The Association of Healthcare Social Media (AHSM) began in the Fall of 2019 when a conversation among "internet friends" realized the increased usage of social media platforms by healthcare professionals for purposes of marketing their practices, providing disease awareness messages, and expanding medical education. As of August 2020, the Association grew to over 730  members, and continues to grow and provide important healthcare-related information to a broad audience. Our members represent all healthcare specialty practices and are well-connected within the medical social media community.

AHSM is a nonprofit organization operated exclusively for charitable purposes per Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, specifically for the purpose of advancing public health by developing and promulgating standards of social media use in healthcare using evidence-based methods that improve the integirty and public transparency of online medical information and encourage the use of social media as a vital educational tool for the dissemination of substantiated health claims and information by qualified healthcare professionals.

As an organization, we focus on providing educational resources for social media usage by healthcare professionals and advocates for social media as an important public health tool in combating misinformation. 

The organization was initially funded through a generous grant from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation. AHSM is also supported through various partnership programs bringing excellent content and resources to our members.