Evaluation of Social Media Utilization Among Members of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society: Implications in Practice.

Abstract

Background: Social media plays an increasing role in healthcare, influencing patient education, provider selection, and physician marketing. Previous studies show mixed results on its impact on physician review scores, and limited data exist within orthopedic oncology. The purpose of this study was to quantify social media utilization among Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) members as well as identify any differences by physician sex or practice type.

Methods: All active MSTS members were searched for common social media accounts. Account activity and engagement data were acquired. Publicly available ratings from popular physician review websites were compiled. Data were collected on each member's demographic details including sex, geographical location, type of practice, and h-index. The association between social media activity and online review scores was analyzed using chi-square tests for categorical data and t-tests for continuous variables.

Results: A total of 247 MSTS members, comprising 199 academic and 48 private surgeons, revealed significant differences in orthopedic surgeon social media engagement and online presence. At least 1 social media account was used by 178 (72.1%) of MSTS members with LinkedIn most used (57.9%) followed by ResearchGate (39.7%). Surgeons with 3 or more active social media accounts demonstrated significantly higher ratings on practice-affiliated scoring sites compared with those without any social media presence (4.88 ± 0.10 vs. 4.82 ± 0.13, p = 0.017), and a significant difference was observed in practice-affiliated scoring, with higher h-index surgeons receiving better ratings (4.84 ± 0.10 vs. 4.79 ± 0.11, p = 0.009).

Conclusions: Most MSTS members do not have professional social media accounts geared toward the patient population (i.e. Instagram, TikTok). Although social media demonstrates benefits of patient engagement, education, and recruitment, there was only significant difference in ratings on practice-affiliated scoring sites with over 3 social media accounts compared with surgeons without any accounts.

Level of evidence: Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.