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Social media in medicine: A game changer?

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Mathew P M Graham-Brown at University of Leicester
Mathew P M Graham-Brown
Tom Oates at Barts Health NHS Trust
Tom Oates
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NDT Digest
Social media in medicine: a game changer?
Matthew P.M. Graham-Brown
1
and Tom Oates
2
1
John Walls Renal Unit, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UK and
2
University College London Centre for Nephrology,
London, UK
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Matthew P.M. Graham-Brown; E-mail: mpmgb1@le.ac.uk
Keywords: medicine and nephrology, social media,
social network
A DIGITAL AGE
In the 1990s, the arrival of the Internet to homes, coupled with
the affordability of personal computers, revolutionized both
how we communicate and how we access information, goods
and services. Organizations that developed an online presence
prospered, while those who were late to the party were left
behind. The birth of social media (SoMe) represents a second
digital revolution in as many decades, driven in part by
improvements in mobile technology.
SoMe refers to user-driven content posted on social network
sites. The ‘media’ shared by users may be blog posts, photos,
graphics and videos. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
and Instagram are products of the SoMe age and have con-
nected the world like never before. It is estimated that 70% of
Internet users are active on at least one SoMe platform [1]and
Facebook alone has >1 billion users.
The effective use of SoMe platforms to define and publicize
activities and interact with stakeholders is a key part of modern
corporate strategy. Medicine should be no different, and the
potential for SoMe to enhance and influence the way medical
professionals work is no longer a future possibility, it is a cur-
rent reality. In this article we discuss how medical professionals
and patients are using SoMe to enhance communication and
professional networks, the educational value in SoMe enter-
prises and the possibilities of using SoMe to conduct public
health research.
NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATION
SoMe is uniquely placed to facilitate the formation of global net-
works of health professionals, allowing the exchange of ideas,
sharing of resources and building of relationships in a way that
would have been impossible 20years ago. Professional organiza-
tions have started to develop SoMe channels to update members
and users and build interactive communities. National and inter-
national meetings are now routinely discussed and reported in
real time by SoMe users in attendance. This broadens the reach,
power and influence of the meetings, allowing non-attenders to
contribute and thus enriching experience and deepening learning.
Almost all medical journals now promote articles with SoMe, and
‘altmetric’ scoring (which tracks the influence and reach of
articles through SoMe channels) is becoming an increasingly
important metric for journals and academic institutions [2].
However, medical professional networks are far from the
most powerful form of health care social networking. SoMe
peer-to-peer support groups are becoming a staple method for
patients to learn about their disease. Social networking sites sup-
port interaction between groups of individuals and foster com-
munities that are not limited by geography, the rarity of a
disease or an ability to attend meetings. Facebook groups offer
private or open forums through which patients can easily find
and share experiences and resources, discuss treatment options
and side effects and support and learn from each other. These
groups may be for common [3] or rare [4] diseases or to support
groups undergoing a common therapy [5], but all groups can
benefit from interaction and engagement from medical profes-
sionals. Indeed, some Twitter communities have been set up
specifically to facilitate interaction between medical professio-
nals and patients in a completely open platform [6]. Patient
SoMe support groups derive enormous benefit from the
involvement of medical professionals and there are several
‘common sense’ guidelines outlining professional conduct for
those wishing to engage with patients through SoMe [7]. It is
incumbent upon all medical professionals who engage in public
SoMe to act responsibly and maintain professional standards in
the public domain, regardless of whether they choose to interact
with patients.
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V
CThe Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press
on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved. 1
Nephrol Dial Transplant (2017) 00: 1–3
doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfx276
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ndt/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ndt/gfx276/4460108/Social-media-in-medicine-a-game-changer
by University of Leicester user
on 13 October 2017
MEDICAL EDUCATION AND CONTINUED
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The sharing of information, ideas and approaches on SoMe has
educational benefits in and of itself, but emerging bespoke edu-
cational resources are challenging accepted learning models
and offering educators opportunities to innovate. As long as
scrupulous attention is paid to patient confidentiality, the shar-
ing of clinical cases and pathologic images through SoMe chan-
nels, and the discussion that results, is becoming an established
educational tool [8]. International SoMe journal clubs are grow-
ing in number, quality and reputation. Nephrology boasts
@NephJC, one of the largest and most active journal clubs on
Twitter, which meets twice a month to discuss recent publica-
tions from across the specialty [9]. Collaborative and competi-
tive international educational ‘games’, such as the month-long
educational initiative #NephMadness, are not only reshaping
postgraduate education but are also an outstanding opportunity
to network with like-minded individuals (Figure 1). While it is
accepted that empirical evidence is still required to demonstrate
additive educational benefit from such programmes, the poten-
tial and need for research is clear [10].
PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH
Most posts and interactions on social networking sites are open
access. As a result, the opportunities to improve patient care
through the ethical extraction and use of SoMe health data are
significant [11]. The US Food and Drug Administration has
used SoMe to track the spread of communicable diseases and
monitor adverse medication events. Furthermore, algorithms to
remotely identify and diagnose patients with rare diseases are
being developed and evaluated [12].
SoMe is a potent enabler of two-way communication, there-
fore data extraction represents use of only half of this potential
power. Once the needs of health communities have been identi-
fied, open source resources can be created in partnership with
patients to meet these needs and disseminated by SoMe plat-
forms. Studies exploring ways of using SoMe health campaigns as
an intervention to improve the health of discrete populations are
now in progress [13]. The low cost, negligible infrastructure and
low maintenance needs of such projects are attractive to funding
bodies, health institutions and government.
CONCLUSIONS
Medical professionals must not be afraid of SoMe or of encour-
aging their patients to seek support through SoMe channels.
While it is essential to maintain professional standards when
interacting with others on social networks, the opportunities for
personal, professional and public benefit outweigh any per-
ceived risks. Those of us who use SoMe already know it has
changed the game for the medical community and we encour-
age everyone to jump in.
FIGURE 1: #NephMadness is an annual evidence-based, non-commercial, medical education game hosted by the American Journal of Kidney
Disease blog. It uses the tools and interactivity of SoMe and the structure of a competitive game to teach the latest advances and the most
important breakthroughs in nephrology. Players have open access to 32 blog posts written about a specific, topical area in nephrology by
experts in the field. These address controversies and developments from eight different topic areas and players complete their ‘brackets’, select-
ing hierarchically which topics are the most important when pitted against each other. A panel of experts then determines the actual winners
and losers of each round sequentially until an ultimate winner is declared. The results spark conversation and discussion that is played out on
SoMe (particularly Twitter), which deepens and cements learning. Figure designed by Joel Topf and Matt Sparks and used with their permis-
sion. Full details of #NephMadness are available at https://ajkdblog.org/2017/03/03/nephmadness-101/ (3 September 2017, date last accessed).
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2M.P.M. Graham-Brown and T. Oates
NDT DIGEST
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ndt/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ndt/gfx276/4460108/Social-media-in-medicine-a-game-changer
by University of Leicester user
on 13 October 2017
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
None declared.
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Received: 25.8.2017; Editorial decision: 25.8.2017
Social media in medicine 3
NDT DIGEST
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ndt/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ndt/gfx276/4460108/Social-media-in-medicine-a-game-changer
by University of Leicester user
on 13 October 2017
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  • NEPHROLOGY
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