Twitter Takes Over the Operating Room

Unless you’ve been living under a very large rock, you know by now that social media is the taking over the world. While some doctors and hospitals use Facebook and Twitter to connect with patients and maybe even EMR vendors (like our social users), one Louisville hospital is taking it one step further — into the operating room. During a double hand transplant at Jewish Hospital Hand Center in Louisville, the surgeons operating tweeted hourly updates to the world.

What was the third double hand transplant in the world was also the first to be broadcasted worldwide, taking Twitter followers through each incision and nerve repair. Dr. Christina Savvidou and Dr. Ainhoa Costas-Chavarri, each took turns (when not actively operating) posting real-time tweets during the 20-hour long surgery, keeping the family up-to-date as they waited anxiously in the waiting room.

“Surgeons are now working on connecting nerves in the right hand from the donor to the recipient” said one tweet. ”Finishing right hand nerve repair. Due to new technique, this patient should have better feeling & motion than previous recipients”.

This may be just one example of connecting the dots between healthcare and social media but clearly won’t be the last.  To hear more about the major surgery and the major enhancement to social networking, check out the video below: