Clinicians discuss important sessions, colleague interactions on X during CHEST 2024

Key takeaways:

• Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, Creation Healthcare found 2,875 CHEST-related posts on X.
• The opening session of the 2024 CHEST Annual Meeting gained attention from clinicians on X.

During the 2024 CHEST Annual Meeting, posts on X, formerly Twitter, from health care professionals discussed the opening session, keynote address and colleague interactions, according to a tracker from Creation Healthcare.

“The CHEST Annual Meeting was once again an example of the prominent role that social media plays in facilitating discussions among health care professionals relating to the most recent developments in health care,” Daniel Ghinn, CEO of Creation Healthcare, said in a press release.

In an analysis spanning from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, Creation Healthcare evaluated 2,875 CHEST-related posts on X to uncover major topics discussed by health care professionals (HCPs) on this platform.

These posts came from a total of 411 HCPs, according to an Insights Deck from Creation Healthcare. A majority of the posts (60%) were classified as shared posts, but 23% were original posts. The remaining 17% of posts were replies.

Within this timeframe, pulmonologists contributed the most posts, followed by oncologists, pediatricians, cardiologists and internists.

On Oct. 4 and 5, the tracker noted an increase in CHEST-related posts from HCPs before the meeting officially began on Oct. 6.

A large volume of posts was recorded on the first day of the meeting, with the opening session being a notable topic discussed by HCPs on X. Jack D. Buckley, MPH, MD, FCCP, CHEST president, played a central role in this session and was mentioned in a post from Viren Kaul, MD, assistant professor of respiratory therapy education, associate program director of internal medicine and associate program director of pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at State University of New York Upstate Medical University, that received 28 likes and was reposted by 12 users as of Oct. 15.

Additionally, Vanessa Kerry, MD, MSc, critical care physician and director of the program in global public policy and social change in the department of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, gave the keynote address during the opening session. Kerry and her presentation on climate change was the subject of a well-received post from Chris Carroll, MD, MS, professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine, that has 27 likes and 10 reposts as of Oct. 15.

Major themes derived from HCPs’ CHEST-related posts on the second day included advancements in pulmonary care, interactive session participation and meeting colleagues, according to the release.

The third and final day of the meeting featured X posts discussing moments HCPs had with their colleagues while at the 2024 Annual Meeting. Creation Healthcare’s tracker also found posts containing photos from a wide range of sessions on this day.

“Listening to these conversations is immensely valuable in identifying and understanding the priorities of those on the frontlines of delivery in the most important health care spaces,” Ghinn said in the release.

Notably, Sarang Patil, MD, ATSF, FCCP, pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine expert, shared the highest number of posts within the assessed timeframe at 239 posts. Following behind Patil, Saadia A. Faiz, MD, professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, shared 175 posts, and Alice Gallo, MD, critical care specialist, internist and pulmonologist at Mayo Clinic, shared 155 posts, according to the release.

Of the top three most active HCPs, Gallo had the highest potential reach — defined as “the sum of the followers of the author, plus the sum of the followers of each repost” in the release — at 2,394,249, followed by Faiz with a potential reach of 1,980,923 and Patil with a potential reach of 537,732.