In the study, researchers examined more than 1,000 public tweets with key phrases on errors.
Here are five things to know:
1. Twenty-three percent of tweets concerned medication errors.
2. Of the tweets, 23 percent were about diagnostic mistakes.
3. Fourteen percent involved surgical errors.
4. Researchers found 9 percent were posted by patients and 9 percent were posted by family members.
5. Of the tweets, more than half had an emotional response to the error and 52 percent reflected frustration, humor (21 percent) and sadness (14 percent).
“Twitter is a relevant data source to obtain the patient perspective on medical errors,” researchers concluded. “Twitter may provide an opportunity for health systems and providers to identify and communicate with patients who have experienced a medical error.”
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