A recent study analyzed the factors that influence the adoption and use of social media by physicians to share medical information. The authors developed a survey that was emailed to 1695 practicing oncologists and primary care physicians in the United States. Responses from 485 physicians were analyzed. Overall, almost one in four physicians used social media daily or many times daily to scan or explore medical information and 14% contributed new information through social media. Physicians largely had favourable attitudes toward the use of social media and most perceived social media to be beneficial, engaging, and a good way to get high-quality information. A majority of the physicians also identified that social media enabled them to care for patients more effectively and improve the quality of patient care they delivered. The main factors influencing physician’s usage or share information was perceived ease of use and usefulness.
