Share medical procedures via social media

24 January, 2010 | Written by edward boches 0 Comments

I’m pleased to announce my latest venture, SeeMyOp.com. It’s intended to be the first social network site that lets members share their surgical procedures live with friends and followers, both on SeeMyOp.com as well as on a user’s other networks thanks to an API that will enable users to stream live video from surgical scopes and instruments over Twitter and Facebook.

In addition, a simple interface will also tweet all vital signs during an operation while planned connections to Foursquare and Blippy will inform a patient’s community of his hospital location along with the costs of all procedures.

I think you’ll agree this is the next big thing, not only in social networking and community building, but in health care as well.

SeeMyOp oozes benefits. For starters, it’s the logical next step for social networks. Think about it. As we all collect friends, fans and followers it’s inevitable that they’ll want to know as much about our health as they do about our thoughts, whereabouts and spending habits. And as more and more aging baby boomers embrace the social web, what’s likely to be the most common shared activity? That’s right, medical procedures. Everything from the basic to the life threatening.

Secondly, SeeMyOp.com taps right into the same networks we already use, uniting them in a way that’s useful, informative, and conversational. With Foursquare we let everyone know where we are. With Blippy, we share, if not brag about our recent purchases. With Facebook we update our status and share images of our lives. And with Twitter we tweet about just about anything. SeeMyOp ties them all together in the ultimate personal revelation: the chance to see what’s really going on inside us.

SeeMyOp.com will be the ultimate social sensory experience. In addition to video and vitals, the platform will automatically upload still photographs from any procedure at pre-determined intervals chosen by the patient. Images will be available on Flickr, Facebook and accessible via a new iPhone app also under development.

Even more importantly, SeeMyOp could become an incredibly valuable resource when it comes to health care. It will familiarize patients with procedures, allow them to learn from friends’ experiences, and provide them with comparative cost information.

It could even help with tracking the success rates for different procedures by both hospital and specialist as its installation base grows and more users embrace the new technology.

SeeMyOp is still in the early phases of development, getting ready to raise capital, as we proceed with product development. But I wanted to share it first with my own community of friends and readers.

I look forward to making the platform available to users and the medical community in the not too distant future and in the meantime welcome all of your comments, questions and feedback.

What do you think? Is this the best social networking idea yet or what?

Finally, if you like this post and others you see here, please hit the share button and pass it around.  Or click on the RSS button in the upper right and subscribe.  I’ll try and make it worth your while.

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Forrest Frazier's Avatar
Forrest Frazier moderator
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I love the concept. I just did something similar although less invasive with SeeMyDrink.com The question is, are all operations / surgical procedures going to be shown? Colonoscopy, breast augmentation, vasectomy, bot fly removal? Or is this limited to more serious procedures like a liver transplant or heart bypass?

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Bruce DeBoer's Avatar
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Seriously? TMI .-= Bruce DeBoer´s last blog ..In a Quest for Originality, Don’t Forget How to Be Good. =-.

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Mimi V's Avatar
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I think there's more value in the conversation generated around the operation that the ability to view the operation itself. I think patients and their families would greatly value the chance to share their experiences with others from across the country but I am still trying to grasp how a video of the operation would interest the masses. How many people take the time to see a bypass operation on Discovery Health? People get squeamish watching strangers get an injection let alone a close friend undergoing a major operation. The broader initiative to bring together people around health care and personalize the experience is noble but I doubt this is the way to do it. Will certainly be interesting to see how it is received by the online community. .-= Mimi V´s last blog ..london-evening-wallpapers_10727_1280x960 =-.

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Rya's Avatar
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I'm not sure I'd feel right about this, on either side. Watching, or having people watch.. .-= Rya´s last blog ..New England Barn In The Winter =-.

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tobe's Avatar
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OK, so do I share just my colonoscopy or the prep too?

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edward boches's Avatar
edward boches moderator
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Thousands of people are interested in both. Go for it.

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Arafat Kazi's Avatar
Arafat Kazi moderator
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This is a great idea. I've been thinking of getting a gastric bypass and there's a live video on the Brigham and Women's website which is pretty cool. But you have to really dig around to find it. The reason I like SeeMyOp is because it's got a ton of public health potential--in many ways, this is like MIT's opening up its courseware to the online public. Imagine being a third world doctor and having access to all this cool surgery online, stuff that you'd never be able to see unless you went abroad to a different hospital. I'm sure there are videos available of these things, but I'm also sure that SeeMyOp would be free, as opposed to paying thousands of dollars for special-interest DVDs. The one thing I don't want to learn about though is the inevitable fetishization of surgical ops. Allah!!!!!!

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David Evans's Avatar
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You should make contact with medical device manufacturers like Boston Scientific. The engineers are always viewing operations to see how devices perform. This could allow them to stay at the office and observe procedures. And ask questions of the people and doctors. Might be an angle investor. The other objective of this venture could be prevention. I know the sexiness of the big idea is the horror of operations and the fascination of such personal gore shared with the world but unfortunately no operation is a far better option than having one and much of today's medical procedures can be prevented. I always like the smokers lungs in the Boston Science museum to appreciate breathing. Or the first time someone realizes that open heart surgery requires the ribs to be cracked open like a walnut and the body to be submerged in ice and frozen to death. And then brought back to life. Very cool stuff best of luck. .-= David Evans´s last blog ..davidlevans: Who knew that I would be following Bill Gates. Not a MS fan. But the guy has some interesting things to say. We should listen. =-.

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edward boches's Avatar
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David: This is really just a kernel of a crazy idea. (In fact at first I wasn't really being serious, but rather poking fun at the growing willingness to share. Then again I did buy the URL.) But people seem genuinely interested. I may very well connect with Boston Scientific and Olympus and some medical folks to continue exploring viability. Seems to be some serious issues and probably a reluctance for hospitals and docs to show their work live. But you never know. Interesting take on the prevention thing. Thanks for that.

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Harry Hoover's Avatar
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This ranks right up there with SeeMyProstateExam

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Jim Mitchem's Avatar
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Sounds like a perfectly logical evolution in experience sharing to me. For someone else, I mean. .-= Jim Mitchem´s last blog ..Wind Up, Wind Down =-.

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Nicole Berard's Avatar
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Is it creepy if I friend people just because they're having cool procedures?

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edward boches's Avatar
edward boches moderator
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There is more than one way to meet new people in social media. Seth Godin talks about tribes of knitters, sailors, red-hatted octogenarians. Why not a tribe of people connected based on cool medical procedures.

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Stuart Foster's Avatar
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This scares the crap out of me. HIPAA anyone? .-= Stuart Foster´s last blog ..The Wikification of Business =-.

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edward boches's Avatar
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It's opt in. The patience has full say and choice. The good news is it will probably elevate the quality of care, knowing that docs are being watched and the procedures are being scrutinized. Mess up a surgery and it's all over SeeMyOp.com.

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John Pilakovitch's Avatar
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This is going to create a lot of sticky issues.

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Mark Harmel's Avatar
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Is this site being run by John Edwards? Now that he has been run out of politics he can back to his malpractice roots. This will allow him to hunt for new clients and build a case all in one site. .-= Mark Harmel´s last blog ..“leonard is aware of look. is look aware of leonard?” =-.

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edward boches's Avatar
edward boches moderator
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If he's looking for a job and can help me secure funding, perhaps he can come on board. But I don't have any money yet, just the kernel of a big idea. Will see how much traction it gets. Lots of regulations with insurance and medical profession to deal with, but I am optimistic. You gotta dream big, right?

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Desiree Kane's Avatar
Desiree Kane moderator
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Wow this is really something. At what point does the sharing stop? For me, as a self actualized oversharer, this even seems excessive if it's meant for the general population. .-= Desiree Kane´s last blog ..Hipster Millennials :: We are what we eat =-.

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Lars Tong Strömberg's Avatar
Lars Tong Strömberg moderator
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"What do you think? Is this the best social networking idea yet or what?" Sounds more like an April 1 idea to me, but who knows? Maybe there is a target group for this as well?

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Trackbacks

  1. How healthcare will beat Justin Bieber in Twitter’s Trending Topic « Mobile Tweeting in Philippines says:
    June 2, 2010 at 4:39 am

    [...] Edward Boches wrote about SeeMyOp.com, a new social network being developed that takes the live-tweeting during surgery to the next level. SeeMyOp.com is intended to be the first social network site that lets members stream live video from surgical scopes and instruments used during their surgical procedures. People can view the video from SeeMyOp.com’s site over Twitter and Facebook. I’m sure this will give lawyers another reason not to sleep at night. via livingstonbuzz.com [...]