Virtual communities are a big part of informatics in today’s society. A virtual community can be described as an online space that is a social unit that involves members who can relate to one another as a group. It is a place that people can communicate to each other that bridges geographical distance. There are various online communities and social networking sites that can help people to exchange information. Connections can be made with various groups and can a solid base for information, support and services.
There are many areas that virtual communities can tie in together. From an article from Systems, Application, and products in data processing (SAP), there is a very useful diagram to describe the different areas that virtual communities can follow. Socially-oriented virtual communities are the original community type from which all other community types have evolved. This type is subdivided further into the "relationship building" and "entertainment" types. (Markus, 2002) Then there is the bracket of professional orientation which seems to be the basis for knowledge sharing and practice also called “Knowledge communities”. This can include learning and sharing a common interest which is essential for this kind of forum. Then there is the area of commercial orientation, where rather than being "socially motivated", "commercially-oriented" communities aim to make a profit or gain a financial advantage.
From the perspective of the SAP guide the community type must be identified and defined in order to enable optimum organization and management of the functions and contents of a virtual community. (Markus, 2002) It is claimed that the greater the commercial interest of the members participating in a virtual communi...
... middle of paper ...
... limitations that may be present with each client.
In conclusion with all of the advanced techniques and growing area of virtual comminutes. It is obvious that is can be a very useful tool in health care. There must be very strong research into policy, ethical and legal issues associated with virtual health care communities. Quality is imperative in providing useful knowledge to share. There should be a stronger push for providing evidenced based guidelines for the development of such communities and the need for maximizing the social and user friendliness of programs is evident. With consideration of chronic illnesses and diseases there is a positive impact of using such sources to get information to patients. There should be more research done in this area to understand the behavioral characteristics of virtual communities to provide the best care possible.
There are a variety of health settings that provide patient health services. With the use of health services there has to be some type of health information exchange or system that will enable users to exchange data. Today there are networks that do this. Some of these networks are Community health information network (CHIN), Regional health information network (RHINO), National Health Information Network (NHIN) and Health Information technology for economic and clinical health act (HITECH Act). The purpose of this paper is to identify these networks, discuss the relationship among each other and lastly, explain their relationship to formation of a patient-centered management system and electronic health records (EHRs).
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
The adjective "virtual," practically unheard-of a few years ago, has without a doubt become the number one buzzword of the nineteen-nineties. Virtual reality has become a catch phrase for the interactive multimedia technologies that have supplanted desktop publishing at the cutting edge of personal-computer graphics technology. The virtual communities which for years have flourished in comfortable obscurity on the Internet, have recently been thrust into the glare of publicity as commercial gateways have opened up the net to the public, while virtual corporations have transformed the world of business.
Technology is a driving force in our society. People can now manage their bank accounts, pay bills, and get their news with the click of the mouse. It only makes sense that the health care industry would join in on these web-based initiatives. More and more providers are using online patient portals as a means for communicating with patients and allowing them to have access to important health information. While patient portals are still in their emerging stages, positive results are being reported from patients and healthcare professionals alike. Online patient portals allow more effective communications between patients and their healthcare professionals by developing stronger, more utilized relationships and by creating a way to get information out to patients more efficiently. Through this enhanced communication there will be patients that are more actively engaged in their treatment, have stronger relationships with their healthcare professionals, and in many cases have improved medical conditions.
Most patient portals are linked to one physician’s office, which means that most patients will have to log on to numerous medical providers portals. Lets take a family of three in consideration. They would have to log on the Pediatrician, the Gynecologist and the Family doctor patient portals to obtain their medical information. Although one of the benefits of Patient Portal is that patients can send questions by way of email. It may become a challenge deciphering what a patient is asking. There is also the risk of giving incorrect information in response to a patient’s question. Systems have to be set up using a delivery system that guarantees emails have been received, viewed and responded to. Another set of challenges is related to clinicians and staff who have concerns about managing online communication. Providers are concerned that e-mail and web would add to their workload rather than substitute for other tasks, and that many messages might not be clinically relevant. (Slabodkin, 2015) In addition, there is currently little consensus about the rules of patient-provider online interactions and the important role that can be played by staff in responding to certain types of messages. In general, patients are unaccustomed to online communication in clinic settings. Another important challenge is the growing digital gap in the community. Not everyone has a computer or even access to a computer. It’s hard to believe, but there is a
The internet is connecting health care organizations, physicians, and patients through an array of elaborate networks. Regardless of the size and type of healthcare organization, stakeholders see the need to share patient information and to make the information readily available for clinical and non-clinical staff. Streamlining the sharing of patient information through electronic health care records increases the quality of care, thus allowing the physician to focus on diagnosing the patient. To facilitate the communication and sharing of health care information the industry is developing community health information networks (CHIN) incorporating a telecommunication and networking capabilities linking health care communities and stakeholders (Tan & Payton, 2010). As a result, health care networks are consolidating a fragmented system and standardizing the flow of medical information.
There are vast of tools are available healthcare specialists, like, blogs, micro blogs, Wikipedia to enhance professional networking, care and education of patient but there is risk for healthcare providers and patients such as poor quality information, lick the personal information
Social interaction community is the group of people that get together for the same interest and they are often professional group. Besides they have their designed
The traditional way of socializing limits our ability to meet other people around the world. Virtual interactions offers a more possible means to communicate in today's society. Furthermore, the growth of the video game community such as in the genre of MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) allows for a high level medium that enable individuals to create small factions and perform social interactions. According to Bishop, "The existence of such communities is often brought about by people who share similar goals, beliefs or values, with such commonality forming the basis of an agreement to form and sustain a virtual existence" (1). Having shared similar goals...
This paper will provide a hypothetical discussion of how each of the four “worldviews” (post-positivism, constructivism, advocacy/participatory, and pragmatism) might apply to the proposed study. It will refer to the topic paper developed during the class RSH9101B (Research Topic, Problem, Purpose, and Questions) with the assistance of Dr. Kenneth Gossett, class mentor. The portion of the Topic Paper to be used will be the problem statement, which will provide the foundation for this discussion and completion of this assignment. This discussion ultimately will lead to the strengthening of this research and the understanding for the need of better researches to help today’s virtual organizations.
Are there really such things as “online communities?” Can you form friendships with the people you come across in an online community? There are many claims that there are such things as online communities. That is true if you classify a community as “a group of people having common interests” (Dictionary.com) but having a common interest did not play a significant role in the forum I worked with. Online communities can be overrated and not meet the standards for which they are intended if the people participating do not follow the proposed rules and are not there for the correct reasons. In fact, when I was in the Teen Chat room no one talked about fashion, which is the topic of the site. In the discussion forum, some of the posts were off of the subject. Some online communities may appropriately be classified as a “community”, but the teen forum that I participated in was not a virtual community. Online communities are not physical places, instead they are a state of mind; a place which exists only in the mind of the participant.
Virtual corporations have some major characteristics (Judith, 2002, quoted in Byrne. n.d.) as following state: technology, excellence, opportunism, trust and no borders. Technology makes distance no longer a problem while entrepreneurs or companies far away from, due to the computer networks link people all over the world. Excellence was showed by each partner bringing its core competencies to the corporation, which can exert all advantages. Companies make alliances for specific market opportunity and this is a more efficiency work way than any others. Members in a virtual organization must trust their partners due to they meet the need by cooperating. The new communication ways were brought by computer networks, which blur the traditional hierarchies and boundaries.
Internet has become a vital element in people daily lifestyles. People use smart phones, tablets, laptops or computers to access Internet. By the first decade of the 21st century, many Internet users use faster broadband Internet access technologies. As the Internet users grow, one of the Internet phenomenons that can be seen is social networking. Basically, people use social media to interact among people where they create, share or exchange information in virtual communities and networks.
I aimlessly wondered the Internet trying to find a community suitable for me. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I have many interests, but I really don’t have a strong passion for something. So I decided to join a community in which I could express myself as a teen and talk about general issues. I joined the mtv.com community. There I expressed my thoughts on everything, ranging from music to daily events that shape our world. There I had a chance to share my opinions and beliefs, as others posted their thoughts and perspectives on certain subjects. Online communities are rather congruent to offline ones. They are both appealing yet displeasing at the same time.
In order to gain a better perspective of online communities I had no other choice but to join one. I looked at several different sites such as MSN.com and YAHOO.com that had discussion boards available to join but I just couldn’t find one that fit my interests. I then logged onto MTV.com where I found a discussion board all about my favorite TV show: The Real World. The board was a community of people who shared a common interest in the show and could come together to discuss its characters and storyline.