Clinicians ‘never too old or too young’ to use social media

PHILADELPHIA — Understanding the social media landscape can help rheumatologists learn about patients and connect more effectively with them, according to a presenter at ACR Convergence 2022.

“You can improve your clinical skills simply by learning what are the trends out there, what patients are talking about, what matters to them,” Cheryl Crow, MOT, founder and CEO of Arthritis Life, told attendees.

Before she was an occupational therapist, Crow was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She is an active social media user who uses her Arthritis Life platform to provide content to several ends.

One is to offer what she called “life hacks” for patients with arthritis — everything from suggestions for wrist compressors to tips for buckling a child’s car seat.

She also features provider-directed content to help occupational therapists, rheumatologists and other professionals understand the patient perspective.

A third aim for Crow is to provide tips for health care providers who might like to join social media.

“You are never too old or too young to be on social media,” Crow said.

Her first tip pertains to sharing information.

“Maintaining patient confidentiality is at the forefront,” she said.

Providers may discuss clinical scenarios but should make every effort not to reveal personal information about the patients involved.

Clinicians should also be mindful of the limitations of their licensure and expertise.

“Stay within your professional scope,” Crow said. “Avoid answering questions that are not in your field.”

An ancillary point is that citing appropriate sources or data sets is critical to maintaining professional credibility on the internet.

Another tip pertains to the amount of time to spend online.

“It is about quality rather than quantity,” she said, acknowledging that it is easy to let a few hours slip away scrolling through mindless content or engaging in unproductive discussions or arguments.

“Before you go onto social media, you should think, ‘What is my purpose right now?’” Crow said.

The amount of time is less of a concern if the time is spent well, either learning new information or providing information for patients, she added.

Humor can be an effective tool for gaining attention or providing information, but Crow counseled physicians to use caution in this regard as well.

“When using humor on your social media site, be careful not to be laughing at patients,” she said.

To the point of learning the patient perspective, Crow stressed that patients who are active social media users may not represent the entirety of the patient population with that condition.

“You can get a skewed view of what patients may be thinking,” she said.

Crow provided the example of adverse events associated with medications: “Often, only patients who have severe side effects will post about them.”

Clinicians should also be aware of the accuracy of information they find on social media, the bias it may contain, and the “echo chambers” where social media algorithms register the habits of a user and provide content that matches those habits.

“Make sure you are checking the quality and source of the information you find,” Crow said.

As a final point, Crow noted that providers who engage on social media are likely to incur criticism. Each clinician should make the choice of whether this is a worthwhile trade-off.

To that point, she quoted writer Elbert Hubbard.

“To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing,” she said. “But if you make the choice not to engage, here is the consequence: You have a lack of impact.”