Social Media and Your Cancer Patient

In an increasingly connected world, healthcare is rapidly evolving to meet the needs of a growing patient population seeking information online. In the past few years, social media has erupted as a means of dissemination of health-related information between patients and healthcare providers alike. Patients online have access to communities and expert-opinion previously inaccessible. Cancer patients especially are empowered through online knowledge acquisition and interactions with support groups or advocacy groups. As patients continue seeking information online, social media has increasingly been recognized as an important potential physician-patient interface. Healthcare provider's presence on social media is growing to meet this need. Providers can utilize social media to easily reach patients to promote health-related information, guide important conversations like the importance of cancer screening and even improve health-related behaviors. Social media can also aid in conducting research through cultivation of networking, patient recruitment, and promotion of rapid dissemination of new results. Whether through “Tweet chats” or conference hashtags, the most up to date information is easily accessible and rapidly transmissible. Social media is positioned to bridge a gap of communication and accessibility between 21st century patients and physicians.