Leveraging social media to raise awareness about living donors

The Atlanta Journal Constitution | Gracie Bonds Staples

At exactly 7:30 a.m. Friday, Dr. Harrison Pollinger will begin removing John Hembree’s left kidney using an minimally invasive procedure called robotic nephrectomy.

As he does, Dr. Miguel Tan, surgical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at the Piedmont Transplant Institute, will be across the hall, prepping his patient for the transplant.

And in what will be Georgia’s first-ever “live tweet” of a robotic nephrectomy and living donor kidney transplant, Dr. Matthew Mulloy will be hunkered down at Piedmont Hospital, providing the 140-word play-by-play. The story also will be available on the hospital’s Facebook page, Pinterest, instagram and YouTube.

The doctors are hoping to leverage the powers of social media to increase awareness about the need for living organ donors and inspire medical students and physicians in training across the country to participate and ask questions during the live tweet.

“Social media is a part of so many aspects of our lives, it’s a great way to increase awareness,” said Pollinger. “Robotics is sort of a unique technology so the two married together nicely.”

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are 91,215 patients awaiting kidney transplantation in the United States. In all, 16,812 kidney transplants were performed last year in the United States â€" 11,043 from deceased donors compared to 5,769 from living donors.
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