Does Social Media Adoption Reduce Overuse of Medical Resource: The Case of High-Cost Tests

Overuse of medical resource is a significant contributor to the rapidly growing healthcare costs. Although researchers have growing interest in understanding the impact of social media use in healthcare industry, there are limited studies quantifying its impact from the lens of medical resource overuse. Motivated by this crucial research gap, we provide the empirical evidence demonstrating that unnecessary use of medical resource can be reduced by patients’ social media use. Our research shows the significant value of IT application in resolving a social problem.