This session will review the numerous approaches to utilize social media to promote pathology in a variety of public formats with opportunity to reach patients, students, pathology trainees and colleagues, and the general public. Professional use of social media among pathologists, including the acquisition and sharing of digital images of pathology specimens, serves to increase the availability of educational material among pathology colleagues, improve patient care, and increase the visibility of the pathology profession. Individual pathologists and institutional departments of pathology worldwide already use platforms such as Twitter and Facebook (San Francisco, California), YouTube (parent company Google, Mountain View, California), and Instagram (parent company Facebook) for educational and networking purposes. The ethical and legal considerations of posting pathology-related information on social media while maintaining HIPAA standards and protecting patient privacy have been recently discussed in the pathology literature.

 

Social media accounts for the Department of Pathology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) were established in January 2018 on Twitter (@NU_Pathology) and Facebook (Northwestern Pathology) and March 2018 on Instagram (@northwesternpathology). An ongoing series of pathology cases across multiple sub-specialties are selected from archives or teaching sets and presented in “Case of the Month” format. On Day 1, digital images of the glass slides are shared with a brief, deidentified clinical history while inviting discussion from followers of the accounts. On Day 2, additional images, pertinent immunohistochemical stains, the final diagnosis and key educational points are shared. Additional posts serve to announce faculty and resident literature publications, participation in local and national meetings, poster presentations, and other departmental activities, including social events.

 

Of the social media outreach undertaken thus far, the Twitter metrics alone are striking. Since inception, the Department of Pathology at NMH has shared 548 “tweets.” Of these, the most popular are the educational Case Of The Month tweets, which are viewed on average 10,517 times (range 5,889 to 22,849) with 924 “active engagements” per post (range 344-1,843), defined by actions such as liking the post, replying to the post, clicking links, and viewing or following the account profile. During this time, the number of followers of the account increased to 1341, averaging 71 new followers each month.

 

This workshop will present an approach to utilizing social media for pathology outreach at the individual or institutional level. The current ethical and legal landscape for disseminating pathology-related content on social media platforms while maintaining professional standards and HIPAA requirements will be reviewed and discussed. Demonstrations of different platforms and tools for managing multiple social media accounts will be presented. During the session, a real-time interactive space within the social media platforms will be utilized for illustration of the power of social media tools.

 

As a result of this session, learners will be able to: