Who: Dr. Bryan Vartabedian
Blog: 33 Charts
About the blogger: Vartabedian is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Texas Children's Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine who covers the convergence of social media and medicine.
What makes this blog so fierce? Vartabedian has one of the clearest, most readable blogs in healthcare. He takes a strong position, saying physicians have an obligation to be in the online space. One example he gives is the need to drown out the misleading vocal minority on search engines that links vaccines and autism. If each of the 60,000 pediatricians created some kind of content with reliable information, "we would rule the search engines," he writes.
Focus: Social media and medicine. Recent posts looked at Doximity, the physician's LinkedIn; what hospitals can do to help physicians get involved in health messaging; tips on the care and handling of doctors when you're talking about social media.
Quote: From a blog that calls for doctors to stop being socially anonymous: "Anonymity makes you say stupid things. When you're shouting from the crowd it's easy to talk smack. Come up to the podium, clear your throat and say something intelligent. You're a physician, not a hooligan...Being a weenie is no excuse. Just as you're unlikely to consult a lawyer before speaking at a cocktail party, commenting as Dr. You is unlikely to kill you or land you in court. Just a couple of pointers: Don't talk about patients, help people out and be nice. Trust me, I'm a doctor."