
Ask HN: Chatrooms/Social Networks for hospitals? - hsikka
Do patients have some social tool to connect with other patients and chat with them? I imagine it would be a useful tool.
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DoreenMichele
This actually has bad idea written all over it.

I've spent lots of time on medical support lists. There is nothing worse than
getting a bunch of cranky, miserable, doped to the gills sick people together
who all want to demand that they be the person being accommodated because they
are so fucking miserable, as if no one else's misery counts.

On some shitty, shitty forum I used to spend time, they liked to promote this
concept of "comfort in, dump out" which posits that one person gets to play
the victim card and everyone else must cater to their needs. It's a popular
but totally broken mental model and it goes utterly kablooie when everyone in
the group has a serious health issue.

In practice, you can't have useful, meaningful discussion about what works
because everyone is walking on eggshells to avoid setting off the most
incompetent and histrionic members who absolutely don't want to hear that if
they did X, they might not be so sick because that's "blaming the victim."

Furthermore, there can be germ control issues with bringing your tech into a
hospital setting. It introduces challenges to sterilizing everything while
there and it can mean you carry hospital infections with you when you leave.
Some wards will not allow you to bring in tech because it can interfere with
their tech, like heart monitors.

People in the hospital having surgery or under quarantine for infections can
be given a long list of restrictions for purposes of germ control while there.

Furthermore, the tech already exists. From Twitter to Facebook to email lists
and more, there are plenty of online social spaces and I have done my share of
virtual handholding for an internet friend stuck in the hospital with a direly
ill child. You don't need a special space for this. In fact, a special space
for this tends to be a worst case scenario. It's better to chat with your
knitting buddies online or whatever than to impose on other sick people
exclusively.

/2cents

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rajacombinator
Agreed, awful idea. Interaction with other patients is one of the last things
anyone wants in a hospital setting.

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jrowley
That's an interesting idea. In the mental health out patient space there is
Supportiv ([http://www.supportiv.com/](http://www.supportiv.com/)), but they
are still getting off the ground. Good people.

For hospitals, I'd be nervous about the legal implications of implementing
such a platform - specifically HIPAA, since you'd be facilitating the
communication.

I like the idea, as it could be useful for building communities for patients
that could otherwise become isolated and non social (which can effect health
outcomes).

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dangwu
Why is there a need for a specific tool for this, instead of just some
facebook group, message board, Skype, Discord, etc.?

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gesman
Possibly for a micro, campus-based local community that has something in
common and temporarily are located in proximity to each other.

No necessarily "dating" or "by interest" groups - but it could be a great idea
for someone who just admitted to "learn secrets" and ask questions to someone
who been there for 2 weeks or so.

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pictur
I think it's hard to be done reliably. it would be very useful if done.

