Engaging your brand in social media is kind of a no-brainer – unless you’re in the healthcare industry. In our experience, some health organizations have been hesitant to foray into social media due to confusion about what to discuss, how to engage with patients, or fear of running afoul of HIPAA regulations.
This series attempts to break down the basics and offer some guidance as to how to navigate the social media waters.
In Parts 1 and 2, we took a look at the basics of choosing to engage in social media and the options that are out there. Now, we’ll review some of the goals and messaging basics.
The goals of social media in the healthcare industry are different than other industries. You’re not going to sell a coat or alarm clock with your social presence. Rather, focus on being less direct-response oriented and focus more on brand-building.
There’s a logical chain of events that can occur if you do one thing with your messaging:
Anticipate and answer patient questions before they have to ask
If you can do this, that information will relieve some of the intimidation and fear they experience → That helps patients feel empowered to make the best-informed decision for themselves and their families → And creating that positive experience for patients builds strong relationships with existing & potential patients → which all funnels into brand preference.
To accomplish the above, there are some simple rules to follow:
Keep it simple but professional. Use clear language and vernacular if discussing complex medical procedures.Make it relatable – show the audience you understand them. One of the best ways to do that? See above: keep it simple.Serve as a community resource. This could mean posting healthy recipes, introducing new providers to your network, discussing the latest flu outbreak you’ve seen in your facility, or offering tips on how to avoid getting sick.Be responsive. If someone reaches out to you with a question or comment, respond to them. People will see your response, so take the high road if it’s a negative comment (or ignore it if it seems like someone is just trolling). Negative comments are a way to improve your organization. Take them seriously and try to start a discussion with the person who posted it. Find out what needs fixing. Generally speaking, though, take all conversations offline (call the patient, or have them call you, or stop in to see you) if there is risk of violating HIPAA restrictions.Be visual whenever possible and include photos, simple graphics, or videos in your posts. Statistically, posts with a visual component typically get more reach and engagement.
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After my lecture in Japan (November 2020), I had some very encouraging questions and comments. Most meaningful for me, were from my very good friend Occupational Therapist Nozomi Ooyama (she did her Masters here in Bangor, UK and was also a Visiting Scholar at OZC)
She asked... ". I understood the possibility of online interventions and believe it should be developed. Is it possible to take the cost for online sessions in the uk? Or do you think it is desirable to use it as supplemental materials of face-to-face interventions?
My answer is as follows:
Yes I think it is possible as you know the UK costing model is different but for example, the Improve Access to Psychological Therapy Programme (IAPT) includes Computerised intervetions as part of the pathway https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/nice-advice/iapt
Personally I think there are three key reasons to add it into our repertoire:
1. In the UK we have long waiting lists for face to face therapy: while waiting, online intervention may be better than nothing (? This is a hypothesis to be tested ! – what are the risks? ?frequency of adverse outcomes)
2. During therapy, supplementing face-to-face sessions with online work could help deepen and embed learning. It could be a way of managing “homework”.
3. After therapy, our clients often ask for “top up” or refreshers. Having an account where you can go back and look at your materials could be very valuable.
What I would like to see doesn’t really exist yet, but building this is a dream of mine in collaboration with colleagues and investors I might secure one day.
So yes in short I see it to be very desirable to smarten up our offer for our patients.
I have added this exchange to my growing "wakelet" page about this topic