25 Best Twitter Feeds to Follow the Health Care Debate

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September 2, 2009

The health care debate has not left the news and is likely to remain a hot topic for some time now. With a divided government arguing over a seemingly endless stream of issues, the public reacting more intensely, and health care professionals voicing their concerns over the current state of health care, it can feel chaotic to follow the issues sometimes. Luckily, there are excellent resources available on Twitter to help you make sense of it all. With Twitter feeds written by doctors, politicians, journalists, and consultants, these posts will provide you with all the latest news and opinion without all the confusion.

1. @2healthguru. Ever wonder how telemedicine, online social networking, and the death of primary care factor into the health care reform debate? Then you should check out the tweets on Gregg Masters’ Twitter feed for these issues and more.
2. @ahier. This health care IT specialist has a passion for health care reform. His tweets often touch on patient rights, what the government says about health care, finances surrounding health care, and more.
3. @AHLAlerts. American Health Line delivers several health news stories each day. Their Twitter feed features the nonpartisan reports collected from a number of various types of news media.
4. @AMDALTCMedicine. AMDA Long Term Care Medicine posts plenty of information about health care reform as it relates to older Americans. Included are some of the reasons why there has been confusion over health care reform issues, reform and Medicare and advanced care planning provisions in reform.
5. @Cardiology. This Twitter feed is from the American College of Cardiology’s Advocacy Department and the CardioAdvocacy Network. They include a hefty amount of information on the health care debate, including many articles highlighting the news and issues as well as some of the events their organizations have hosted.
6. @consultdoc. Mark Browne is an experienced physician executive and consultant who tweets about several of the issues surrounding the healthcare debate. Much of what Browne focuses on has to do with the financial aspect of medical care and its repercussions.
7. @CWAHealthCare. The largest union for communications and media, CWA promotes their progressive platform on health care issues via their posts on this feed. They include articles and other information backing health care reform.
8. @doctorty. Tyeese Gaines Reid is a physician-journalist who shares her work on health care reform and also provides links to other news stories surrounding the issues.
9. @DrSchurger. While most of Dr. Schurger’s tweets focus on medical news and wellness issues, he also provides a fair amount of health care reform information on his feed.
10. @Drsforamerica. This grassroots effort by physicians across America is working to get health care reform passed this year. Check out their feed for articles, facts, and conversation with individuals and other health care reform proponents.
11. @EdKimMD. Dr. Ed Kim posts a blend of medical information from his background in psychiatry and issues that play a role in the health care debate on his feed.
12. @fsgoldstein. As you would expect from the President of US Preventative Medicine, Fred Goldstein’s posts on his Twitter feed often come from the perspective of health care reform issues and maintaining wellness.
13. @Health_Affairs. Policy analysts and health care professionals contribute to the blog from which this feed is based. The topics are all about health care reform and frequently focus on systemic problems that have contributed to many of the current health care problems.
14. @healthcarecpa. With a balanced combination of his own opinion and articles and posts from a variety of other sources, Mary Brown, a health care consultant, shares plenty about the health care debate on his feed.
15. @HealthCareRenew. A collaborative effort, this Twitter feed is an extension of their blog, which is written by several contributors. The feed and the blog examine threats to the core values of the health care system, with a particular eye on those in power abusing the system.
16. @kevinmd. Dr. Kevin Pho tweets about health care reform as well as other medical issues. Dr. Pho has been on NPR discussing his views on health care reform and also writes a blog that elaborates more fully on his ideas about health issues.
17. @mmfa. Media Matters for America is a media watchdog group and research and information center. They monitor what is being said in the media and work to correct any misleading or false information. Their Twitter feed is full of updates on the media coverage and the information given to the public on the health care debate.
18. @NancyMetcalf. Nancy Metcalf covers health care issues and health care reform for Consumer Reports. Her Twitter feed is filled with information and articles discussing the health care debate.
19. @NEJM. The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine provides this Twitter feed that examines many of the health care issues being debated.
20. @ObamaNews. This unofficial Twitter feed provides links to news stories relating to news and information coming out of the White House. Many of the recent posts have included information on the health care debate.
21. @PlatteInstitute. A think tank for public policy alternatives in Nebraska, Platte Institute considers policies that favor limited government and personal responsibility. Follow their feed to see what they have to say about health care reform in both Nebraska and for the country as a whole.
22. @postdailydose. Ceci Connolly is a national staff writer at The Washington Post who writes about health care reform. She relates important news stories concerning these issues via her Twitter feed.
23. @RWV4HealthCare. Raising Women’s Voices is a group working to ensure that health care reform addresses the needs of women. Find a good mix of reports, articles, and events supporting health care reform on this feed.
24. @SalonMedia. Salon is an online news and entertainment website that has created a faithful following due to its consistently high quality writing and reporting. Among other Salon articles and information, their Twitter feed includes reports from Salon itself as well as retweets from others discussing the health care issues.
25. @SenateDoctors. Republican senators John Barrasso, MD and Tom Coburn, MD answer questions about health care reform on their Twitter feed and blog.