Social networking among upper extremity patients

Prevalence of internet and social media usage in orthopedic surgery

Prior studies in other specialties have shown that social networking and Internet usage has become an increasingly important means of patient communication and referral. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of Internet or social media usage in new patients referred to a major academic orthopedics center and to identify new avenues to optimize patient recruitment and communication. New patients were surveyed (n=752) between December 2012 to January 2013 in a major academic orthopaedic center to complete a 15-item questionnaire including social media and Internet usage information. Data was collected for all orthopaedic sub-specialties and statistical analysis was performed. Fifty percent of patients use social networking sites, such as Facebook. Sports medicine patients tend to be higher social networking users (35.9%) relative to other services (9.8-17.9%) and was statistically higher when compared to the joints/tumor service (P<0.0001). Younger age was the biggest indicator predicting the use of social media. Patients that travelled between 120 to 180 miles from the hospital for their visits were significantly more likely to be social media users, as were patients that did research on their condition prior to their new patient appointment. We conclude that orthopedic patients who use social media/Internet are more likely to be younger, researched their condition prior to their appointment and undergo a longer average day’s travel (120-180 miles) to see a physician. In an increasingly competitive market, surgeons with younger patient populations will need to utilize social networking and the Internet to capture new patient referrals.

Twitter as a communication tool for orthopedic surgery

Twitter is a social networking Web site that has changed the way information is communicated. This study involved identifying, categorizing, and reviewing orthopedic Twitter profiles. A total of 412 profiles were identified. Of those, 176 (50.3%) were surgeons; 89 (50.5%) were based in the United States and 77 (43.8%) were not (10 unclassified). Most surgeons were young; 66% of surgeons were board certified within the past 10 years. Only a small percentage of orthopedic surgeons and practices currently use Twitter, but the use of social networking for orthopedic communication is likely to play an increasing role in future clinical practice.