ArticleJMIR medical informatics2020
Use of Social Media by Hospitals and Clinics in Japan: Descriptive Study.
Article in JMIR medical informatics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- An empirical study on key drivers of blind box online purchase experience based on online reviews: integrating the Kano model and entropy weight method.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Public Discourse Toward Older Drivers in Japan Using Social Media Data From 2010 to 2022: Longitudinal Analysis.JMIR infodemiology · 2025Article
- Characterizing user demographics in posts related to breast, lung and colon cancer on Japanese twitter (X).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Fact-Checking Cancer Information on Social Media in Japan: Retrospective Study Using Twitter.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Factors Associated with Website Operation among Small Hospitals and Medical and Dental Clinics in Korea.Healthcare informatics research · 2022Article
- Scandinavian Nurses' Use of Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Berger and Luckman Inspired Analysis of a Qualitative Interview Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Qualitative Assessment of Community Learning Initiatives for Environmental Awareness and Behaviour Change: Applying UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Development of Electronic Health and Artificial Intelligence in Surgery after the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Mapping Individual Differences on the Internet: Case Study of the Type 1 Diabetes Community.JMIR diabetes · 2021Article
- Network Structure and Community Evolution Online: Behavioral and Emotional Changes in Response to COVID-19.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe use of social media by hospitals has become widespread in the United States and Western European countries. However, in Japan, the extent to which hospitals and clinics use social media is unknown. Furthermore, recent revisions to the Medical Care Act may subject social media content to regulation.
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine social media use in Japanese hospitals and clinics. We investigated the adoption of social media, analyzed social media content, and compared content with medical advertising guidelines.
methodsWe randomly sampled 300 hospitals and 300 clinics from a list of medical institutions that was compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. We performed web and social media (Facebook and Twitter) searches using the hospital and clinic names to determine whether they had social media accounts. We collected Facebook posts and Twitter tweets and categorized them based on their content (eg, health promotion, participation in academic meetings and publications, public relations or news announcements, and recruitment). We compared the collected content with medical advertising guidelines.
resultsWe found that 26.0% (78/300) of the hospitals and 7.7% (23/300) of the clinics used Facebook, Twitter, or both. Public relations or news announcements accounted for 53.99% (724/1341) of the Facebook posts by hospitals and 58.4% (122/209) of the Facebook posts by clinics. In hospitals, 16/1341 (1.19%) Facebook posts and 6/574 (1.0%) tweets and in clinics, 8/209 (3.8%) Facebook posts and 15/330 (4.5%) tweets could conflict medical advertising guidelines.
conclusionsFewer hospitals and clinics in Japan use social media as compared to other countries. Social media were mainly used for public relations. Some content disseminated by medical institutions could conflict with medical advertising guidelines. This study may serve as a reference for medical institutions to guide social media usage and may help improve medical website advertising in Japan.
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