Social Media & the Delivery of Healthcare Part II:

Social media is all about connecting. It’s not about you – although it certainly can help raise visibility. More importantly though, it creates new and deepens existing relationships and its use lends credibility as a forward-thinking organization. How can physicians and other healthcare professionals/organizations integrate social media into their overall business development and marketing strategies? Where do they start? Try dipping your toes in slowly.

Physicians have felt more at ease using social media in closed professional communities. Through these sites, physicians can comfortably discuss specific (albeit anonymous) patient issues. They can also share information and collaborate with their peers. Generously sharing your expertise is not only appreciated by your colleagues. But when others share your comments across social media sites, your reach has the potential of “going viral.” These and other high profile blogs become an easy, inexpensive way of establishing you or your organization as a thought leader.

Most healthcare providers/organizations have websites. Create a media page that chronicles radio, TV and print stories run about you or your organization along with listings of news releases. Post podcasts and webinars hosted by the organization or in which you as an individual healthcare provider may have participated. Build in a comment feature to better assess what stories peak community interest.

Listening is an easy, risk-free way to get comfortable with the medium while also learning how to use it to engage, collaborate and interact with others. Listen to responses to the comment feature on your own webpages. Listen to your patients’ personal blogs. Follow their communities in your particular specialty or geographic region. The next step might be to engage readers or other community members in conversations. Responding in a general, non-patient specific way to comments/questions raised on various discussion groups or blogs such as TwitterDoctors helps establish you as a meaningful participant.

Of course creating your digital footprint through a strong internet profile is critical. Once created, use search engines to regularly research your online ID. Use GoogleAlerts or other similar mechanisms to monitor discussions about you or your organization. These not only facilitate your ability to enter the discussion but also allow you an opportunity to update your information or correct misinformation.

Next time: Becoming more interactive without violating HIPAA.

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