Social Media For Health Care Professionals
Monday, September 8th, 2008In case you have not noticed, Social Media is exploding. Smart companies are blogging, podcasting, and participating in Social Networking Sites to promote their companies. Health Care Companies are joining this trend in record numbers. Want to learn what is current in Health Care? Just read The Health Care Blog. Prefer to listen to a Health Care Podcast, all you need to do is subscribe to Health Care 411. Health Care 411 has a podcast series for Consumers and Clinicians.
Many Health Care Professionals now have profiles in Facebook, MySpace, and other Social Networking Sites. Business use of Social Networking Sites is increasing every day. Health Care Professionals are also using sites like YouTube and Twitter to gain greater exposure and stay ahead of the competition.
Let’s explore some of the ways Health Care Professionals are Using Social Media For Business.
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Blogging - Blogging can help keep clients informed about your company and its products and services. Also, blogging is an excellent way to get honest feedback from your customers. Customers want the opportunity to tell you both what is good and what is bad. Blogging makes this possible in a unique and unthreatening way. Feedback from blogging is priceless.
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Podcasting - Podcasting is a very credible way to correspond with your clients, prospects and professionals interested in your company. Podcasting allows you to share an audio file, sort of a talk radio style format, where you can speak directly to your audience or interview industry experts and allow people to listen to the interview at their convenience. Podcast can be listened to any time your audience wants and adds great credibility to your message. Feedback from Podcasting is very powerful as listeners feel safe and confidential when communicating. I have had feedback on my podcast show “Business Bits With Jim Farrell” that has been very positive and some very critical. I have made adjustments from the feedback to make my show better for my audience.
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Social Networking Sites - Social Networking Sites like FaceBook, MySpace, Linkedin, and many others are becoming very popular for corporate marketing. All revolve around the friend, or trusted advisor theory, where you can ask friends for advise and guidance on almost anything. Joining or creating a social networking group is a key method of promoting your business and lets you network with like minded business people. Health Care Professionals are also using Social Networking Sites to create and promote seminars and events.
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YouTube - YouTube allows you to upload and share videos. YouTube is a free service that lets you connect via Video to your audience. Video is very powerful and an important part of the Social Media Marketing Mix. I use YouTube to share a 60 second video introduction to the industry experts I am interviewing for my podcast show.
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Twitter - Twitter allows users to post a quick and short message on “What are you doing now”. Done correctly, Twitter can be a powerful PR tool. Twitter messages, also called tweets, must be less than 140 characters; however this is more than enough to make people aware of your marketing messages. Tweets are great for making people aware of your other Social Marketing Efforts, listed above, and reveals a great sense of what people are really thinking, as it is difficult to mask what you are thinking in a 140 characters. If you want a feel to how powerful Twitter is, just take a look at the Presidential Campaign. Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden all are using Twitter. Imagine a politician limited to 140 characters, no time to spin, so pay attention to these tweets.
The following are some real life examples of how Health Care Professionals are using Social Media for business.
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“As the first hospital CEO to create a blog, my intention was always to bring positive attention to the hospital and research institute. After a decade in healthcare communications, my skill was to take complex subjects and to translate them to the public. The blog took me to places about which I could only have dreamed. I now write for several newspapers and specialty publications and recently came out with a self-help book on patient advocacy, “Taking the Hell out of Heatlhcare,” and will be releasing a humorous book in December titled “You Hold ‘em I’ll Bite ‘em.”"
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Nicholas Jacobs, President/CEO of Windber Medical Center
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“Social Media has made researching dental health care issues easy and private for the patient. My specialty is Cosmetic Dentistry and Adult Dentistry. Social Networking Sites like Facebook provide a forum for patients to obtain information and get educated. I have a profile in Facebook and participate in some of its groups. My Podcast Show The Good Dentist allows patients to get important information by listening to episodes like Cosmetic Dentistry, Dental Implants, and Sedation Dentistry.”
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Dr. Ronen Rotem - New Jersey Dentist Certified for Full Mouth Reconstruction
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“I teach wellness providers how to grow successful private practices. One way I recommend that they grow their client base is by using Social Media. A great way to do this is to form a Facebook group that would be relevant to their potential clients. For example, if they are a massage therapist in Austin, Texas, they can start a group “Health and Wellness Austin” and contribute useful post. By getting a conversation and a community going, they can establish themselves as an expert and get the word out to more people about what they do. I am the author of the forthcoming book “Now What?: How To Turn Your Passion Into a Practice.” I also have my very own Facebook Group for wellness providers, http://groups.to/thewellpractice.”
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Brooke Thomas - www.thewellpractice.com
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“I am the author of the highly anticipated book “Sleep, Interrupted” My practice is dedicated to helping patients breathe better, sleep better, and live better. Sleep and Breathing Disorders are particularly hard on patients and often go unreported. My goal in participating in Social Media is to inform the public and allow patients to get educated in a private and convenient way. My blog educates people with Sleep and Breathing Disorders and lets them know they are not alone and should seek medical help to improve the quality of their lives. I also have a Twitter profile to bring awareness to these disorders. Twitter can lead to very honest replies as tweets are limited to 140 characters.
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Dr. Steven Y. Park - Clinical Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, New York Medical College
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“I love using Twitter and have found many doctors and other Health Care Professionals who use it. But for the most part, they seem to be more networking with each other. I haven’t seen many–really, any–besides Dr. Hubbard who use Twitter to communicate health information to potential patients. For my part, I use it primarily to provide practical, reliable tips or story links, both to help people and give them a taste of the kind of information we offer in the My Family Doctor magazine. My hope is that they will find my tweets useful and eventually check out the My Family Doctor magazine I edit.”
Leigh Ann Hubbard
Managing Editor