Buzz e-sante

As social media became an accepted communications tool in recent years, it’s safe to say that the healthcare industry has been slower than most to adopt it, in spite of all of its intrinsic benefits. 

Why? There can be many factors, but Christina Thielst, a social media consultant and editor of a book from HIMSS entitledApplying Social Media Technologies in Healthcare Environments said the problem primarily can be attributed to media reports about security breaches and personal health information being leaked inadvertently via social media. 

Knowing that healthcare puts a lot of necessary emphasis on privacy and security, as outlined by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), it’s no wonder the industry was a little spooked. I think most industries were rattled initially, or at least they didn’t take social media seriously at first. I can remember thinking, “Is this really going to be something more than what teenagers use to communicate with one another?” (C’mon, you know you had the same thought in social media’s nascent stage.) 

However, now the healthcare industry has embraced social media, and as Thielst pointed out in a Healthcare IT News article entitled “Social Media Taking Hold in Healthcare,” there are three main reasons why. 

One key area that social media has proved to be an invaluable tool in healthcare is in the patient-provider relationship.

Healthcare providers are seeing the advantages to a blog with helpful content that helps patients inform themselves and make decisions about their care. Or, using Facebook and YouTube to answer questions from the community or conduct live chats with experts from the healthcare organization, or to post a video about the right way to wear a bike helmet to prevent injury if involved in a bike accident. 

The possibilities are endless and healthcare providers are now understanding how it allows them to connect with their patients in an efficient and effective way.

Sometimes, it can help in a traumatic situation in which response time is crucial.  According to a US News & World Report article, when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred: “After reading about the marathon bombings on Twitter, trauma teams in Boston last year were able to ready themselves for surgery much sooner than they would have if they'd had to wait for a traditional news report.”

Some healthcare organizations have their nurses create professional Facebook and Twitter accounts separate from their personal accounts. Once their patients friend and/or follow them, the connection has been made. It allows them to have a personal connection with their patients beyond their stay or office visit, and a level of trust and respect is a natural result. 

In some cases, social media in healthcare in this sense can literally save a life. Ruthi Moore, director of nursing at the Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society, tells of an instance in that sameUS News article when one of her nurses saw a post from a veteran who was thanking everyone, and she became suspicious he was going to be doing something he shouldn’t. Instead of the standard phone call, she went right to his home explaining that she was in the neighborhood anyway. Her hunch proved right as when she got there, the man had a gun in his hand.  She was able to get him to give her the gun and remove the bullets.  Had she not found his post on Facebook, he might have committed suicide.

Though not always this dramatic, the benefits of social media are numerous in healthcare, and I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of how it will continue to enhance the patient-provider connection. And, since providers are so time-strapped when you are in their presence, social media will allow them to extend their caring demeanor beyond the office visit or hospital stay. A true prescription for success.

It’s finally happening. After years of speculating about how and when the highly regulated landscape of healthcare communications would be ready to embrace social media, I’m happy to report that day is dawning. It’s been a long time coming, but with FDA guidance around social media beginning to take shape we’re also seeing clients and regulatory teams who are willing to test the waters.

This is an exciting development but it doesn’t mean that every pharmaceutical brand should immediately set up a Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest account. The authenticity that makes social media such a compelling tool for marketers can also be a stumbling block for companies who are less familiar with the space. To ensure success, it’s wise to consider a few key guidelines before implementing any social media tactics:

What are you trying to achieve? Do you want to raise awareness around a particular disease state? Establish a voice for corporate communications? Spread the word about a new product? Educate a specific audience about a health risk? Understand your goals and how a social media tactic will help you achieve them.

Social listening tools have made it possible for us to dig deeply into the conversations that HCPs, patients and caretakers are having online. These tools allow us to see where the conversations are happening, what people are saying and identify areas of risk.

Develop a set of guidelines or Standard Operating Procedures that define how social media platforms and communications will be deployed and managed. Some of the scenarios to consider include: crisis response, roles and responsibilities, employee participation, and level of engagement. You’ll also need to consider who will be in charge of overseeing your social media platform(s) and how much time they will need.

Good content is the backbone of any winning social media tactic – with the end goal being to get users to engage by sharing and responding. Make sure you think through what, when and how you will be posting and coordinate with other channels in your social ecosystem to make sure messages are aligned.  The best way to do this is by creating an editorial calendar that can be developed and approved in advance.

So you’ve got everything ready to go and your social channel goes live – now what? Social media can be a great platform to reach out to influencers and establish relationships with key media contacts. If your organization is ready, start by identifying who is leading the conversation around key topics, and follow and listen to what they have to say in order to identify an opportunity to share or respond to something they have posted.

Social media still isn’t for everyone but if your organization is ready to make the leap, make sure you’re armed with a plan and the tools you need to succeed.

In the latest update to the iOS 8 beta, Apple added a number of health-related features, according to various reports. Most notably, the company added a data tracking capability for spirometry, which is data about how obstructed the lungs are collected by people with conditions like asthma or COPD.

Medication management for patients, as well as their physicians and pharmacists, is going digital.

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