Opening Plenary Session Explores The Role of Social Media in Health Care Delivery

Nicholas Christakis, MD, Ph.D., MPH

Internationally noted expert and author Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, Ph.D,, MPH, opened the Heart Rhythm Society’s 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions Wednesday with an intriguing presentation, “Social Networks and Their Impact on Patient Care,” in which he described how these networks affect the behavior and wellbeing of the seriously ill.

Dr. Christakis, co-author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, specializes in how social factors affect health care delivery and overall patient health. His pioneering studies and research have implications for understanding why people become sick and how they use medical care to get better.

He currently focuses on how the illness, disability, health behavior, health care, or death of one person can influence the same experiences in others and how that information can impact clinical and policy decisions to improve patient care.

By applying network science and mathematical models, Dr. Christakis works to understand the dynamics of health in evolving networks, like how behaviors such as unhealthy eating, smoking, or drinking spread within networks. Finding answers to questions such as those has deep implications for public health policy.

“Social networking is becoming increasingly important. As we gather here in Boston for Heart Rhythm 2012, we each will be networking with our colleagues and friends. In addition, when we return home after the meeting, we will network with our families and staff and share the new information we have learned. Social networks are also important for our patients, and can impact their health.” noted Hugh Calkins, MD, FHRS, CCDS, Program Chair of the 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions in his introduction of Dr. Christakis.

Dr. Christakis, professor of medical sociology in the Department of Health Care Policy and professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, trained as both an internist and social scientist. He is one of fewer than 10 people in the United States trained as both a sociologist (Ph.D.) and a physician.

In 2009, Time magazine named Dr. Christakis to its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2009 and in 2010, he was listed by Foreign Policy magazine in their annual list of Top 100 Global Thinkers.

Learn more about Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, Ph.D., MPH and his work »