The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations
Purpose: This study examines the influence of social media use among orthopedic and plastic-trained hand surgeons on patient-reported ratings online and academic productivity. Methods: The American Society of Surgery of the Hand directory was queried for actively practicing orthopedic and plastic su...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589514124002196 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832586274162081792 |
|---|---|
| author | Sameer R. Khawaja, BS Krishna N. Chopra, MA Musab Gulzar, BS Ozair R. Khawaja, HS Shammah E. Udoudo, BS Joseph G. Monir, MD Michael B. Gottschalk, MD Adrian L. Huang, MD Nina Suh, MD Eric R. Wagner, MD, MS |
| author_facet | Sameer R. Khawaja, BS Krishna N. Chopra, MA Musab Gulzar, BS Ozair R. Khawaja, HS Shammah E. Udoudo, BS Joseph G. Monir, MD Michael B. Gottschalk, MD Adrian L. Huang, MD Nina Suh, MD Eric R. Wagner, MD, MS |
| author_sort | Sameer R. Khawaja, BS |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose: This study examines the influence of social media use among orthopedic and plastic-trained hand surgeons on patient-reported ratings online and academic productivity. Methods: The American Society of Surgery of the Hand directory was queried for actively practicing orthopedic and plastic surgeons with a hand surgery fellowship. Each name was searched on various social media platforms. Average ratings, number of reviews, and number of comments were collected from Healthgrades, Google reviews, and Vitals. H-index was searched on Scopus. A summated social media presence score was calculated to identify the top 20% of social media users in each cohort. Results: A total of 97 orthopedic and 102 plastic surgeons were included. Overall, plastic surgeons were more active on social media compared to orthopedic surgeons. There was a positive association between having active profiles and Healthgrades ratings. When looking within the subgroups, the top 20% of social media orthopedic users were found to have a significantly higher mean Healthgrades rating and a mean number of comments than the rest of the cohort. On Vitals, the top 20% of social media users had higher mean ratings compared to the remaining 80%. The top 20% of plastics social media users had a significantly higher average Healthgrades rating compared to the rest of the plastics group. On Google reviews, the top 20% also had higher mean ratings, as well as mean number of ratings, compared to the rest of the cohort. Plastic surgeons with a Twitter/X account had a significantly higher h-index than plastic surgeons without a Twitter/X account (14.5 vs 9.2, P < .05). Conclusions: Social media involvement is positively associated with surgeon ratings and the number of reviews and comments on physician rating websites. Using web-based marketing tools is still rare in hand surgery, especially among orthopedic surgeons. Type of study/level of evidence: Economic/decision analysis IV. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f2e08a0b8e44e81935cdcb58921d80d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2589-5141 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f2e08a0b8e44e81935cdcb58921d80d2025-01-26T05:04:40ZengElsevierJournal of Hand Surgery Global Online2589-51412025-01-01716671The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic ReputationsSameer R. Khawaja, BS0Krishna N. Chopra, MA1Musab Gulzar, BS2Ozair R. Khawaja, HS3Shammah E. Udoudo, BS4Joseph G. Monir, MD5Michael B. Gottschalk, MD6Adrian L. Huang, MD7Nina Suh, MD8Eric R. Wagner, MD, MS9Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GADepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Corresponding author: Eric R. Wagner, MD, MS, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, 21 Ortho Lane, Atlanta, GA 30329.Purpose: This study examines the influence of social media use among orthopedic and plastic-trained hand surgeons on patient-reported ratings online and academic productivity. Methods: The American Society of Surgery of the Hand directory was queried for actively practicing orthopedic and plastic surgeons with a hand surgery fellowship. Each name was searched on various social media platforms. Average ratings, number of reviews, and number of comments were collected from Healthgrades, Google reviews, and Vitals. H-index was searched on Scopus. A summated social media presence score was calculated to identify the top 20% of social media users in each cohort. Results: A total of 97 orthopedic and 102 plastic surgeons were included. Overall, plastic surgeons were more active on social media compared to orthopedic surgeons. There was a positive association between having active profiles and Healthgrades ratings. When looking within the subgroups, the top 20% of social media orthopedic users were found to have a significantly higher mean Healthgrades rating and a mean number of comments than the rest of the cohort. On Vitals, the top 20% of social media users had higher mean ratings compared to the remaining 80%. The top 20% of plastics social media users had a significantly higher average Healthgrades rating compared to the rest of the plastics group. On Google reviews, the top 20% also had higher mean ratings, as well as mean number of ratings, compared to the rest of the cohort. Plastic surgeons with a Twitter/X account had a significantly higher h-index than plastic surgeons without a Twitter/X account (14.5 vs 9.2, P < .05). Conclusions: Social media involvement is positively associated with surgeon ratings and the number of reviews and comments on physician rating websites. Using web-based marketing tools is still rare in hand surgery, especially among orthopedic surgeons. Type of study/level of evidence: Economic/decision analysis IV.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589514124002196Hand surgeryH-indexOrthopedic surgeryPlastic surgerySocial media |
| spellingShingle | Sameer R. Khawaja, BS Krishna N. Chopra, MA Musab Gulzar, BS Ozair R. Khawaja, HS Shammah E. Udoudo, BS Joseph G. Monir, MD Michael B. Gottschalk, MD Adrian L. Huang, MD Nina Suh, MD Eric R. Wagner, MD, MS The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online Hand surgery H-index Orthopedic surgery Plastic surgery Social media |
| title | The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations |
| title_full | The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations |
| title_short | The Impact of Social Media for Hand Surgeons: A Prevalence and Correlation Study With Online and Academic Reputations |
| title_sort | impact of social media for hand surgeons a prevalence and correlation study with online and academic reputations |
| topic | Hand surgery H-index Orthopedic surgery Plastic surgery Social media |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589514124002196 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sameerrkhawajabs theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT krishnanchoprama theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT musabgulzarbs theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT ozairrkhawajahs theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT shammaheudoudobs theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT josephgmonirmd theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT michaelbgottschalkmd theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT adrianlhuangmd theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT ninasuhmd theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT ericrwagnermdms theimpactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT sameerrkhawajabs impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT krishnanchoprama impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT musabgulzarbs impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT ozairrkhawajahs impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT shammaheudoudobs impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT josephgmonirmd impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT michaelbgottschalkmd impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT adrianlhuangmd impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT ninasuhmd impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations AT ericrwagnermdms impactofsocialmediaforhandsurgeonsaprevalenceandcorrelationstudywithonlineandacademicreputations |