Social media and its impact on health care

Objective: Social media has fundamentally changed how the world shares and receives information. This review offers a perspective for the practicing clinician regarding how patients are being influenced by their online interactions and considerations for proactively discussing medical decision making with patients. Data Sources: Literature search of PubMed database and online published market research data surrounding social media use. Study Selections: Peer-reviewed studies, Pew research data, and editorials in the English language were selected and reviewed. Results: There has been a substantial increase in the breadth and depth of literature surrounding the use of social media by patients and medical professionals. Increased focus on how it contributes to medical decision making and patient-clinician interactions has occurred in recent years. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has highlighted the various sources of misinformation and disinformation and how they impact care on many levels. Best practices have been established to assist medical professionals in developing an online presence to combat misinformation or address individual patients. Conclusion: There is growing understanding and recognition of the myriad of ways in which social media is impacting health care. Health care professionals from all backgrounds need to increase their understanding of these complex interactions to best assist patients with their medical decision making. (C) 2021 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This review discusses the impact of social media on patient behavior and clinician decision making, and offers recommendations. Research has shown that social media plays an increasingly important role in medical decision making and patient-clinician interactions. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the harm of misinformation and disinformation. Healthcare professionals need to increase their understanding of these complex interactions to better assist patients in making medical decisions.