How Friending your Doctor Changes the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Marcia W. DiStaso, Ph.D. Chelsea Amaral Pennsylvania State University

In a world where almost everyone is online and can easily find and provide medical solace, is it a good idea to consider social media as a reliable source of healthcare?

■A 2012 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that only 44% of websites contained accurate facts about infant sleep

!■One in three American adults have gone

online to figure out a medical condition according to the 2013 Pew Health Online survey

The potential for misinformation on the Internet is high

BUT

72% of online adults use social networking sites ! 18% of online adults use Twitter ! 67% of online adults use Facebook !!

!!!!May 2013 Pew Internet: Social Networking

Social Media Use by the Public

■ The most trusted resources online are those posted by doctors (60%), followed by nurses (56%), and hospitals (55%) – 2012 Pricewaterhouse Cooper Survey !

■ 35% of practicing physicians have received friend requests from patients on their personal social media network accounts and 58% of them always reject them

– 2011 Journal of General Internal Medicine !■ The downside to doctors using social media is that

sensitive subjects like physical and mental ailments can easily be revealed by the person suffering from them or the doctor treating them

Social Media Use by Doctors

■Support doctors’ personal expression ■Enable individual doctors to have a professional

presence online ■Foster collegiality and camaraderie within the

profession ■Provide opportunity to widely disseminate public

health messages and other health communication

!!American Medical Association (AMA), Opinion 9.124 Adopted Nov. 2010

Benefits of Using Social Media

■ If physicians interact with patients on the internet, they must maintain appropriate boundaries of the patient-physician relationship in accordance with professional ethical guidelines just, as they would in any other context

■ To maintain appropriate professional boundaries physicians should consider separating personal and professional content online

!!American Medical Association (AMA), Opinion 9.124 Adopted Nov. 2010

Considerations

So…!We wanted to further understand how patients feel about connecting with their physician on social media platforms and how this connection can change their relationship with their doctor.

Methodology

■National survey of 420 adult Internet users ■Conducted November 7-9, 2013 !!■82% of respondents use social media (n=344)

Connecting

■ 26% would connect to their Dr. on Facebook (n=108) ■ 13% would connect to their Dr. on Twitter (n=52)

Willingness to Connect

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

18-29 30-44 45-60 60+

Doctor/Patient RelationshipsSocial media was found to have a minimal benefit

Social Media Influence on Relationship

0.00

0.65

1.30

1.95

2.60

18-29 30-44 45-60 60+

Only 6% felt that social media helps doctors to be perceived as an expert in their field

What would they do?

69% would read it (n=286) !59% would share it with others (n=301)

Who would read it?Gender

Males

Females

0% 19% 38% 57% 76%Age

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

18-29 30-44 45-60 60+

Young Females

Who would share it?Young Adults

0%

18%

35%

53%

70%

18-29 30-44 45-60 60+

59% would change what they post when connected with their doctor

Are you Connected?

NO

Yes

3% are connected with their doctor on Facebook ! 1% are connected with their doctor on Twitter ! 0.5% are connected with their doctor on LinkedIn

How are they connected?

Does friending your doctor change the doctor-patient relationship?

Social media has a minimal benefit in doctor-patient relationships

BUT !

Patients will read and share posts from their doctor

Recommendations

1. Create separate and professional social media accounts or maintain a low level of personal information

2. Provide social media policies for each account 3. Provide Value

▪Use a blog to provide depth to topics shared ▪Use social media accounts for content curation ▪Use gamification

Thank You !!!Marcia W. DiStaso, Ph.D. Chelsea Amaral Pennsylvania State University !Email: mwd10@psu.edu Phone: 814-863-9874