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Patients are increasingly accessing online health information and have become more participatory in their engagement with the advent of social media (SM). This study explored how patients’ use of SM impacted their interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs).

Focus groups (n = 5) were conducted with 36 patients with chronic conditions and on medication who used SM for health-related purposes. The discussions lasted 60–90 min, were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analysed.

Participants did not interact with HCPs on SM and were not expecting to do so as they used SM exclusively for peer interactions. Most reported improvement in the patient-HCP relationship due to increased knowledge, better communication, and empowerment. Participants supplemented HCP-provided information with peer interactions on SM, and prepared themselves for …