53% of Doctors Face Negative Social Media Encounters

What You Should Know: 

• Over half of doctors have had a negative encounter with another user, according to Software Advice’s Social Media for Doctors Survey. 
• The survey finds that attracting new patients is the number one benefit to using social media, according to 66% of US practitioners. 

Key findings of the survey include: 

• Social media keeps practitioners updated with trends and increases patient count: 81% of healthcare providers follow other providers on social media in order to stay updated about emerging trends in medicine. 
• Practices use a healthy mix of social platforms to promote their business: Facebook is the most popular platform for providers (67%); followed by Instagram (63%), and LinkedIn (46%).
• Medical professionals keep personal and professional accounts separate: 62% of healthcare providers use social media to promote their medical practice and themselves as professionals. However, 69% have professional and personal accounts that never reference one another.

The content creation differs from practice to individual: Among practitioners who post on behalf of their entire practice, the majority (72%) post links to related news topics. In comparison, the most common type of content individual professionals post is explainers for common issues related to their specialties. 

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