Benefits of Social Media for the Physician: How Being on Social Media and YouTube Can Help Supplement a Physician’s Practice By Antonio Webb, MD

Benefits of Social Media for the Physician:

How Being on Social Media and YouTube Can Help Supplement a Physician’s Practice

By Antonio Webb, MD

Internet and social media use has sky-rocketed in the past 15 years. According to a Pew Study in 2005, 68% of American Adults used the internet. In 2019, that number grew to 90%.1 In the same study, 80% of US internet users looked up health information online. That translates to 59% of the American adult population using the internet, with 13% of them going online to find information about their health condition. Also, 7% of all adults have used social media to gather healthcare information.

This staggering growth demonstrates the changing times we are facing as physicians. In the face of stifling competition, patients are more often seeking medical information and providers online. This highlights the absolute necessity of meeting the needs of our patients. Patients are searching online and on social media sites to find information about their health conditions and to learn about the various treatment options; then they are seeking out providers for care.

Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or YouTube, most people are using at least 1-2 social media platforms these days. A certain portion of these individuals are also using social media to market their business and, in the case of physicians, marketing their practice with the use of professional social media pages and/or websites. However, a majority of physicians lack an online presence. A study in 2017 by Lander et al, used the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) directory to review each active member's presence on social media using an internet search.6 Their study showed that of the 987 POSNA members, 95% had a professional webpage, but only 14.8% had a professional Facebook page, 2.2% a professional Twitter page, 36.8% a Linked-in profile, and 33% were on YouTube. This study suggested that Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeons may be underutilizing their potential social media presence.

Video is one of the most powerful tools in marketing. According to Google, 64% of consumers use video to research healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists, etc.) and 56% watch videos to learn about specific health treatments or problems, such as dental procedures or spinal ailments. YouTube is one of the most popular social media sites in the world with over 2 billion active users. It is localized to more than 90 countries and is accessible in 80 different languages. YouTube makes it possible to create and post videos for all of the world to see. It is one of the most powerful social media sites because of the ability of patients to see you before they come visit your practice. It’s the “try before you buy” form of marketing that allows patients to feel comfortable with you before they even step foot in your office. Here are several reasons why every doctor should be on social media, specifically YouTube. To create educational videos for your patients

Some services offered by your practice may be more complex than others. For example, with spine surgery medical procedures and conditions can be daunting and intimidating for a lot of patients. Conditions and procedures like isthmic spondylolisthesis, diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, diastematomyelia, or extreme lateral interbody fusion may be hard for patients to understand and follow, especially when trying to explain them during short and rushed office visits. Educational videos that explain certain conditions that are focused on “pre” or “post” treatment instruction can be helpful for patients to understand their diagnosis and serve as a step-by-step guides to reference before and after an office visit. Sharing videos on YouTube that detail the process from startto-finish helps patients gain a better understanding, putting them at ease while also bringing more patients into your practice. These videos can be sent to patients as links to watch before their appointment, played during the office visit while they are waiting to see you, and/or can be used as a reference by patients to review after their visit. By doing this, patients can learn more about their condition or upcoming procedure and therefore they can be more informed.

To advance your passion

Being on camera and producing video content allows you to speak more about what you are passionate about. Whether this is a certain condition in your specialty or the latest technology in your field, creating content for YouTube allows you to share this excitement with your viewers. Doing so shows your viewers and potential future patients that you may be passionate about that same condition or technology that interests them.

To build your brand and promote your practice

If your medical practice marketing strategy doesn’t include video, it’s time to rethink your approach. A physician can create educational videos for YouTube on conditions related to their specialty or create content relating to a subject they are passionate about, while also building their brand and marketing their practice. Unlike written content like blog posts, video literally speaks to your target audience. A short video explaining your thoughts on the recent influenza outbreak, COVID vaccine, or a video of you reacting to an NBA player's recent ankle fracture, can go viral within minutes of upload thus bringing your name, brand, and practice to viewers all over the world. Promotional videos for your office can include office tours, meet the staff videos and patient reviews which can all give insight into your life as a physician and give followers the opportunity to engage with your practice. In addition, this newly generated traffic to your social media pages and/or website can lead to higher patient reviews online. A recent study in the hand surgery literature showed that physicians with a personal website received higher Healthgrades scores than those without one17. This demonstrates that physicians are capable of impacting patient perceptions simply by having a presence online.

For professional education:

The use of social media and online, webbased services has grown substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The transition to online learning continues to be a necessity and allows physicians, medical students and trainees to attend courses, journal clubs, lectures, and other events that would not normally be accessible to them. In addition, there has been an explosion of social media accounts by various orthopedic residency and fellowship programs with content generation including discussions on interesting cases and dissemination of newly published research. Even after the COVID pandemic settles, training programs and academic institutions will continue to use social media and the online web to provide access to educational content in a digital format.

Summary

Having a presence on social media, a professional website for your practice, and creating videos for YouTube can benefit a physician’s practice. Creating content on YouTube not only allows one to educate their patients, but also promote their medical practice because marketing is more effective when video is involved. Sharing your videos on YouTube is an easy way to highlight both your personality and expertise, making patients feel more comfortable putting their health in your hands. Therefore, if you’re not already on social media or creating content for YouTube, it’s time to get in front of the camera to promote your practice and share your passions with the world.

Dr. Antonio Webb is an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon located in San Antonio, Texas with South Texas Spinal Clinic, PA. He has a passion for videography and cinematography with 215,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 25 million views. More information about Dr. Webb can be found at www.antoniowebbmd.com or www.youtube.com/antoniowebbmd. Dr. Webb is a member of the Bexar County Medical Society.

REFERENCES 1. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/factsheet/internet-broadband/ 2. Lander ST, Sanders JO, Cook PC, O'Malley NT.

Social Media in Pediatric Orthopaedics. J Pediatr

Orthop. 2017;37(7):e436-e439. doi:10.1097/BPO. 0000000000001032 a. doi:10.1097/BPO.0000000000001032 3. Hanauer DA, Zheng K, Singer DC, Gebremariam

A, Davis MM. Public awareness, perception, and use of online physician rating sites. JAMA. 2014;311:734–735. a. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.283194