experienced—or to share a new insight with them? How are physicians in rural areas or small towns supposed to access the nephrology community outside of national conferences? NephLink, while not a panacea, offers a place where these kinds of conversational obstacles can be removed.

Of course I understand seeking a competitive advantage, but much more than that, I want the collaborative advantage of consulting with my colleagues about difficult cases. I want the collaborative advantage of working with my peers to analyze policy changes that impact kidney patients’ lives and quality of life. I want the collaborative advantage of an equal conversational playing field, where no one has to be nervous about asking tough questions regarding why we do what we do and who’s truly responsible for clinical outcomes and quality of life.  And where we can also listen to each other and engage in adult conversations.

I want to be part of creating that advantage for all of us because the rising tide of collaboration has the potential to lift all of our patients’ boats, helping us become better caregivers, improving safety and quality of care and ultimately saving lives. That’s why I agreed to help lead NephLink; that’s why I think NephLink is an important opportunity for us all.  This is not a DaVita thing, it is a kidney care community thing.

If you’re interested in learning more about NephLink, visit www.NephLink.com. Any licensed physician can register at no cost. A brief online tour of NephLink is available at on YouTube.

We should all listen to the advice of Charles Darwin who said:

“It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”

Striving to bring quality to life,
Allen R. Nissenson, MD

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