By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    TBI: Some Surprising Statistics
    February 9, 2016
    Your Keys to Safer, Even More Secure Healthcare Cloud Services
    January 13, 2015
    4 Career Options in Healthcare Industry that Combine Big Data & Healthcare
    February 5, 2021
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Twitter: A Social Soundtrack for Medical Meetings
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > Twitter: A Social Soundtrack for Medical Meetings
eHealthSocial Media

Twitter: A Social Soundtrack for Medical Meetings

StevenShie
StevenShie
Share
6 Min Read
Image
SHARE

Image

 

 

 

More Read

Advance Practice Nurse Led Clinics – Coming to Your Medical Neighborhood Soon?
How Are On-Demand Doctor Apps Beneficial To Users?
Why Ignoring ICD-10 Won’t Make It Go Away
Prevent Physician Burnout With These Mobile Apps
Can Social Media Save Lives?

 

 

Twitter has changed a lot of things in healthcare. One of them is communication at medical meetings.

Image

 

 

 

 

 

Twitter has changed a lot of things in healthcare. One of them is communication at medical meetings.

ASCO Twitter Trend

Volume of #ASCO13 tweets from 6pm-9pm, May 15, 2013 (Source: The Healthcare Hashtag Project, Symplur)

Yesterday, the embargo of abstracts to be presented at this year’s American Society of Clinic Oncology (ASCO) Congress was lifted at 6pm, creating a big wave of conversations on Twitter.

Oncology is one of the most active and exciting therapeutic areas for drug development. According to a report from the industry organization PhRMA, there are more than 3,000 projects in development for cancer treatment and 80 percent of them are potential first-in-class medicines. This explains the high anticipation of ASCO on Twitter.

Thanks to Healthcare Hashtags Project, an amazing tool developed by Symplur and contributed by a wide range of partners in the healthcare space, we are able to pull and visualize the ASCO tweets.

Following are some key Twitter metrics about #ASCO13 from 6pm-9pm yesterday I pulled from the website:

  • 260+ tweets were issued 
  • More than 120 users issued tweets
  • The tweets potentially reached more than 2.5 million users

From a healthcare perspective, these numbers are impressive–this is a strictly regulated industry and it takes tremendous efforts for stakeholders such as pharmaceutical companies and device manufactures to develop informative and fair-balanced content that fits 140 characters.

When we look at these numbers more closely, we have some more interesting findings:

  • Adam Feuerstein, reporter from The Street issued the most tweets (11) and was also mentioned the most (26 times) on Twitter
  • Seven pharma companies issued tweets during the time period 
  • Gilead issued the most tweets (3 tweets); Genentech was mentioned the most (15 times)
  • Although BMS only issued one tweet, the  company was mentioned six times on Twitter because of its promising data on its PD-1 compound, which has generated significant coverage in the traditional media space
  • A majority of tweets included comments or point of view rather than just news sharing
eHealth

Twitter influencers following #ASCO13 embargo lift (Source: Symplur)

These findings give us three important insights. First, organizations can capitalize on news trend to strengthen message penetration online. Second, Twitter can significantly augment the influence of individual users. Third, opinions expressed on Twitter may have larger implications for marketing and communication strategy development.

What’s happening around ASCO on Twitter  have also appeared during other major medical meetings. While attendees participate in events taking place on site , another gathering is taking place on Twitter simultaneously, with a much larger and diverse audience, creating a “social soundtrack”  for the meeting.

Now, many medical meetings introduce official Twitter hashtags to facilitate such conversations online. A list put together by Symplur shows from May 10 to May 21, 35 medical or healthcare-related conferences have listed official hashtags.

A major implication of the trend is that data presented at a medical meeting become instantly accessible by the general public. Twitter users–from multinational corporations, large hospitals to researchers from academia have the same opportunity to share their point of view to a wide audience. Those who understand how to develop engaging, relevant and informative digital content have great advantage to lead the charge in online conversation and deliver key messages to a large audience. Take yesterday’s ASCO embargo lifting as an example, the most active participants were reporters, pharma companies, media outlets and oncologists–all came with key messages in mind. For those who made it on top of the list, they succeeded. Just browsing through #ASCO13 tweets from yesterday, you already have a pretty clear idea of what data people would be talking about the most in Chicago two weeks from now, even if you know nothing about oncology R&D.

One of the most exciting changes that social media has brought to healthcare and medicine is that the emerging tool breaks the barrier for information that was only available to highly trained medical professionals. Now, by including a hashtag, anyone can be a participants of a medical meeting. You can argue whether it is a good idea or not but one thing is clear: traditional players in healthcare can no longer talk to each other in a vacuum. As the digital movement evolves, the audience of medical meetings is changing and we may soon forget days when there wasn’t a hashtag for the meeting.

 image: twitter/shutterstock

TAGGED:twitter
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

FDASIA Health IT Report Issued

April 14, 2014
beyond the buzz healthcare social media
eHealthSocial Media

Beyond the Buzz: A Practical Guide to Building an Online Healthcare Community

January 24, 2015

HIMSS 2013: Talk of the Town in New Orleans

March 8, 2013

Survey Reveals Patient Opinions on HealthCare Websites

April 30, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?