Benefits and harms of patient stories on social media from the perspective of healthcare providers and administrators in Ontario

Moutasem A. Zakkar, Craig R. Janes and Samantha B. Meyer

International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 2022, vol. 37, issue 2, 1075-1088

Abstract: There has been a growing use of social media by patients to share their healthcare experiences and produce information that can be helpful to other patients seeking healthcare services. These stories can reveal issues in healthcare quality. However, faced with the inherent risks of social media, healthcare providers have been skeptical about the value of these stories, and many healthcare systems have adopted restrictive and protective policies to control the use of social media by healthcare providers. This study explores healthcare providers' and administrators' perspectives on patient stories on social media and whether they can use the stories to evaluate healthcare experiences. Semi‐structured interviews (n = 21) were conducted with healthcare providers and administrators, including physicians, nurses, and quality managers in Ontario, Canada, between April 2018 and May 2019. Inductive and data‐driven thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Several barriers prevent healthcare providers from realizing the benefits of social media, including concerns about the quality of patients' feedback, the professional codes of conduct, and the time and effort required to process these stories. The study findings suggest that cultural changes in the healthcare system might be required to foster the use of social media for healthcare quality improvement and enable the development of a safe patient‐provider communication environment that facilitates the exchange of constructive feedback between the two parties without the fear of legal consequences, breaches of patient privacy, or violation of professional codes of conduct.

Date: 2022
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