Tweeting from the Bench: Twitter and the Physician-Scientist Benefits and Challenges

Little, Joanna M.; Romee, Rizwan

doi:10.1007/s11899-020-00601-5

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the majority (84.2%) of physicians in our study considered telemedicine to be complementary to traditional healthcare, with 70.3% believing telemedicine can improve physician-patient communication and another 39.6% had recommended a website or mobile app to their patients. Both E-health and SM reportedly offer patients easy access to health-related information [7,21,26,[35][36][37]. The perception that telemedicine will not reduce the quality of healthcare delivery, highlighted by our data (71% of participants), is in concordance with the results of other national studies where studied physicians viewed telemedicine to increase the quality of healthcare [7,35].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Physicians’ Perspective of Telemedicine Regulating Guidelines and Ethical Aspects: A Saudi Experience

Kheir

Alnufaili

Aldossari

et al. 2022

International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications

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Background and Objective. The rapid emergence and evolution of digital technology have greatly improved the quality and accessibility of healthcare services worldwide. Nonetheless, the literature is scarce regarding the ethical and legal aspects of telemedicine and social media (SM) use in healthcare. Thus, this paper examines physicians’ perceptions about the use of telemedicine in patient care, their awareness of guidelines for health-related use of telemedicine, and their knowledge, attitude, and practice of the ethical and legal regulations governing the use of telemedicine in the healthcare context. Methods. This was an observational cross-sectional study conducted among physicians working at the College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), and its affiliated academic tertiary hospital, King Fahad Hospital of the University (KFHU), Eastern province-KSA. Data were collected between August 2019 and March 2020 via a structured, pretested, self-administered questionnaire distributed to 220 eligible physicians at KFHU. A final sample of 101 physicians completed our survey. Collected data was coded and analysed using SPSS, and the results presented as frequencies, percentages, and summary statistics. Results. Among our respondents, 62 (61.4%) were males, 46 (45.5%) were in the age group of 35 to 44 years, and 62 (61.3%) were Saudi. Two-thirds of physicians (58 (57.4%)) use smart devices in healthcare delivery, and 51 (50.5%) are satisfied with this use. A minority (21 (20.8%)) knew about telemedicine guidelines, 8 (7.9%) had encountered legal issues related to telemedicine use, and 52 (51.5%) were doubtful about patients’ readiness for virtual care. Regarding physicians’ awareness of the ethical aspects regulating the use of social media and medical apps in patient care, only 44 (45.3%) were aware of the proper reporting system if they found accounts sharing unreliable information. Nevertheless, the majority (91 (92.9%)) agreed it is essential for healthcare providers to report such accounts. Concerning physicians’ awareness of the rules and regulations of online self-promotion, the majority of our respondents were unsure or unaware of such regulations (46 (45.6%) and 18 (17.8%)), respectively. Nonetheless, 67 (66.3%) of the physicians would not pay SM influencers to advertise for them. Conclusion. Two-thirds of our physicians use smart devices in healthcare delivery, with 1 in 13 having encountered related legal issues. Nonetheless, only a minority was aware of telemedicine use regulating guidelines, including physicians’ online self-promotion regulations. These results highlight the necessity of targeted physicians’ training on telemedicine use related guidelines, thereby ensuring the safety of both patients and healthcare professionals and the optimum utilization of online health-related interactions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Physicians’ Perspective of Telemedicine Regulating Guidelines and Ethical Aspects: A Saudi Experience

Kheir

Alnufaili

Aldossari

et al. 2022

International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications

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“…A key barrier to FCPs sharing knowledge on Twitter was the perceived hostile online environment which impacted upon their confidence to exchange knowledge and opinions on the platform (irrespective of their clinical experience). FCPs did not feel safe in this open public forum, believing they would encounter intimidation and toxicity, consistent with literature highlighting unprofessional behaviour on Twitter as a concern for healthcare professionals using it [1,2,33,34]. This barrier to use was consistent with why some participants did not use Twitter.…”

Section: Principle Results and Comparison With Prior Worksupporting

confidence: 73%

Using Twitter (X) to Mobilize Knowledge for First Contact Physiotherapists: Qualitative Study

Campbell,

Quicke,

Stevenson

et al. 2024

J Med Internet Res

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Background: Twitter (now X) is a virtual social network commonly used by healthcare professionals. Little is known about whether it helps healthcare professionals to share, mobilise and co-create knowledge, or reduce the time between research knowledge being created and used in clinical practice (the evidence-to-practice gap). Musculoskeletal First Contact Physiotherapists (FCPs) are primary care specialists who diagnose and treat people with musculoskeletal conditions without needing to see their General Practitioner (family physician) first. They often work as a sole FCP in practice, hence are an ideal healthcare professional group with whom to explore knowledge mobilisation using Twitter.Objective: To explore if, how and why Twitter can be used to mobilise knowledge, including research findings, to inform FCP clinical practice.Methods: Semi-structured interviews of FCPs with experience of working in English primary care. FCPs were purposively sampled based on employment arrangements and Twitter use. Recruitment was via known FCP networks and Twitter, supplemented by snowball sampling. Online interviews used a topic guide exploring FCP's perceptions and experiences of accessing knowledge, via Twitter, for clinical practice. Data were analysed thematically and informed by the knowledge mobilisation mindlines model. Public contributors were involved throughout.Results: Nineteen FCPs consented to interview (Twitter users n=14, female n=9). Three themes were identified: 1) How Twitter meets the needs of FCPs, 2) Twitter and a journey of knowledge to support clinical practice and 3) Factors impeding knowledge sharing on Twitter. FCPs described needs relating to isolated working practice, time demands and role uncertainty. Twitter provided rapid access to succinct knowledge, opportunity to network and peer reassurance regarding clinical cases, evidence and policy. FCPs took a journey of knowledge exchange on Twitter, including scrolling for knowledge, filtering for credibility and adapting knowledge for in-service training and clinical practice. Participants engaged best with images and infographics. FCPs described misinformation, bias, echo chambers, unprofessionalism, hostility, privacy concerns and blurred personal boundaries as factors impeding knowledge sharing on Twitter. Consequently, many did not feel confident to actively participate with Twitter.Conclusions: This study explores if, how and why Twitter can be used to mobilise knowledge to inform FCP clinical practice. Twitter can meet knowledge needs of FCPs through rapid access to succinct knowledge, networking opportunities and professional reassurance. The journey of knowledge exchange from Twitter to clinical practice can be explained by considering the mindlines model, which describes how FCPs exchange knowledge in online and offline contexts. Findings demonstrate that

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“…Currently in Saudi Arabia, more than half of the population use social media, accounting to 18.3 million and Twitter is among the most used platforms with nearly 9 million users [ 3 ]. Twitter has become a great opportunity to expand the educational and academic networks where medical professionals and students can communicate easily and promote shared interests [ 4 , 5 ]. Twitter offers effortless accessibility to health information and convenient knowledge exchange; it provides rich clinical educational content through threaded tweets and spaces [ 4 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Twitter has become a great opportunity to expand the educational and academic networks where medical professionals and students can communicate easily and promote shared interests [ 4 , 5 ]. Twitter offers effortless accessibility to health information and convenient knowledge exchange; it provides rich clinical educational content through threaded tweets and spaces [ 4 , 6 ]. Additionally, medical professionals are utilizing Twitter to share their published research papers, and according to multiple studies, those articles that are shared on Twitter are more likely to be cited [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The pattern and use of Twitter among dental schools in Saudi Arabia

et al. 2022

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Objective Twitter as a social media platform has revolutionized the way we interact with others and receive information. The presence of dental schools in Twitter facilitates the engagement of students, educators, dental professionals, and the community. Given the explosive popularity of Twitter as a social media platform and its potential use in the areas of education and branding, the questions of why and how dental schools use these services warrant comprehensive research. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the pattern and use of Twitter as a social media platform for dental schools in Saudi Arabia. Methods The tweets were extracted within the timeframe from July 15, 2019, to July 15, 2020. The Twitter data collected included: full text content, the count of retweets, quotes, replies and likes. Extracted tweets were categorized into five main themes: news and announcement, dental professional communication, general communication, oral health education, and promoting participation. Tweets in each main theme were further categorized according to the dental schools’ academic roles namely; education, research and community service. In addition, tweets were classified according to originality of the tweet, language used, nature of the tweet and the use of hashtags and mentions. Descriptive analysis presented in the form of frequency tables with percentages and mean (SD) as well as graphical presentation of the pattern and use of Twitter for Saudi dental schools in the form of bar, pie and line charts. Categorical data were analyzed using chi square test, while continuous data were analyzed using ANOVA. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results A total of 15 Saudi dental schools with Twitter accounts were included in the analysis. King Saud University (KSU) had the largest number of followers with 17,200. Within the time frame of this study, a total of 1,889 original tweets from dental schools were found. Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) had the highest number of posted tweets (n = 647, 34.3%). The distribution of tweets was highest in September 2019 (n = 239) and lowest in July 2020 (n = 22). Majority of the tweets (81.9%) belonged to five out of the 15 dental schools. News and announcements were the most tweeted thematic subject with 1,034 tweets (55%). While community service was the most tweeted academic role with 803 tweets (42%). The top five active dental schools’ performance for both thematic and academic role classifications were significantly different based on the chi square test (p < 0.001). Conclusion This study highlights the importance of Twitter as a social media platform, in dental education especially when it comes to presence and branding for dental schools. Twitter is a helpful platform to expose dental schools to the community, this can be seen by their academic achievements as well as their active role with community service.

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Tweeting from the Bench: Twitter and the Physician-Scientist Benefits and Challenges

Cited by 15 publications

References 42 publications

Physicians’ Perspective of Telemedicine Regulating Guidelines and Ethical Aspects: A Saudi Experience

Physicians’ Perspective of Telemedicine Regulating Guidelines and Ethical Aspects: A Saudi Experience

Using Twitter (X) to Mobilize Knowledge for First Contact Physiotherapists: Qualitative Study

The pattern and use of Twitter among dental schools in Saudi Arabia

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