Is Google's New Social Media Offering a Facebook Killer?

Are you one of the lucky ones who has received an early invite to join Google+?

We start July with much dreaded proposals for new or additional cuts to Medicare and Medicaid payments to physicians and hospitals. The proposed cuts would certainly put more pressure on a system in which doctors already hesitate to see children with Medicaid and CHIP. As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) grapples with this, Donald Berwick’s tenure as Administrator begins to draws to a close.

On a brighter note, if you want to stay abreast on the use of social media in healthcare, there is an informative weekly chat occurring every Sunday evening (8:00pm CT) on Twitter. The chat is open to anyone interested in the topic and you don’t have to register to participate. Plus, previous chats are archived, so if you missed a topic that you want to know more about, you can review the chat… I just did and learned about some features of Google+, which I haven’t been able to join and use yet due to high demand.

What is Google+? According to media outlets, it’s Google’s answer to Facebook. If you’re waiting to be able to use your Google account to log in, the system will notify you when that’s possible; for right now, the story seems to be “hurry up and wait.”

Are you one of the lucky people who jumped on an invitation early on?