In this investigation we quantified the Twitter influence that third party commercial entities had in 13 major medical conferences. Third parties can use this influence to promote their products or services instead of sharing unbiased, evidence-based information. These channels are unregulated and can allow third party commercial entities to exert an equal or greater amount of Twitter influence than healthcare providers. Many groups, including healthcare providers and third party entities (e.g., pharmaceutical or medical device companies) use these channels to communicate with one another. Twitter channels are increasingly popular at medical conferences.

12 Department of Biostatistics, East Carolina University - Brody School of Medicine, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America.

11 Division of Gastroenterology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.

10 Division of Rheumatology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.

9 College of Arts and Sciences, College of William and Mary, Yorktown, Virginia, United States of America.

8 Department of Surgery, East Carolina University - Brody School of Medicine, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America.

Louis, Missouri, United States of America.

7 Department of Internal Medicine, Barnes Jewish Hospital, St.

6 Division of Nephrology, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.

5 Monsanto Company, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

4 Division of Endocrinology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.3 Department of Internal Medicine, East Carolina University - Brody School of Medicine, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America.2 NOD Analytics, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America.(Bill) VA Medical Center, Salisbury, North Carolina, United States of America.

California medical conferences 2016