Deciding who to follow is one of the holiest decisions one can make on Twitter. After all, it is literally choosing whose ideas you wish to let into your mind. For this reason, many Twitter users, especially new ones, limit the number of accounts they follow to a select few. The question is, what types of Twitter accounts are you interested in? When newbies ask EM Twitter “experts” who to follow, a typical list of well-known names frequently comes up. These lists tend to feature Free Open Access Medical Education (#FOAMed) all-stars. These are usually respected EM providers with a track record of high-quality content both on Twitter and online in general via podcasts or blogs. There’s even an account called @FOAMstarter that follows 31 well-known EM Twitter users. New users can simply follow these 31 accounts and be certain that the information appearing in their feeds will be high-quality and high-yield.

However, one area that does not receive as much attention is that Twitter is a stellar resource for keeping up with general medical news from the nation’s and world’s leading health care organizations. The trick is finding accounts that don’t merely tweet out banal junk. Personally, I don’t need a reminder that it is Arbor Day and that I should plant a tree. That was an actual tweet from the American Heart Association (AHA) account, @American_Heart. The AHA account is basically a digital public relations flack for their various initiatives, which apparently include planting trees on Arbor Day. I’m sure that’s very important, but I don’t need it in my Twitter feed. Don’t believe me? Here’s one more “high-yield” doozy from that account: “It’s never too late to start eating healthier!” Fortunately, we are not reprinting the JPEG image that accompanied this tweet, which featured a beet with the caption, “Hey girl, my heart beets for you.” Now you are free to never follow that account (unless you happen to really like it). You’re welcome.

The question is, which large reputable organizations are useful? Here are a few recommendations.

1 The World Health Organization (@WHO). WHO tweeted out a link to a joint statement by WHO and @UNICEF regarding attacks on medical facilities and personnel in Syria. Earlier in the day, the account tweeted out some important statistics: “#Measles deaths worldwide: 1980: 2,600,000. 2000: 546,800. 2014: 114,900 #VaccinesWork” and a link to the WHO fact sheet on measles.

2 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (@CDCgov). The CDC’s tweeting on the unfolding Zika crisis has been absolutely excellent. As more information has become available, the CDC has tweeted out high-quality information. This account also tends to retweet excellent information from other reputable organizations. Links to influenza surveillance updates are also useful.

3 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (@CMSGov). This account is a “newsy” account that helps me keep up to date with changes in our complicated system. For example, when the newly proposed CMS rule introducing details about the anticipated new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM) was announced in late April, CMS tweeted out information on the new rule with a link to an article by Health & Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell (@SecBurwell) that explains how the rule intends to modernize Medicare payments. The Health Affairs Blog (@Health_Affairs) also had important takes on these new proposals.

4 On the trendier side, The New York Times has become an increasingly excellent source for both major health news and smaller interest stories that tend to go viral. The three main accounts worth following are @NYTHealth, @NYTScience (less medicine, more environmental, space, etc.), and the @upshotNYT (analytical journalism, frequently featuring the superb writing of Aaron Carroll, MD, MS [@AaronECarroll], professor of pediatrics and associate dean for research mentoring at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, and others). In addition to their Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondents like Sheri Fink (@SheriFink), The Times frequently publishes the informative, thought-provoking, and somehow still humorous writing of Perri Klass, MD (@PerriKlass), professor of journalism and pediatrics at New York University in New York City. When your friends and colleagues ask, “Did you see that piece in The Times?” your answer can be, “Yes!”

5 Next, there are hospital Twitter accounts. For the most part, hospital accounts are for public relations. That being said, I follow the accounts of any hospital I work at (and any hospital I have ever worked at or am even thinking about working in). Even though most of these tweets are low-yield, it is wise to keep up with what these institutions are doing on a larger scale. Sometimes these Twitter accounts provide better insight than internal emails you might receive on a daily basis.

6 There’s one other group of Twitter accounts you should always follow, your colleagues. Any time a colleague joins Twitter, follow them. I follow just about any one I know personally from my workplace and many I have met at conferences. It’s a polite and low-impact way to say, “I’m interested in what you have to say.” And even if you aren’t interested, at least each Tweet is capped at 140 characters—not so typical in departmental meetings.

7 Finally, if you are looking for other great accounts, I have two suggestions. First, see who is getting a lot of retweets by people already on your feed. If someone you trust keeps retweeting someone you’ve never heard of, chances are that person might be worth following. Second, you can click on any other account and see who they follow. Not surprisingly, the @CDCgov and @WHO follow a lot of highly informative sources.