Are physicians finally warming up to social media use?

Not that long ago, if you asked a physician if he or she used social media sites such as Twitter, you’d be met with a blank stare. But that might be changing. According to a study, 81 percent of physicians used content sites such as Medscape.com and spent 48 percent of their online minutes at such sites. In comparison, only 40 percent used social media sites and spent just 6 percent of their online time on social media.  A different picture emerged in the second quarter of 2010: The share of time spent on content sites dropped by 15 percentage points, to 33 percent, while time on social media sites increased by 10 percentage points, to 16 percent. —Tom Hughes