Association between Social Media Activity and Patient Ratings in Sports Medicine Surgeons

Introduction Physician rating websites (PRW) have grown to be an integral tool for the modern healthcare consumer to find physicians. As the United States healthcare system continues to shift towards a quality-centered reimbursement structure, PRWs have a higher likelihood of impacting the economics and livelihoods of physicians and their practices. Recent studies have found that the presence of a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) correlates with higher ratings on PRWs among orthopedic surgeons. However, there is a paucity of research regarding social media activity (i.e., frequency of posting, number of likes, comments, and post content). The purpose of this study is to examine whether physician social media activity impacts PRWs. Methods The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) physician directory was used to identify sports medicine surgeons in the United States. An original program written in Python was used to search the first page of Google for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles. Physician ratings were collected from Healthgrades, Google reviews, and Vitals. The surgeons were divided into two groups: social media group (SMG) and non-social media group (NSMG). The association of social media use with online physician ratings was evaluated using simple and multiple linear regression. Results A cohort of 1,919 surgeons were identified, and 17.9% (n=344) were social media users. Social media users had significantly higher ratings on Vitals (p<0.001) and Google (p<0.001). Furthermore, having a Twitter profile was associated with higher ratings on Healthgrades (p=0.001) and Vitals (p=0.001). Having a greater number of Twitter followers was associated with higher ratings on Vitals (p=0.037), and increased Twitter post frequency was associated with greater ratings on Healthgrades (p<0.001). Being a Facebook user was associated with higher ratings on Vitals (p= 0.008). Furthermore, higher numbers of Facebook followers were associated with greater ratings on Google (p=0.033) and Healthgrades (p=0.018). Lastly, Instagram users had higher ratings on Vitals (p=0.037). Other factors such as average number of likes per post, average comments per post, and post content posts had no impact on physician ratings across all PRWs. Conclusion Social media facilitates direct communication between physicians and patients, which may correlate with higher patient satisfaction. However, while the average ratings improved across all PRWs with social media use, so did the number of ratings. Therefore, social media use may inflate the number of reviews with either social media fans or by attracting a larger patient population.