Conference to focus on effective health care communication through technology

Nothing is more important to us at the Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic than the health and well-being of the teens and young adults who turn to our network of seven Houston area clinics for their health care needs.

The focus of the Teen Health Clinic is providing community-oriented primary and reproductive care to young men and women, ages 13 to 23, at little or no cost.

We realized several years ago that to effectively communicate our important health messages – which includes practicing safe sex and getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV – we needed to communicate in the same way that our patients do.

That’s how we entered into the world of social media, texting, blogging, videoing and more – ways of communicating that are second nature to our patients. We were fortunate to get support and funding from the Spirit Golf Association, headed by Corbin Robertson Jr., a member of the Baylor College of Medicine board of trustees.

We have learned so much, but there is still so much more to learn, because as everyone knows, technology is always changing. We’re happy to be able to share the latest in using technology in health care with other health care providers in Houston, throughout the state and beyond at our fifth annual technology conference.

2013 conference experience

This year’s conference, “The Use of Emerging Technologies for Healthcare Messages,” will be held April 2-3 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the United Way of Greater Houston.

Topics that will be discussed include:

• New social media for effective health education and communication
• Benefits of using new media to interact with clients and promote community health
• Effects of using new technologies on health programs

Conference speakers include Michael Fergusson, CEO of Ayogo Games, Rachel Kachur, health communication specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Lawrence Swiader, director of digital media at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Read more about conference topics and the lineup of speakers and register for the conference.

-By Dr. Peggy Smith and Dr. Ruth Buzi