
Twitter ranked even below YouTube, which is used by 8% of US doctors.
Digital media doctor review professional#
While only 5% of all US physicians use Twitter for professional purposes, nearly one-third, or 32%, use LinkedIn, 21% use Facebook, and 10% use Google+. 6 And yet, just over a thousand are registered with, a database of physicians who tweet. 5Īccording to the Journal of Medical Regulation, there were 850,085 active physicians in 2010 in the US. On a weekly basis or more, 296 (61%) scanned social media sites and 223 (46%) contributed to them. 4Ī 2012 survey conducted by the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that 117 (or 24.1%) of the 485 physicians who responded used social media to scan or explore medical information on a daily or more than daily basis, whereas 69 (14.2%) contributed new information on a daily basis. Just one in 20 physicians uses Twitter in a professional capacity, according to a June survey by MedData Group.

Less than a quarter of physicians use social media on a daily basis for professional purposes. However, as a healthcare practitioner Geier represents a small demographic. 1 The figure is even higher–82%–for adults aged 50 years and older seeking medical answers. Of those online, 72% use the Web to find health and wellness information. Nearly three-quarters of the 275 million Americans online use a social networking site of some kind. The Charleston, SC-based orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist has this branding and social media thing down.

He’s approaching 5000 followers and has tweeted more than 10,000 times. David Geier” is featured at the top of the results page. Type “orthopedic surgeons” in the Twitter search window and “Dr.

There is considerable debate in medical circles as to whether healthcare practitioners should embrace social media, but online aficionados say they welcome the opportunity to exchange information, educate, connect, and potentially attract more patients.
