SOCIAL MEDIA AND CANCER COMMUNITIES

Matthew Katz, MD

Considerations in Clinical PracticeJune 2, 2014

Conflict of Interest

External advisor, Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media

Communications Committee, Massachusetts Medical Society

No financial links, leadership position with any healthcare or social media company

Overview

Social Media Definition Risks and Benefits in Medicine

Cancer Communities Definition and Types Focus on Twitter, LinkedIn

How it enhances your practice Communication Collaboration

Summary

Definition of Social Media

“Social media are web-based tools for interaction that, in addition to conversation, allow users to share content such as photos, videos, and links to resources”

-- Meredith Gould, The Social Media Gospel

Risks of Social Media

Patient Loss of boundaries Misinterpreted/bad communication

Professional Reputation Malpractice

Personal Split personality (personal/professional) Burnout

Benefits of Social Media

Patients Coordinate Care Improved communication

Career Networking Education Career Opportunity Reputation Management

Research Collaboration Funding

Definition of Community

A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals.

Source: Oxforddictionaries.com http://bit.ly/1ew9g9F

Brave New World

Geography doesn’t matter as much as internet access

Communities are defined by interest, not location

New dynamics for previously isolated people

POST Methodology

People: Know your audience.

Objectives: Define goals/endpoints.

Strategy: Plan how you want to interact with others online.

Technologies: Pick a platform that works for your strategy.

Source: Forrester Research http://bit.ly/1nm0KtN

Most Efficient = RSS

Online Community Life Cycle

Young C, JMIR 2013http://1.usa.gov/1lYG9yb

Patient-oriented

Nonprofit American Cancer Society http://bit.ly/1thFA4e ASCO http://cancer.net Macmillan Cancer http://bit.ly/1eHefEe LIVESTRONG http://bit.ly/RuBGqx NCI’s LiveHelp http://1.usa.gov/1f1SfPx

For profit smartpatients.com talkabouthealth.com healthtap.com

Live chats Twitter.com

Social Networks for Professionals

Twitter

Microblogging platform 140 character limit

Founded 2006 2007: 4000 tweets daily 2014

255 M active users, 1 billion registered 11% of Americans tweet at least once a month 80% of world leaders have an account

Source: Expanded Ramblings, http://bit.ly/1wTe2E4

Rapid growth of professionals on Twitter• Now ~75,000 healthcare professionals online• 152,000 tweets/day

Creation Pinpoint, http://bit.ly/1hU6Kqd http://bit.ly/QOJqCy

Source: Creation Pinpoint, http://bit.ly/QOJqCy

Where are they?

Cancer on Twitter

Organization Twitter Handle Followers

World Health Organization @WHO 1.2 M

Mayo Clinic @MayoClinic 754 K

American Cancer Society @AmericanCancer 457 K

Health Human Services @HHSGov 369 K

Science Magazine @ScienceMagazine 249 K

NEJM @NEJM 177 K

Lancet @TheLancet 111 K

National Cancer Institute @theNCI 51 K

Institute of Medicine @theIOM 31 K

MD Anderson @MDAndersonNews 26 K

ASCO @ASCO 24 K

AACR @AACR 18 K

RSNA @RSNA 14 K

American College of Surgeons @AmCollSurgeons 14 K

Twitter data, March 29, 2014

How to start on Twitter*

* Applies to most platforms

Hashtags on Twitter

Used to identify specific data

Twitter started using for trending topics in 2010

“Narrowcasting” on a channel – but interactive

Can coordinate live chats on a specific topic

Source: weknowmemes.com http://bit.ly/1lwUQ7S

#bcsm – Breast Cancer & Social Media

Started July 4, 2011

Organized by two breast cancer advocates and joined by breast surgeon to moderate weekly chats

Focus on advocacy, survivorship, support, metastatic breast cancer, new research

#BCSM Activity, March 2014

Source: Symplur.com

Current cancer chats

Tweet chat When Tweets in 2013

#bcsm Monday, 8 PM CST 84391

#btsm 1st Sunday, 9 PM CST 49077

#gyncsm 2nd Wednesday, 8 PM CST 4374

#lcsm Every other Thursday, 7 PM CST 32339

Source: Symplur.com

Tweet disclaimer used on #gyncsmhttp://gyncsm.blogspot.com/p/tweet-disclaimer.html

#LCSM Growth

Source: Symplur.com

Source: Symplur.com, http://bit.ly/1cAmuR7

Source: International Urology Journal Club, http://bit.ly/1io3Fx9

Mainstream Professional

Default = positive spin Lots of industry exposure

Helpful for Showing expertise Networking and job search

Not as focused as doctor-oriented social networks

Share Your Expertise

http://slidesha.re/1hTBgk7

How It May Enhance Practice

Better understanding of our patients Concerns Hot topics that come up in clinic May enhance communications skills

Collaboration EMR or 3rd party HITECH/HIPAA compliant

communications tools May help with clinical and basic science research

Reputation/Brand Management

One of many options

Where to start

RSS feed Find a way to bring interesting content to you Sign up for DISQUS commenting system

LinkedIn.com Twitter.com

Learn the ropes and listen first

Content curation, creation can follow later

Summary

Social media are pervasive, powerful communications tools

Social media fluency is a skill or tool in medicine

Require some time to learn, but little technical skill needed

You can find communities online that enrich your life and your practice of medicine

Thank you

ASCO

Don Dizon et al.

All my teachers, online and in person