SOCIAL MEDIA IN HEALTHCARE 1

The Impact of Social Media on Healthcare

Chase Waldschmidt

Youngstown State University

NURS 6900: Healthcare Issues and Trends

Professor Sheila Blank

August 3, 2022
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Abstract

Healthcare is an ever changing and developing field that aims to change with the newest

research but is also affected by the trends of the day. With the wide use and freedom of social

media, it has begun to have an impact on patients and staff which has led to its own line of

research analyzing potential positives and negatives that come with its use. Social media is wide

term that involves anything that allows for people to connect and interact such as Facebook

Groups, Twitter, telehealth, augmented and virtual reality, and sharing of research. The quick

and easy spread of information and research allows for faster care for patients and providers to

access the newest research at the click of a button. These benefits can also turn into negatives

with the possibilities of privacy violations and misinformation quickly spreading across the

internet. The benefits and negatives must be weighed against each other in order to find the best

possible solution to the problem.

The Impact of Social Media on Healthcare

Healthcare and medicine are areas that are constantly adapting and changing to fit the

current issues and norms of what is going on in the world. The discovery of new diseases and

illnesses cause the creation of novel treatments and diagnostic procedures. Billions of dollars

every year are put into research and development by hospitals in order to ensure that they are at

the forefront of treatment options in order to provide the best care for patients as well as stay

ahead of other hospitals and on the cutting edge of technology. This has been seen in recent years

with the introduction of robotic surgeons such as the DaVinci Xi that are commonly used in

cardiothoracic procedures as well as general surgery. Hospitals are willing to invest in these

areas as well as update their policies as it needs to be done. The evolution of technology is often

seen as a very good thing, such as the previously mentioned robotic surgeons, but the

advancement of technology brings with it some new challenges that were not imagined 50 years

ago. The new openness and connectivity that comes with brings with it new challenges in patient

privacy and care that can be violated intentionally or unintentionally by care staff. The use of

social media is something that is used by both nurses and patients which can lead to potential

issues on both ends. Social media does not appear to be going away but actually looks to be

growing so the healthcare industry and nursing must grow alongside it in order to stay relevant

and provide the best patient outcomes.

Historical Aspects

Social media is something that is often thought of as new and innovative but various

forms of this have been available throughout the years albeit in not the same form. The earliest

forms of media in use were newspapers that are very obviously still in use today. This allows for

news that is often slightly delayed as it takes time for stories and information to make their way
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to the newspaper publishers, write the story, publish it, print, and then distribute it among the

consumers as opposed to social media where anyone can write something, and it can instantly

spread amongst a wide audience. These two differences in pathways come with many

complications, the fact that a single person can write something and quickly have it “go viral”

without any sort of editing can cause the quick and easy spread of misinformation that has

potential negative effects. One of the first examples of a harmful medical research spreading

quickly through the public was the paper published by British physician Andrew Wakefield in

which a correlation was created between children receiving the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella

(MMR) vaccine and several types of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Cosenza & Sanna,

2021). The spread of this story still is reverberating throughout the world today as it is the basis

of many anti-vaccine movements in which people aim to exempt themselves or their children

from nearly eradicated diseases that give them the potential to find a host and mutate. The spread

of information can have both negative and positive applications which can seen throughout

history as the world is continually curious and looks to find new and interesting avenues of

research.

Implications

Social media is a relatively new concept in the way that people now think about it as it is

seen as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The ability to quickly connect with others allows

people to have an unlimited access to information which can have both positive and negative

affects especially when used within the healthcare system. Patients and members of the care

team both are exposed to social media is it so prevalent in today’s society which can have

different impacts on both sides. Social media goes much beyond the basic concept of platforms

such as Facebook, it also encompasses any method that allows people to connect and interact
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with each other. Social media can allow for the advancement of healthcare in many ways

including education and patient interaction as well as support but can also being about new

issues such as privacy violations and new costs.

The connectivity that comes with social media allows for patients and those with similar

conditions to quickly and easily seek out those suffering from similar ailments. This allows for a

larger community to build amongst these groups and spread information amongst each other in

order to provide support and a sense of belonging. The affliction of an illness can cause a sense

of isolation especially if the disease is not extremely common, this can cause the individual to

feel overwhelmed and lost but the advent of technology can allow for the patient to meet others

with the same disease no matter the distance. An example of this is the Facebook group “Breast

Cancer Support – I Got This” which at time of writing has over 34,000 members. The group

consists of positive messages giving motivational support within treatment as well as tips on how

to deal with complications of the disease.

The use of social media allows for the rise of remote healthcare in recent years that has

especially been seen during the Covid-19 pandemic with the wider scale use of telehealth.

Telehealth is a newer concept that allows patients and providers to video call which greatly

improves access to healthcare as not all areas have the same access to providers and certain

specialists. This can allow for someone to consult with a specialist that may be several hundred

miles away in which they may not hae previously been able to meet due to chronic illness or

financial costs. Telehealth visits can be accomplished in a variety of ways, they are often offered

by both insurance companies as well as hospital systems. They can also be offered in primary

care type settings such as at home when a patient is feeling some symptoms but is unsure of

whether they want to visit a hospital. This type of visit can involve a video call with a physician
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or nurse practitioner to view the patient and assess symptoms so that treatment can be prescribed.

According to Monaghesh and Hajizadeh in 2020 “Remote care reduces the use of resources in

health centers, improves access to care, while minimizing the risk of direct transmission of the

infectious agent from person to person” (Para 7). Telehealth also has other potential benefits

such as reducing costs by no longer requiring physical offices and exam rooms but can be done

by a provider sitting in their own home. Various problems also present themselves with this

model that may not be possible to overcome. The potential of an internet interruption is a

constant even with the the best services which may interrupt the call or cause

miscommunication. A larger possible negative is that while on a video call, a provider is not able

to physically examine the patient which may result in a vital symptom being missed. A patient

may complain of something such as a minor stomachache or headache that could be acute

appendicitis or the beginnings of an aneurysm rupture. This may make some physicians wary as

they could be liable if the patient suffers serious complications. The use of this entirely electronic

method also opens the possibility of a data breach that could expose the patients records to the

breacher. This requires the use of a secure communication method in order to limit the chance of

this happening.

The use of social media within the world of healthcare has been able to expand the

training and capabilities of what staff members are able to do by means of simulations that also

impacts surgeons and other healthcare team members. Virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR)

are two relatively new inventions that have begun to move into the healthcare world by

simulating real world experiences during training to better prepare the user. Virtual reality

requires a headset and completely replaces the physical world with a virtual world, augmented

reality only requires the use of a smart phone and adds virtual elements to the physical world.
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These two methods can be used to train nursing students as well as medical students in varying

areas of study. One of the most promising areas of study for this is the study of anatomy. While

medical schools use cadavers to study the intricate design of the human body, nursing schools do

not have this luxury due to a variety of reasons such as cost that outweigh the basic

understanding of anatomy that nurses require. With the advent of AR, nursing schools are able to

provide a more in depth understanding of anatomy and physiology without the cost of a cadaver

that can provide a deep understanding through visualization rather than memorization with

nursing students. The use of AR can also be used to teach students skills in skills labs that may

otherwise be performed on mannequins.

Technology has the potential to bring about endless advancements within the world of

healthcare but can also bring several new problems that have only begun to appear in recent

years. One serious problem is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountabilty Act (HIPAA).

Violations of this act can endanger patients by releasing their health information to the public

which can be done intentionally or unintentionally by healthcare providers. This problem can

take place through the violation of any of the 18 data points of patient identifiers which include

the patients face, tattoos, scars, etc (Garg & Shrigiriwar, 2021). This is often seen with

photographs as is the case with many teaching hospitals as photographs are the preferred way to

teach. This can also be the case when looking at the recent rise in medical social media accounts

on platforms such as Instagram. Interesting medical cases are often posted and described in detail

in order to educate those who interact with the account which if not correctly screened and edited

could reveal patient information.

The use of social media such as Twitter in healthcare also allows many researchers,

physicians, and patients to communicate in a quicker and easier way than what was previously
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available. A research group can release a paper on twitter which allows it to be quickly shared

and commented on by various members of the healthcare community as well as providers of

care. This quick disbursement of information can allow for care providers to alter their care to

what the newest research shows as well as informing members of the public about their

condition. A problem with this approach is that it is easy for medical misinformation to spread, a

study found that 20% of healthcare related tweets contained some form of misinformation

(Pershad et al., 2018). It is just as easy for false information to spread as it is for proven research

to spread.

Proposal to Resolve the Issue

While there is not necessarily a way to resolve the issue of social media in healthcare,

there are ways that it can be better managed by healthcare systems. Many hospitals are already

beginning to see the potential negatives that can come with social media and have taken to using

groups controlled by human resources to monitor the social media accounts of employees in

order to watch for potential HIPAA violations and catch them before they bring about harm to

the patient. While the monitoring of employee social media may be seen as morally questionable,

it is legal and can protect patients. The use of different types of monitoring programs can be used

to monitor employee online activity at work and at home. The use of certain firewalls within the

hsoptial typically block social media and shopping websites but can also monitor and track the

keystrokes of employees. The use of different groups as well as artificial intelligence to monitor

employee’s social media can be viewed differently at home than at work.

Conclusion
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Technology is an inevitable force that will continue to develop and is embraced by the

field of medicine due to all the benefits that come with it but there are future issues that come

along with it that hospital policy and law should develop and change alongside it. Technology is

also expensive with the implementation of new ideas such as AR and VR but should be taken on

a case-by-case basis and implemented in the future in order to better prepare medical team

members and nursing students for the future. While the cost may be high, the potential of the

benefits may be worth it in order to attain higher levels of competency. The monitoring of social

media is a risky area for a company to pursue, while it may be necessary in order to protect

patients, companies should inform employees ahead of time in order to warn them of potential

consequences of posting patient information as well of the fact that they will monitored.
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References

Cosenza, G., & Sanna, L. (2021). The origins of the alleged correlation between vaccines and

autism. A semiotic approach. Social Epistemology, 1–14.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2021.1954716

Garg, T., & Shrigiriwar, A. (2021). Managing expectations: How to navigate legal and ethical

boundaries in the era of Social Media. Clinical Imaging, 72, 175–177.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinimag.2020.11.005

Monaghesh, E., Hajizadeh, A. The role of telehealth during COVID-19 outbreak: a systematic

review based on current evidence. BMC Public Health 20, 1193 (2020).

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09301-4

Pershad, Y., Hangge, P., Albadawi, H., & Oklu, R. (2018). Social Medicine: Twitter in

Healthcare. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 7(6), 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm7060121