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Use of social media by Western European hospitals: longitudinal study

Use of social media by Western European hospitals: longitudinal study
Use of social media by Western European hospitals: longitudinal study
BACKGROUND: Patients increasingly use social media to communicate. Their stories could support quality improvements in participatory health care and could support patient-centered care. Active use of social media by health care institutions could also speed up communication and information provision to patients and their families, thus increasing quality even more. Hospitals seem to be becoming aware of the benefits social media could offer. Data from the United States show that hospitals increasingly use social media, but it is unknown whether and how Western European hospitals use social media.

OBJECTIVE: To identify to what extent Western European hospitals use social media.

METHODS: In this longitudinal study, we explored the use of social media by hospitals in 12 Western European countries through an Internet search. We collected data for each country during the following three time periods: April to August 2009, August to December 2010, and April to July 2011.

RESULTS: We included 873 hospitals from 12 Western European countries, of which 732 were general hospitals and 141 were university hospitals. The number of included hospitals per country ranged from 6 in Luxembourg to 347 in Germany. We found hospitals using social media in all countries. The use of social media increased significantly over time, especially for YouTube (n = 19, 2% to n = 172, 19.7%), LinkedIn (n =179, 20.5% to n = 278, 31.8%), and Facebook (n = 85, 10% to n = 585, 67.0%). Differences in social media usage between the included countries were significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Social media awareness in Western European hospitals is growing, as well as its use. Social media usage differs significantly between countries. Except for the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the group of hospitals that is using social media remains small. Usage of LinkedIn for recruitment shows the awareness of the potential of social media. Future research is needed to investigate how social media lead to improved health care.
social media, health 2.0, medicine 2.0, eHealth, participatory health care, patient empowerment, web 2.0, patient-centered care
1438-8871
e61
Van de Belt, T.H.
fe966a15-c60a-4e16-b288-3a55b9c94f2e
Berben, S.A.A.
ac5f29d8-5463-4a1c-8307-ba3e681e44d4
Sansom, M.
649842ed-d828-4113-a736-a426e777ec2e
Engelen, L.J.L.P.G.
d15b92d4-b352-414e-927d-1964eeccaae7
Schoonhoven, Lisette
46a2705b-c657-409b-b9da-329d5b1b02de
Van de Belt, T.H.
fe966a15-c60a-4e16-b288-3a55b9c94f2e
Berben, S.A.A.
ac5f29d8-5463-4a1c-8307-ba3e681e44d4
Sansom, M.
649842ed-d828-4113-a736-a426e777ec2e
Engelen, L.J.L.P.G.
d15b92d4-b352-414e-927d-1964eeccaae7
Schoonhoven, Lisette
46a2705b-c657-409b-b9da-329d5b1b02de

Van de Belt, T.H., Berben, S.A.A., Sansom, M., Engelen, L.J.L.P.G. and Schoonhoven, Lisette (2012) Use of social media by Western European hospitals: longitudinal study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14 (3), e61. (doi:10.2196/jmir.1992.). (PMID:22549016)

Record type: Article

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients increasingly use social media to communicate. Their stories could support quality improvements in participatory health care and could support patient-centered care. Active use of social media by health care institutions could also speed up communication and information provision to patients and their families, thus increasing quality even more. Hospitals seem to be becoming aware of the benefits social media could offer. Data from the United States show that hospitals increasingly use social media, but it is unknown whether and how Western European hospitals use social media.

OBJECTIVE: To identify to what extent Western European hospitals use social media.

METHODS: In this longitudinal study, we explored the use of social media by hospitals in 12 Western European countries through an Internet search. We collected data for each country during the following three time periods: April to August 2009, August to December 2010, and April to July 2011.

RESULTS: We included 873 hospitals from 12 Western European countries, of which 732 were general hospitals and 141 were university hospitals. The number of included hospitals per country ranged from 6 in Luxembourg to 347 in Germany. We found hospitals using social media in all countries. The use of social media increased significantly over time, especially for YouTube (n = 19, 2% to n = 172, 19.7%), LinkedIn (n =179, 20.5% to n = 278, 31.8%), and Facebook (n = 85, 10% to n = 585, 67.0%). Differences in social media usage between the included countries were significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Social media awareness in Western European hospitals is growing, as well as its use. Social media usage differs significantly between countries. Except for the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the group of hospitals that is using social media remains small. Usage of LinkedIn for recruitment shows the awareness of the potential of social media. Future research is needed to investigate how social media lead to improved health care.

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More information

Published date: 1 May 2012
Keywords: social media, health 2.0, medicine 2.0, eHealth, participatory health care, patient empowerment, web 2.0, patient-centered care
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 350346
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/350346
ISSN: 1438-8871
PURE UUID: bee2c26f-5f86-45f5-8fdf-37733b94d897
ORCID for Lisette Schoonhoven: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7129-3766

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Mar 2013 16:52
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:41

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Contributors

Author: T.H. Van de Belt
Author: S.A.A. Berben
Author: M. Sansom
Author: L.J.L.P.G. Engelen

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