Do physicians tweet about environmental stewardship in health care?

More goodness from the MDigitalLife study courtesy of Greg Matthews (@chimoose). I asked him (very nicely) if he would take a look at the database he’s got of 3,200 verified physicians’ 2.1 million tweets for frequencies of environmental / sustainability topics, and here’s what he found.

Green docs – Analysis from MDigitalLife Data from Ted Eytan, MD, MS, MPH

For comparison, the same study found around 11,000+ tweets about diabetes. The hashtag I personally use to talk about this topic, #greenHC is well represented in my tweets – and I’m the only person who uses it :).

So the answer is, “not very much,” yet. This analysis was done in prep for the discussion I’m helping lead at the AAMC Joint Meeting of the… (see this blog post : Crowdsource request: Help our dialogue with leaders in academic medicine regarding social media | Ted Eytan, MD ).

Why? Because I want to show that health professionals come to social media with a mission to educate and improve health.

This is an outlet for them/us where we can advance ideas that may be far ahead of their time, kind of like a testing ground to see where the rest of our profession is.

Seeing an IV bag that’s PVC-Free and DEHP-Free for the first time may not excite you like it excites me. But it will. Someday, when you understand how they help save lives.

Simulation Training Center for Total Health 20502Thinking Green: Safer for humans of all ages

So, the data confirms I’m ahead of my time. It’s okay, @futuredocs , @Doctor_V and I are coming to the #AAMCJtMtg from the future, to share how we use this medium to participate and thrive. Don’t forget to tweet us!

Greg manually reviewed some of the terms because they are overly inclusive, for a more accurate result in this dataset. That’s dedication to helping our profession and our patients. Thank you!

To read more about the MDigitalLife study, click this link.

34 Comments

tedeytan chimoose Thx for sharing this post. Our agency is working w/ a physician on a sustainable practice project. Enjoy the weekend

matthewrayscott chimoose Let this become the norm. Have a great weekend! #greenHC

thinkalot pash22 We are among the few, pleased to meet you. Want to use the same hashtag? #GreenHC check out #AAMCJtMtg #hcsm later today.

tedeytan Pleased to say hello to you as well Ted. I know thinkalot already through another evidenced-based health e-group.

pash22 thinkalot I know you both through chimoose and the #MDigitallife study. Pleased to co-innovate with you in #GreenHC – What’s next?

pash22 Oh hey Paul, are you going to CleanMed Europe in Oxford? I’m looking for ideas to see #GreenHC up close while I’m there. DM me.

tedeytan Nope. Most knowledgeable person in this field in NHS England is pencheon1. You might think abt getting in touch with him

pash22 pencheon1 HIt the easy button on that. We talked last week & it was gr8. I use social media to expand the conversation. 🙂

tedeytan pencheon1 Ted,do you know SusHealthcare & FrancesMortimer who are hosting the conf in Oxford? Centre was set up by muirgray

pash22 pencheon1 SusHealthcare FrancesMortimer muirgray I do not. But I will attempt to now. Thank you! #GreenHC

pash22 pencheon1 SusHealthcare FrancesMortimer muirgray Keep ideas coming. #gratitude #totalhealth #GreenHC

tedeytan pencheon1 SusHealthcare FrancesMortimer muirgray Another person to get in touch with is carlofavaretti

pash22 pencheon1 SusHealthcare FrancesMortimer muirgray carlofavaretti on it. Don’t stop! Will write a blog post w shadowing request.

pash22 thinkalot pencheon1 I do now, we chatted last week , great conversation. Enjoying the complementary perspectives.

.tedeytan dramydean Definitely will, as environmental stewardship should be part of preventative patient care #greenHC

tedeytan great to see this, tx. A number of CHC members will be CleanMedEurope & we’d be happy to help. Will DM as maybe easier to email!

Ted Eytan, MD