Understanding the factors that influence the adoption and meaningful use of social media by physicians to share medical information.

Background: Within the medical community there is persistent debate as to whether the information available through social media is trustworthy and valid, and whether physicians are ready to adopt these technologies and ultimately embrace them as a format for professional development and lifelong learning.

Objective: To identify how physicians are using social media to share and exchange medical information with other physicians, and to identify the factors that influence physicians' use of social media as a component of their lifelong learning and continuing professional development.

Methods: We developed a survey instrument based on the Technology Acceptance Model, hypothesizing that technology usage is best predicted by a physician's attitudes toward the technology, perceptions about the technology's usefulness and ease of use, and individual factors such as personal innovativeness.