Social Media in Medicine
“What your
bosses and
chairs are
looking for is
impact. ... I rarely
see a patient
who doesn’t
say, ‘I saw your
videos, and
that’s part of
the reason why
I came to see
you.’”
—RUBEN MESA, MD
reference apps, the Kettering Cancer Cen-
ter’s About Herbs app, through a Facebook
patient group. “So many families are start-
ing to ask about herbs and supplements
and I never had a great resource that I felt
confident in,” she said. Before discovering
the app, a patient would ask about an herb
or supplement and she would have to con-
duct her own research and then get back to
the patient at the next visit. Now, she can
address the question as soon as it comes up.
But patients don’t always present just
like the cases in the textbooks or reference
apps. That’s where apps like Figure 1 come
in. The photo- and knowledge-sharing
app, sometimes referred to as “Instagram
for doctors,” allows health-care profes-
sionals to upload photos and information
about certain cases; other users can com-
ment and discuss possible diagnoses or
treatment options.
Josh Landy, MD (@joshualandy),
a critical care specialist and founder of
Figure 1, told ASH Clinical News that the
idea for the app came from his experi-
ences during training. “I realized that the
clinical discussions of patients being seen
by med students or residents that were
just happening over email and text could
be amazing teaching resources,” he said.
The app has become a go-to resource for
challenging cases, he noted. “If I have a
case that is not in the textbooks, I use
Figure 1.”
Figure 1 is available in 19 countries
and boasts millions of users. Next year,
developers will be adding new features
that allow doctors to answer multiple
choice questions to prepare for board
exams in hematology and hematology/
oncology. Doctors will also be able to
receive continuing medical education
credit for completing questions.
Of course, with any social media or
application where sharing clinical cases
occurs, the number-one concern among
the community is compliance with
HIPAA regulations. “The best way to keep
a secret is not to know it,” Dr. Landy said,
noting that “absolutely no identifying
information can be found on Figure 1.”
These are valid concerns, Dr. Gardner
agreed, but they should not prevent wary
doctors from participating in social me-
dia. In an article called “Keep Calm and
Tweet On,” Dr. Gardner investigated such
concerns among pathologists by search-
ing for records of individuals being sued
for sharing medical images on social
media. The authors failed to find a single
record of a user being sued for shar-
ing images, as long as the images were
de-identified and shared for educational
purposes.
“If you use a little common sense, I
think most doctors can stay out of trouble,”
Dr. Gardner said, but, for the risk-averse
who are still concerned, he and Eve Crane,
MD, PhD (@evemariecrane), a hemato-
pathologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who
posts slide images for her Twitter followers
to discuss, published guidelines for pathol-
ogy image-sharing in the American Journal
of Ethics. 9
“More Than Likes and Tweets”
Social media has played a large role in
expanding doctors’ knowledge, and, as non-
traditional educational resources are being
accepted as valid tools alongside traditional
peer-reviewed publications, some doctors
are finding that participation in social media
also is expanding their careers.
In his presentation at the ASH annual
meeting, Dr. Mesa posed the question
many doctors may be asking themselves:
“Why does my boss want me to get on
social media?” The answer? Impact.
“What your bosses and chairs are looking
for is impact,” he said, and social media is
the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that
you are reaching patients. As an example,
Dr. Mesa discussed a patient-directed video
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