Most hospitals use at least one social media platform

Social media varies across U.S. hospitals, but the vast majority of them utilize at least one social media platform, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a cross-sectional review of hospital-related social media activities, with a focus on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and Foursquare. They reviewed hospital social media webpages to determine the extent of adoption relative to hospital characteristics, including geographic region, urban designation, bed size, ownership type and teaching status. Social media utilization was estimated from user activity specific to each social media platform, according to the study.

In the study's findings, adoption of social media varied across hospitals with 94 percent having a Facebook page and about 51 percent having a Twitter account. The vast majority of hospitals had a Yelp page (99 percent) and had check-ins on Foursquare (99 percent). Large, urban, private nonprofit and teaching hospitals used social media platforms with the greatest frequency.

“This preliminary investigation of social media adoption and utilization among U.S. hospitals provides the framework for future studies investigating the effect of social media on patient outcomes, including links between social media use and the quality of hospital care and services,” concluded the authors.