Analysis of the Digital Footprint of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

INTRODUCTION: Patients increasingly rely on Google search to guide their choice of healthcare providers. Despite this trend, there is limited literature systematically characterizing the online presence of orthopaedic surgeons. The goal of this study was to identify the information patients see after queries of Google search when selecting orthopaedic surgeon providers. METHODS: The Physician Comparable downloadable file from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was deduplicated and filtered. A list of orthopaedic surgeons within the United States was generated, of which a randomized sample was taken and queried using a Google Custom Search. The results for each surgeon's first page were classified into the following categories: (1) hospital-controlled content website, (2) third-party health website, (3) social media website, (4) primary academic journals, or (5) other. RESULTS: The most frequently returned website was third-party health websites (43.3%). Statistically significant differences were observed in the categories across multiple comparisons, including academic and nonacademic orthopaedic surgeons, male and female providers, and surgeons from different graduation years. DISCUSSION: Most of the results were attributed to third-party websites demonstrating that orthopaedic surgeons do not have notable control over their digital footprint. Increased patient visibility of physician-controlled websites and an objective rating system for patients remain potential areas of growth.

Public Interest in Sports Medicine and Surgery (Anterior Cruciate Ligament, Meniscus, Rotator Cuff) Topics Declined Following the COVID-19 Outbreak.

PURPOSE: To quantify the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic's impact on public interest in sports medicine and surgery topics. METHODS: The Google Trends analysis tool (Google Search Volume Indices [GSVI]) was used to collect search information regarding orthopaedic sports medicine terms ("ACL," "meniscus," "rotator cuff") and sports surgery terms ("ACL surgery," "meniscus surgery," "rotator cuff surgery") from May 2015 to May 2020. A time series analysis was performed for these GSVIs and compared to the timing of the pandemic. RESULTS: Interest in both sports medicine and surgery declined following the COVID-19 outbreak. Following the World Health Organization's statement on COVID-19's pandemic status on March 11, 2020, searches for "ACL," "meniscus" and "rotator cuff" declined by 34.78%, 43.95%, and 31.37%, and search for "ACL surgery," "meniscus surgery" and "rotator cuff surgery" declined by 42.70%, 51.88%, and 53.32%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 outbreak correlated with a decline in public interest in sports medicine and sports surgery topics, as measured by Google searches. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Orthopaedic sports medicine and arthroscopy patient and surgical case volumes were negatively affected by various factors after the onset of the pandemic. One factor associated with the volume decrease is a decline in public interest.