Social Media in Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie

Relevant social networks for orthopedics and trauma surgery are LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Researchgate. These often enable a direct and rapid communication exchange among physicians, physical therapists, practices and hospitals, scientific societies, scientific journals, insurance companies, medical technology and pharmaceutical companies and also patients. The heterogeneity of the users opens up a multitude of possible options: patient marketing, knowledge sharing, advanced education and the presentation of innovative forms of treatment. Various scientific studies have already shown positive effects of the use of social media with respect to physician ratings, patient reported outcomes and drawing attention to current scientific studies (citations). Scientific articles, the contents of which are placed on social media via infographics, are cited more frequently than articles without a social media presence; however, these positive aspects of the use of social networks in medicine are also faced with risks. Current studies have shown that a large amount of unscientific and misleading information is communicated in social media networks, i.e. the phenomenon of fake news. Physicians’ use of social media poses additional threats and special caution must be exercised with respect to data protection, privacy, confidentiality, and the act on advertising in the healthcare system.