Social Media and Medicine: 2014 Update and Future Impacts on Healthcare

Social media has become present in nearly all aspects of our lives today. As of January 2014, 58% of all American adults own a smartphone and nearly 85% have at least one type of mobile device, according to the Pew Internet Project.¹

Development of mobile applications for social media access on these devices has expanded reach (and subsequent impact) even further. Most Fortune 500 companies and elite business executives have been visionary and very quick to adopt many social media outlets — this adoption has resulted in significant growth and marketing leverage. Physicians and other healthcare professionals have been much slower to enter the world of social media. Concerns over patient confidentiality, medico-legal issues, and the perceived time commitment required for a successful social media campaign have contributed to a low adoption rate among medical professionals. 

However, we are beginning to see a shift in physician attitude, and more healthcare professionals are beginning to slowly explore social media and its potential applications in medicine. In fact, at this year’s ACC.14 and Heart Rhythm 2014 conferences, sessions focusing on social media utilization have been included as part of the overall scientific program. 

WHO EXACTLY IS USING SOCIAL MEDIA?

Social media represents a new space where the majority of our patients can now be found. Data from 2013 shows that social media utilization continues to grow among the general population. According to ShareThis and the Pew Research Center, approximately 73% of all Internet users access and actively participate in social media on a daily basis.² More than 75% of all social media users access their accounts via a mobile device. Certainly, as we might expect, utilization is very high among younger Americans, with nearly 90% of all 18- to 29-year-olds participating in at least one social media outlet. More telling, however, is that over 60% of Americans in the 50- to 60-year-old age group are actively engaged in social media. Even more impressive: nearly 50% of those over the age of 65 are also daily users of at least one social media outlet. 

Over the last decade, we have become familiar with a new type of patient — the electronic or e-patient — who are consumers that actively engage in their own healthcare. They frequently use the Internet to research medical conditions and therapies, and often use electronic tools in order to better cope with their disease. With the increasingly common presence of the electronic patient (e-patient), we are seeing and interacting with patients who are incredibly web savvy and very adept at navigating social media outlets. 

WHAT TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS ARE WE SPENDING THE MOST TIME ON?

There are many opportunities to interact via social media — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, blog sites, and Pinterest are some of the more popular outlets. Many users actively engage in more than one platform on a daily basis. 

Facebook remains the top performer. Currently there are over one billion users worldwide,³ and statistical research shows almost 2.5 billion pieces of content are shared on a daily basis. Facebook users are extremely active; 63% of users log in to their account at least once a day,⁴ and 73% access their accounts via one or more mobile devices. 

Twitter utilization continues to grow as well. According to data posted by Twitter.com, there are more than 241 million monthly active users, and 500 million tweets are sent every single day.⁵ Twitter has become popular among business executives; approximately 83% of all Fortune 500 companies have an active Twitter presence, and nearly 420 C-level executives have their own active accounts as well. As with Facebook, almost 76% of users access their Twitter account via a mobile device or tablet. More impressive is the fact that Twitter users in the 55- to 64-year-old age group have increased by 79% in the last year. 

YouTube continues to grow and has roughly one billion unique visitors each month. Video is the fasting growing Internet medium — video is mainstream and able to reach a nearly unlimited pool of users. The Pew Research Center has collected a lot of data on social media outlets including YouTube. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, YouTube is accessed via mobile devices about 40% of the time — this may be related to its video-specific content and a desire to view these videos on larger, more high-resolution screens.⁶ Video interactions are growing in popularity and provide a very effective way to engage customers, patients, and colleagues. Interestingly, in 2013 YouTube reached more 18- to 34-year-olds than any single cable television network. An impressive 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute.⁶ In the U.S. alone, 1.6 billion videos are watched each day. Moreover, data from Google and other prominent search engines suggests that video content increases the chances for a “page one” search listing hit by 53 times. 

Blogs are also an important part of social media. There are more than 6.7 million people who are contributing to blogging sites today. Popular sites include WordPress, Blogspot and US Blogger. Notably, more than 77% of Internet users read blogs on a weekly (or even more frequent basis). Bloggers write in order to share expertise, increase exposure, gain recognition, and attract new customers (or, in the case of medicine, patients or referring physicians). 

HOW IS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACTING MEDICINE?

In medicine, although we have been slow to adapt the use of social media outlets for professional use, we have made great strides over the last year. The development of social media centers of excellence such as the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media (MCCSM) and the Social Media Health Network (https://network.socialmedia.mayoclinic.org/) has set the standard for social media education in medicine. The MCCSM offers an impressive Social Media Fellows Program for those interested in an intensive course of study. Other institutions such as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine also have begun to offer courses of study in social media.⁷ The University of California at San Francisco even offers a social media “internship” for academic credit for medical students.⁸ Finally, physician leaders and reputable academic institutions are recognizing that a social media revolution is happening in medicine — whether we want it or not — and that we must become involved and engaged in order to shape exactly how social media will impact healthcare going forward. 

Today more than ever, medicine is rapidly changing — healthcare reform, new technologies, and new advancements in the management and prevention of disease are changing the way in which we deliver care to our patients. Early physician adopters of social media recognize its power as a tool that may be used to transform healthcare and improve outcomes. Social media can help improve communication, educate patients, promote health and empower both healthcare professionals and patients alike. Clinicians and patients are beginning to realize that social media is no longer a fad — rather, it is a shift in the way in which people connect and communicate. Social media levels the playing field for physicians, nurses, patients, and other healthcare providers, and allows for a more personal (and less formal) interaction outside of a traditional clinic or hospital setting. These virtual interactions provide a forum for discussion and a place to receive and provide information and support. As evidenced by the increasingly mobile utilization of Facebook and Twitter, social media is easily accessible and does not require transportation or complicated scheduling. Today, more than 80 million patients use social media to access healthcare or obtain healthcare-related information. It is a powerful tool that can be leveraged to improve patient care and positively impact outcomes. 

WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND MEDICINE?

The future applications for social media in medicine are limitless. With the emergence of the e-patient in the last decade, more patients are web savvy and well informed. Patients now come to office visits with a baseline knowledge of their particular medical condition, which allows for a more advanced “jumping off point” for discussion. In addition, the proliferation of medical applications for smartphones has facilitated more patient engagement and co-management of disease. For example, patients are now able to track healthy habits and monitor blood sugars and daily weights — this promotes patient engagement and ultimately will improve compliance and disease-related outcomes. Collaboration among colleagues for both research and patient care activities may also be improved and streamlined via social media networking. Investigators and study sites from around the world will be able to quickly interact and share ideas and findings; this type of collaboration may actually speed up the process of discovery and the development of novel therapies. In addition, development and testing of new technologies may be easier to accomplish via professional interactions on Twitter. Investigators, entrepreneurs and clinicians may easily connect and discuss emerging technologies and aid with development. Finally, patient education can be accomplished through Twitter chats, disease-specific videos on YouTube, and Facebook support pages. Patients can receive real-time information and feedback about their disease process through multiple outlets and easily engage with others when needed. 

SUMMARY

Data from prior surveys has demonstrated that emerging physicians and medical students are high-percentage users of electronic media including Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets. As these young clinicians enter the world of medicine, they will bring with them a wealth of electronic and mobile device experience, and will certainly add to the impact of social media in medicine. In addition, older and more seasoned clinicians continue to slowly enter the electronic world; many who once scoffed at the idea of a Twitter account are issuing tweets on a daily basis. 

We must embrace social media in medicine. Social media is going to change the practice of medicine, and it is imperative that we as healthcare professionals participate now and actively shape how it will impact our patients, our practice, and our profession.

References

1. Mobile Technology Fact Sheet. Pew Research Internet Project. Available online at https://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/. Accessed March 26, 2014. 
2. Social Networking Fact Sheet. Pew Research Internet Project. Available online at https://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/. Accessed March 26, 2014. 
3. Company Info. Facebook Newroom. Available online at https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/. Accessed March 26, 2014.
4. Social Media Update 2013. Pew Research Internet Project. Available online at https://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/social-media-update-2013/. Accessed March 26, 2014.
5. About Twitter, Inc. Available online at https://about.twitter.com/company. Accessed March 26, 2014.
6. Statistics. YouTube. Available online at https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/en-GB/statistics.html. Accessed March 26, 2014.
7. Social Media. Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Available online at https://www.einstein.yu.edu/social-media/. Accessed March 26, 2014.
8. Social Media Internship for a Medical Student. UCSF Medical Education. Published August 19, 2013. Available online at https://meded.ucsf.edu/ume/social-media-internship-medical-student. Accessed March 26, 2014.