Social media and its impact on health care

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.

Literature search of PubMed database and online published market research data surrounding social media use.

Peer-reviewed studies, Pew research data, and editorials in the English language were selected and reviewed.

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.

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.