Features
Welcome to the
Digital World
Over the past two decades, social media
has become an integral part of everyday
lives, with millions of people using it as an
avenue for keeping in touch with family
and friends, receiving news and product
recommendations, and – with varying
outcomes – asking questions about health
conditions. Doctors aren’t any different:
More than 75,000 health-care profession-
als are on Twitter, posting an average of
152,000 tweets per day. 1
But investigators, basic scientists, and
clinicians are using social media for much
different purposes than the general public.
Some may consult with a colleague about
a perplexing pathology image or case or
providing a 280-character-or-less summary
of a newly published peer-reviewed journal
article. For many doctors, social media has
also become another tool to reach for in
the clinic, thanks to the ubiquity of mobile
devices: According to a 2017 study, 88 per-
cent of doctors report using a smartphone
or tablet in the clinical setting, typically to
access information for patient care. 2
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ASH Clinical News
So, everyone and his or her doctor
is on social media – now what? ASH
Clinical News spoke with clinicians and
investigators about how hematologists
are using social media, its benefits and
limitations, and how it affects their prac-
tice and patient relationships.
Endless Applications
During the first week of December, more
than 25,000 hematologists convened in
San Diego for the 2018 American Society
of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting,
and many more could check in virtually
by following the more than 29,000 tweets
tagged #ASH18 on social media. The
growing use of social media was the focus
of a special-interest session at the meeting.
As session chair and chair of the
ASH Committee on Communications
Aaron Gerds, MD, MS (@AaronG-
erds), from the Leukemia Program at
Cleveland Clinic, said, “Whatever you
want social media to do for you, it can
do.” For the speakers at this session, that
includes patient interaction, medical
education, networking, and even career
advancement.
One panelist, Amber Yates, MD
(@sicklecelldoc), a pediatric hematolo-
gist from Texas Children’s Hospital in
Houston, said that the main benefit of
social media for her practice “is that it
allows doctors to meet patients where
they are.” Unfortunately, where they are
may be a site of misinformation.
For example, in the past decade, the
U.S. has seen a resurgence of diseases
once thought to be nearly or completely
eradicated, due largely in part to the anti-
vaccination movement. While the contro-
versy over vaccinations has existed as long
as the vaccines themselves, the campaign
escalated and spread worldwide in recent
years – largely through misinformation
shared on social media outlets.
An analysis from 2018 showed that 60
percent of the information about influ-
enza vaccines shared on social networks
such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
January 2019