Top 5 How the Healthcare Pros Are Using Social Media

Social media has already been used by many businesses and individuals to stay connected, market products and services, and of course to communicate. As social media platforms evolve and become a better way to reach consumers, healthcare professionals are not left behind. They are also using social media to find new and effective ways to manage their work.


Social Media and Healthcare
Evolution of social media platforms has been driven by the growing demand for transparency. After a survey, 1229 hospitals said they are using social media. The survey by Element.org found that:
  •         More than 149 hospitals in the U.S use blogs and micro-blogs forms of social media
  •          946 hospitals use four squire accounts (4S)
  •          566 hospitals use LinkedIn accounts (in)
  •          814 hospitals use twitter accounts
  •          1068 hospitals use Facebook accounts while
  •          575 hospitals use YouTube channels


Top Cities Using Social Media for Doctors

The top U.S cities that are using social media for doctors include:

New York City- New York city has the largest number of hospitals using Facebook. 92 hospitals have Facebook accounts.

Florida- Florida hospitals have the most Twitter accounts totaling to 57.

What Patients Say

According to a consumer survey which involved 1060 participants, 54 percent patients said that they are very comfortable using social media with their healthcare providers. They also said they are comfortable using social media to seek advice from healthcare providers for a better treatment of health conditions.
Below are the results of the survey:
  •          17% said they very comfortable using online communities/social media
  •          37% said they are comfortable
  •          23% said they don’t care about the way they use to seek healthcare advice
  •          14% said they are uncomfortable
  •          9% said they are very uncomfortable


Ways Healthcare Professionals Use Social Media

Many healthcare professionals are using social media to find ways in which they can engage their consumers and patients. By effective use of communication and marketing techniques, hospitals can now use the internet to connect with patients in the healthcare field. Patients can now use the internet to:
·         Get support from their providers and learn about some health conditions
·         Other patients use social media platforms to gather information to make informed decisions during selection of doctors, hospitals and other specialists.
·         Other consumers may use social media to post comments and reviews that help some in choosing any type of healthcare in future.
It is therefore important for healthcare professionals to be active and post accurate information and also connect with consumers for better marketing.

Below are the top ways healthcare professionals are using social media to provide patients with accurate medical information and enhance their services:
   
          1.  Share information
Social media has been used by healthcare managers to provide consumers with the ability to access quick information and also connect with providers. Healthcare organizations utilize online communities and social media to share information with patients on variety of ways such as sharing information on flu tips and shots to avoid a cold. Sharing information about health hazards or disease outbreak is also another way healthcare facilities can provide important information to people.
Other forms of information sharing through social media include:
·         Delivery of pre and post-operative information to patients
·         Provision of technological advances and updates
·         Answering of questions on various topics such as the time to meet your doctor
·         Offering any updates related to healthcare practices.


         2  Train medical personnel
Some healthcare facilities have begun using social media platforms to train their workers. Social media has been used in presentations and training of medical personnel for example encouraging them to use hash tags on twitter or joining other social media groups for enjoyable and interactive training process.
Healthcare organizations can also use pictures and training videos from the training sessions to engage consumers therefore enhancing social media marketing.
    
        
          3. Compare and improve care quality
One of the effective ways healthcare professionals have used social media is by spending time learning about their competitors to help get insight about patient satisfaction depending on the services they offer. By looking on different practices and how they are involved on social media, healthcare professionals are able to mimic new methods to help improve their own.
Social media has also has also enabled healthcare pros gather consumer feedback to help improve their care quality. Immediate responses from patients has helped providers learn patient’s reactions to the type of care and reactions to medications which enable them evaluate possibility of new services and techniques for better health care.
     
          4 . Live updates during medical procedures
This is somewhat controversial but some doctors and surgeons have been using social media to provide live updates from operating rooms. This has been seen by some as a distraction in the operation room but others say it is an innovative way to provide medical education.
Use of social media during operations has also offered healthcare facilities an opportunity to gain attention therefore acting as a marketing strategy. Social media with such updates creates excitement and also offer public awareness of a certain healthcare organization that attracts medical personnel and patients

   5. Communication when there is a crisis

Social media has been used to provide immediate and live information to consumers in times of crisis. Through social media, hospitals and other healthcare facilities are able to deliver live updates on operation status, hospital capacity and also emergency room access. Active social media can also allow healthcare pros access information shared by organizations such as Centers for Disease Control and Red Cross.


 Benefits of Social Media in Healthcare

Some of the benefits of using social media for healthcare education, treatment and communication include:
  •          Increase interactions with colleagues or peers
  •          Availability of accurate healthcare information
  •          Marketing healthcare organizations
  •          Social, peer or emotional support
  •          Public health surveillance
  •         Social media has a potential to influence health policies
  •          Influence of patients
  •         Making perfect business decisions
Source




 Concerns

  Some concerns have come as a result of social media use by healthcare professionals include:
  •          Violation of HIPAA
  •          Decreased staff productivity
  •          Lack of education on healthcare staff about effective use of social media


Location: New York, NY, USA

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