These days, most people are lucky if their doctors remember their names, let alone actually have a great relationship with them. But it turns out, a lot of folks not only want better relationships with their physicians, they even want to have social media relationships with them.
A new survey finds that 54% of Millennials and 42% of all adults say they want to be friends with or follow their healthcare providers on social media. What’s more, 65% of Millennials and 43% of all adults think it’s perfectly okay to contact their doctors through social media, like say post something to them directly on their page, or direct message them.
- And while some doctors may not be comfortable directly chatting or diagnosing patients via Facebook or Instagram, there may be good reason for doctors to at least be more active on social media, say by sharing important health information with their patients. The survey finds that 32% of Americans say they’ve been motivated to do something about their health, whether they change their diet, or take a medication, based on something they saw on social media.
- What’s more, 15% of parents with kids under 18 say they self-diagnosed a health problem based on info from social media.
Source: Market Watch