Social media usage among health care providers

Abstract

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the use of social media among healthcare workers in an attempt to identify how it affects the quality of patient care.ResultsAn anonymous survey of 35 questions was conducted in South Texas, on 366 healthcare workers. Of the 97% of people who reported owning electronic devices, 87.9% indicated that they used social media. These healthcare workers indicated that they spent approximately 1 h on social media every day. The healthcare workers below the age of 40 were more involved in social media compared to those above 40 (p < 0.05). The use of social media among physicians and nurses was noted to be identical (88% for each group), and both groups encouraged their patients to research their clinical conditions on social media (p < 0.05). A higher number of physicians reported awareness of a social media policy in their hospital compared to nurses (p < 0.05). However, a large proportion of healthcare workers (40%) were unaware of their workplace policy, which could potentially cause a privacy breach of confidential medical information. Further studies are required to evaluate specific effects of these findings on the quality of patient care.

Use of social media for communicating about critical care topics: A Norwegian cross‐sectional survey

“…The findings of active SoMe‐use are consistent with findings of SoMe‐use in the general public in Norway, and in other studies including healthcare providers, radiologists, emergency medicine physicians, and continuing medical education (CME) course participants . Only 13% reported professional development as one of the three most important reasons for using SoMe.…”

“…Only 13% reported professional development as one of the three most important reasons for using SoMe. This rather disappointing finding of low SoMe‐use for professional purposes is in contradiction with 2, but in line with 3 previous studies . There might be a potential for the use of SoMe for educational purposes in professional healthcare, but there are obvious barriers.…”

“…Younger generations, who have grown up with the internet, use SoMe more frequently (96% in the age group 16‐24 years), however, increased use is also described in older generations (23% in the age group 75‐79 years) . Education and profession could also influence use of SoMe and usage among ICU nurses and physicians could be different from the general public. ICU nurses’ and physicians’ use of SoMe and their view on SoMe‐usage for professional purposes has yet not been studied.…”

Addressing the Question of Dermatologic Manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the Lower Extremities: A Closer Look at the Available Data and Their Implications

“…A study published in 2017 stated that over 40% of the healthcare consumer population relies on social media for health-related information, with that value increased to 90% in the 18-24 age group. (14) This reality compounded with the current pandemic calls on all healthcare providers to emphasize a conscientious approach to delivering health-related information to the general public. While Dr. Lee makes it a point to note that these lesions do not necessarily imply a patient has COVID-19, the claims made in her video, which has up to this point been viewed over 520,000 times, are a concoction of selectively cropped studies and reports presented out of context.…”

Study on the Health Communication Behavior of Chinese Doctors on Network Media——Based on the Empirical Investigation of 119 Chinese Doctors

“…As a result, this has also inspired many doctors to publish and widely disseminate health information through their own microblogs, WeChat public account, website, video and other means. The spread of health information by doctors on the Internet has a more complex impact on the development of health knowledge and the formation and evolution of risk paradoxes [4][5][6][7] .…”