Docs Report Social Media Connections Positive, But Inequities Remain - PatientEngagementHIT.com

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By Sara Heath

May 17, 2021 - Hashtag “#MedTwitter” and the rest of the social media universe can be helpful for physicians working to expand their networks, but most profoundly if that physician is a man, according to new data from Northwestern Medicine gender inequities in healthcare.

This comes as health experts call for more equity in the healthcare workforce as a means to drive health equity among patients.

Although both male and female physicians told researchers they saw their professional networks expand while using social media, it was men who were more likely to say they reaped the benefits—giving talks or getting a scholarship—than women.

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“There’s been this line of thinking that social media can be used to level the playing field and give women equal opportunities, but it turns out the same biases that promote men are occurring online as well,” Nicole Woitowich, PhD, research assistant professor of medical sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and study first author, said in a statement. “Women are not reaping the benefits of social media, and they’re doing so in the face of more online harassment.”

Social media has proven a helpful patient-provider communication, branding, and public health messaging tool. But when platforms reflect inequities for the healthcare workforce, it could have negative consequences for the overall push for health equity in patients.

The study, published as a research note in JAMA Network Open, surveyed just under 600 physicians who were asked to identify themselves as either male, female, or non-binary/third gender. Participants also had the option not to self-describe, although the researchers said for the purposes of the study those participants could not be included in the analysis.

About the same proportion of male and female physicians said social media helped them expand their professional networks, coming in at 69 and 67 percent saying as much, respectively. Men and women were equally as likely to say social media helped them collaborate more (70 percent and 68 percent). Close to equal proportions (57 percent of men versus 49 percent of women) said social media improved job satisfaction.

But it was the men who reported more opportunities coming from that networking, the data showed. Forty-eight percent of men reported that social media helped them expand their research portfolios, while only 36 percent of women said the same. Meanwhile, 39 percent of men said social media sparked a speaking opportunity, while 30 percent of women reported as much.

A quarter of men said social media connection resulted in scholarship opportunities, while 21 percent of women said the same.

Instead, women used social media as something of a support group. Nearly three-quarters of women reported using social media as social support, compared to 55 percent of men. That could be out of necessity, further research showed. A January study using the same survey data showed that women are more likely to experience harassment over social media than their male peers.

“We did not address this in our survey, but it may be likely that women also use social media to voice and address these gender inequities,” Woitowich said. “Simply put, women physicians may not be afforded the luxury of browsing social media solely for scholarly purposes.”

“Our study makes it even more clear that it is necessary to be intentional in how we engage on social media, and the importance of amplifying women, minorities and those with intersectional identities,” senior author Shikha Jain, MD, FACP, a hematologist and oncologist at University of Illinois Chicago, explained in the press release. “There are many benefits that can come from engaging online, as has been shown in other studies, but pitfalls that exist in the real world are just as prevalent in the digital space.”

This comes as social media has proven itself a key platform for clinicians. Although clinicians use social media as a means to network with one another, it can also be an avenue for patient-provider communication, branding, and public health messaging.

After all, data shows that patients are more responsive to public health messaging coming from their providers than other entities, like celebrities or politicians.

It may be important to assess the gender equity issues for medical professionals on social media platforms. Ensuring the voices of women can be heard—and potentially elevated in the healthcare industry—could have a positive influence on overall health equity for patients.

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