Skip to main content

Twitter Use in the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Community

Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports volume 13, pages 53–58 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Social media has revolutionized the access and exchange of information in healthcare. The microblogging platform Twitter has been used by blood and marrow transplant physicians over the last several years with increasing enthusiasm. We review the adoption of Twitter in the transplant community and its implications on clinical care, education, and research.

Recent Findings

Twitter allows instantaneous access to the latest research publications, developments at national and international meetings, networking with colleagues, participation in advocacy, and promoting available clinical trials. Additionally, Twitter serves as a gateway for resources dedicated to education and support for patients undergoing transplantation.

Summary

We demonstrate the utilization and various applications in using Twitter among hematopoietic cell transplant healthcare professionals, patients, and other affiliated stakeholders. Professionalism concerns with clinician use of such social media platforms, however, also exist. Overall, Twitter has enhanced and increased the opportunities for engagement in the transplant community.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Grajales FJ 3rd, Sheps S, Ho K, et al. Social media: a review and tutorial of applications in medicine and health care. J Med Internet Res. 2014;16(2):e13. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2912.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Abuhadra N, Majhail NS, Nazha A. Impact of social media for the hematologist/oncologist. Semin Hematol 2017; 54: 193–197.

  3. •• Thompson MA, Majhail NS, Wood WA, Perales MA, Chaboissier M. Social media and the practicing hematologist: twitter 101 for the busy healthcare provider. Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2015;10(4):405–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-015-0286-x. Great primer on using Twitter for the hematologist.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Katz MS, Utengen A, Anderson PF, et al. Disease-specific hashtags for online communication about cancer care. JAMA Oncol. 2016;2:392–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. •• Pemmaraju N, Thompson MA, Qazilbash M. Disease-specific hashtags and the creation of Twitter medical communities in hematology and oncology. Semin Hematol. 2017;54:189–92. Provides a framework for disease-specific hashtags in hematology and oncology.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Haustein S, Costas R, Lariviere V. Characterizing social media metrics of scholarly papers: the effect of document properties and collaboration patterns. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0120495. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120495.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Thelwall M, Haustein S, Lariviere V, Sugimoto CR. Do altmetrics work? Twitter and ten other social web services. PLoS One. 2013;8(5):e64841. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064841.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Eysenbach G. Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on Twitter and correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. J Med Internet Res. 2011;13(4):e123. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2012.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Ciprut S, Curnyn C, Davuluri M, et al. Twitter activity associated with U.S. news and world report reputation scores for urology departments. Urology. 2017;108:11–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. •• Pemmaraju N, Mesa RA, Majhail NS, Thompson MA. The use and impact of Twitter at medical conferences: best practices and Twitter etiquette. Semin Hematol. 2017;54:184–8. Discusses the how significantly Twitter has changed medical conference participation.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. West HJ. Practicing in partnership with Dr. Google: the growing effect of social media in oncology practice and research. Oncologist. 2013;18(7):780–2. https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.2012-0453.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Sedrak MS, Cohen RB, Merchant RM, Schapira MM. Cancer communication in the social media age. JAMA Oncol. 2016;2(6):822–3. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.5475.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. • Thompson MA, Younes A, Miller RS. Using social media in oncology for education and patient engagement. Oncology (Williston Park). 2012;26:782. 784–785, 791. This paper discusses social media use in oncology for the purposes of education and patient engagement.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Shay DF. Physician use of social media: navigating the risks. Establish social media guidelines to protect health information, and reputation of practice and physicians. Med Econ. 2014;91:44–6.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Dizon DS, Graham D, Thompson MA, et al. Practical guidance: the use of social media in oncology practice. J Oncol Pract. 2012;8:e114–24.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Lewis MA, Dicker AP. Social media and oncology: the past, present, and future of electronic communication between physician and patient. Semin Oncol. 2015;42(5):764–71. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.seminoncol.2015.07.005.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Blood & Marrow Transplant Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, Taussig Cancer Institute, 9500 Euclid Avenue, CA-60, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA

    Sagar S. Patel & Navneet S. Majhail

Authors
  1. Sagar S. Patel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Navneet S. Majhail
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Navneet S. Majhail.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Sagar S. Patel Twitter: @sagarpatel

Navneet S. Majhail Twitter: @BldCancerDoc

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Stem Cell Transplantation

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Patel, S.S., Majhail, N.S. Twitter Use in the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Community. Curr Hematol Malig Rep 13, 53–58 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-018-0434-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-018-0434-1

Keywords

  • Social media
  • Twitter
  • Hematopoietic cell transplantation