American Society of Hematology ’ s
On Location
American Society of Hematology ’ s
2017 ANNUAL MEETING & EXPOSITION
CLINICAL NEWS e continue our coverage of the 59th ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta , Georgia , featuring practicechanging research from across the spectrum of hematologic malignancies and blood disorders . In this issue , ASH Clinical News highlights specialinterest programs , as well as other research findings from the meeting . Visit ashclinicalnews . org / on-location for more of our coverage , and watch our exclusive video interviews at ashclinicalnews . org / multimedia .
Attendees greet each other at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting .
Social Media Quality Control for Physicians
Social media has infiltrated our everyday lives – both personally and professionally . With most people keeping in touch with friends , family , and colleagues and monitoring the news cycle through multiple social media avenues , the question has shifted from if we should be using social media , to how we can make sure we use it to our benefit .
“ Everything about how we communicate has changed ,” said Mohamad Mohty , MD , PhD (@ Mohty _ EBMT ), professor of hematology at the Clinical Hematology and Cellular Therapy Department at Hôpital Saint-Antoine , Université Pierre & Marie Curie in Paris , France . “ Social media is felt to be increasingly important in plenty of things we do in health care , including academic projects , patient interactions , and research collaborations .”
Dr . Mohty was one of the panelists at a special education session at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting that addressed how hematologists can effectively use social media . The session , titled “ Quality Conversations on Social Media : Achieving Credibility and Efficiency Together ” and chaired by Joseph Mikhael , MD , MEd (@ jmikhaelmd ), chair of the ASH Committee on Communications , featured Dr . Mohty and other panelists who discussed “ best practices ” for starting and maintaining conversations relevant to hematology on Twitter and other social media platforms .
A Double-Edged Sword As Dr . Mohty and fellow panelists John P . Leonard , MD (@ JohnPLeonardMD ), and Elaine Schattner , MD , MA (@ ESchattner ), outlined , health-care practitioners can use social media to their advantage in a number of ways .
In addition to enabling conversations with international collaborators , it can also open up new ways to help patients around the world . “ It ’ s a tool for freedom ,” Dr . Mohty said . “ You don ’ t need a visa , you don ’ t need preauthorization – it ’ s communication without borders that brings stakeholders in the community together to share experiences , to agree , to disagree , to comment ,” Dr . Mohty said . “ It ’ s a true added value .”
That immediacy , though , creates a demand for instant engagement that contradicts physicians ’ roots in thoughtful consideration of evidence-based medicine . Also , when measured , considerate , and balanced ruminations about recently posted research findings are condensed into 280- character tweets , much can get lost in translation .
“ With instant communication , you think less ,” he said . “ Your reaction needs to be matured before answering .” To avoid getting involved in “ tweetstorms ” or fruitless arguments on social media , Dr . Mohty applies a lesson he learned from replying to upsetting emails : “ Embargo yourself .”
“ Sometimes it ’ s hard to resist [ responding immediately ], because you want to attack ,” he said . “ But , if you want to do the right thing on social media , you need to create your own rules . There is no universal way to interact on social media – you need to decide what is most important to you .”
With so much of our daily lives moved online , people can lose sight of the consequences of these online interactions and of the value of “ face-to-face ” interactions , which would be a mistake , Dr . Mohty said . “ Social media will never replace in-person interactions , because we need these close human relationships ,” he said . “ My advice is to be aware of the minuses and inconveniences [ of this new technology ]. Sometimes , they can hurt .”
The Rules of Engagement Dr . Schattner , a journalist , patient advocate , and clinical associate professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York , emphasized the value of social media in facilitating communication between physicians and patients , and in empowering patients .
“ When patients go online , they are usually searching for immediate information about a health condition ,” she said . “ The reality is that patients have less and less time with their doctors , and doctors increasingly may not be [ an ] expert in the particular issues that their patients ask them about . The need for information is extreme .”
Patients also use the internet to gather information on clinical trials or treatments that might not have been offered by their local physicians , and to look for other opinions altogether . “ People used to go to other doctors . Now they go to other websites , follow certain diseasespecific hashtags , and ask other patients online about where to go for more information .”
Social media also opens new avenues of communication between physicians and introduces the risk of oversharing – a tricky area to navigate because of legal issues surrounding doctor-patient confidentiality and professionalism .
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