Social Media and Healthcare

Known by many other names including the Nintendo Generation, Generation Next, Echo Boomers and most notably Generation Y, the newest group to the healthcare consumer market includes over 75 million adults born since 1982. These millennial members constitute one of the most challenging groups to market to.  

Why? In a nutshell, these younger patients grew up with computers, smart phones, Wii's and Playstations.   These “digital natives,” are multi-taskers who skim and scan so much information on a daily basis making it challenging for healthcare marketers to attract and engage this elusive group.  They are much less accepting of traditional marketing methods, proving more skeptical and difficult to reach than their predecessors.

On the bright side, these members show similar characteristics to their Generation X predecessors when they begin to shop for healthcare services leaving marketers not completely in the dark. For example, we know that they use several sources of information including online search, reviews and ratings sites and social sites for initial research.

Unique to this generation is their independence from physician referrals and reliance on self-directed care decisions when ultimately choosing a service or provider, which makes it tricky for marketers to target and track.

In response to this, healthcare marketers need to find creative ways to communicate and connect with constant personalized content, most notably through social and online platforms, to effectively reach this digital generation.  Additionally, physicians need to provide a total care experience to keep this group from switching doctors or hospitals if they have a negative experience, which is a common trait of this generation.

According to The Advisory Board Company “Millennials show a greater interest in wellness and preventative treatment, but prefer to access health information through the Internet or a fitness center rather than through hospital services.”  They still believe Doctor’s are the most reliable source of information; however, this generation will consult everyone from their friends, family, to the networks they have built around social media.  

So what works with healthcare marketing to Generation Y?

• Marketing Campaigns free of a lot of jargon - they like it clean and simple,
• Interactive campaigns that allows them to engage someone in conversation,
• Blogs that educate them on new medical technologies, or medical breakthroughs, or healthy ways to improve their lives,
• Medical Social Media Marketing to peak their interest and draw them in, particularly, You Tube Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Thus, even though these millennials at first appearance can be a tough sell, there’s a huge opportunity to connect with these consumers more deeply and help win their trust. For they value patient-centered relationships and quality connections through various channels making them a loyal bunch of healthcare consumers for years to come.

HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including syphilis and gonorrhea, continue to spread in high-income countries such as Canada, Australia, the U.S. and in Western Europe, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM).

A key part of prevention efforts is to offer HIV testing so that people can know their status and take steps to protect themselves and others. If they are negative, they can be counselled about safer sex and the need for regular screening for HIV and other STIs. If positive, they can receive counselling and swift referral for medical monitoring and discussion about the benefits of starting treatment for their personal health. Another benefit of treatment is that it reduces the amount of HIV in a person’s blood and genital fluids, thus reducing their sexual infectiousness.

Social networking

The popularity of electronic social networking sites and so-called smartphones has resulted in the growth of virtual communities that are ripe for communicating messages about healthier living, including HIV prevention. Such sites and technologies are used by some people to find sexual partners, therefore they are of growing importance for the encouragement of healthy behaviours.

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted a study called HOPE—harnessing online peer education. They trained participants to deliver HIV prevention messages and related issues via the social networking site Facebook. The researchers found that participants who received such messages were more likely to request home-based HIV testing kits and get tested. Also, reductions in unsafe sexual behaviour occurred among some participants.

These results, which need to be confirmed in a larger, longer study, suggest that more researchers need to consider and evaluate engagement with electronic social networks and associated technologies (such as smartphones) to help people lead healthier lives.

Results

Engagement was generally good in all groups throughout the 12 weeks of the study.

More participants who received messages about HIV prevention and testing (44%) requested an HIV home-testing kit than participants who received general health messages (20%).

Researchers found that participants who received HIV prevention messages had fewer sexual partners over time than other participants.

Points to consider

• The HOPE study shows that it is possible to engage relatively young MSM about HIV prevention via social networking.
• Some participants were willing to accept the offer of HIV testing.
• 93% of participants remained in the study until its end.
• Changes in unsafe sexual behaviour were seen among one ethno-racial group.

New social networking technologies could also be used to help create healthier communities and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

s we have just concluded a series on healthcare marketing to the different generations, I thought it may be important to touch on the need to understand your buyer personas before putting any time and effort into your marketing.

What are Buyer Personas?

Though I went to school some 20 something years ago, I don't remember the terminology of "buyer personas."  More often in our marketing classes, we referred to a "target market".  Buyer Personas, as I have learned, are much more than target markets. 

According to Tony Zambito, "Buyer personas are research-based archetypal (modeled) representations of who buyers are, whatthey are trying to accomplish, what goals drive their behavior, how they think, how they buy, and why they make buying decisions.  (Today, I now include where they buy as well as when buyers decide to buy.)"

As far as healthcare marketing goes, it is more than defining a target market of "Prospective Patients ages 23- 35."  It means truly understanding what drives them to make healthcare decisions, where they shop, how they shop and how they make decisions. It involves understanding their frustrations, their pain points and their hot buttons.

Example of Buyer Personas 

We work with a Urology Group who are trying to recruit new patients to their practice.  One of their buyer personas we have named Manly Matt.  Manly Matt is a man ages 55-65 who is suffering from prostate cancer. He is well educated and though he did not grow up with computers, is very familiar in how to use them. He has a smart phone.  He searches the internet for answers to his healthcare questions, and trusts the recommendations of friends, especially his wife.  Manly Matt is not actively engaged in social media, himself, though his wife is on facebook daily.  He will read blog posts and loves to see what others before him have gone through and learn about their actual experiences. 

This Urology Group is very interested in starting a facebook page.  Is that a good idea considering this buyer persona?  Well, my first thought was no, - they are targeting men ages 55-65, the baby boomers,  and most of these men are not on social media.  Women are on facebook.  But when we really took a step back and analyzed this persona, we understood that if we created targeted content to the wives of these men, then, we could use facebook as social media outlet.  We will have to stay focused on "taking care of your spouse through prostate cancer."  We will have to focus on the women as caregivers for their husbands within this social media channel. 

Buyer Personas help us focus the content and the medical digital strategy we implement at all of our practices.  While defining them may be one of the most difficult things to do, by far, it is one of the most important things to do to kick off a well organized healthcare marketing plan. 

Pinterest isn’t a passing fad. It’s here to stay—especially when it comes to hospital marketing.

At our fifth annual Health Care Social Media Summit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., you’ll find out why during our session, “Pinterest: A powerful tool to share wellness content.”

Alexandra Tursi, social media strategist for Fletcher Allen Health Care, says Pinterest can help educate the community about relevant and important health topics.

“Pinterest is a natural fit for us,” Tursi says. “It’s a place share our expertise in nutrition, fitness, and workplace wellness. We can also reach out to niche audiences, like people with diabetes who are looking for healthy and delicious recipe ideas.”

Tursi shares her thoughts about Pinterest:

If a health care communicator asks you, “Why Pinterest?” what is your quick answer?

Two reasons: the audience and the virality factor.

The primary users of Pinterest are women between the ages of 25 and 45. For most health care organizations, this is a primary target audience. Here’s your opportunity to talk and share with them.

The primary user behavior on Pinterest is “repinning”: 80 percent of pins are repins. That means most of the content shared on Pinterest is curated versus created content—it is simply the individual browsing through their Pinterest feed and “repinning” or “liking” the content they want to collect for themselves.

There is huge potential for your health content to go viral in this kind of setting. Who doesn’t want their positive health message to spread through a social network?

How do you use Pinterest to change patient behavior—with videos, fitness tips, healthy recipes or other boards?

We use Pinterest to share health and wellness information, specifically in children’s health, diabetes, nutrition, and fitness, as well as expert commentary in areas that range from cardiology to orthopedics to cancer. 

We share videos with our chief of pediatrics, Dr. Lewis First, as well as video interviews with our providers, health infographics, and beautiful imagery from the state where we are so fortunate to live and work—Vermont.

What are the three most important things health care communicators should know about using Pinterest for their organizations?

1. Make your website pinnable. Pinterest has made it simple for Internet users to “pin” content from their favorite websites. Ensure that your website is set up for this by Verifying Your Website. You can check to see what has been pinned from your website by going here.

2. Strategically link to brand content. Think about how you can host branded photo or video content online. Pinterest is built on linking to source pages: When a user clicks on a photo or video, it brings them to the website where the content is originally hosted. You want that to be your brand website, blog, or microsite. Make sure you have images there. For example, we now ensure that we have at least one image with each blog post.

3. Follow copyright rules. Because so much of Pinterest activity is driven by “repinning,” we see users repurposing other user content. You want to be careful that you do not use content without permission. For example, you may “repin” a beautiful photograph, only to learn that the photographer requires that you have a license to share that photo. At Fletcher Allen Health Care, we ensure that we have the rights to the content that we use, and because we do “repin” we also ensure that what we repin is in the public domain. Learn more about copyright on Pinterest.

How much time should a communicator spend on Pinterest each day?

The average Pinterest user logs in for about 14 minutes per session; however, some Pinterest users may spend as much as 90 minutes in one session. As busy health care communicators, we do not have that luxury. I spend between 15 and 30 minutes per day on Pinterest. I typically log on between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., because that’s when use is highest. I’m also known to log on after 8 p.m. because that’s another high-traffic time.

1. Focus your content. Find your niche.

We live in a world where purpose matters.

2. Create consistent themes.

If people like what they see, they'll come back for more.

3. Give your content a branded look.

If people share your image by uploading it to Facebook or another social media site, make sure you own it.

4. Have a flexible content calendar.

Follow the two-stream content method:

- One stream of content is planned.

- The second stream of content is based on listening in real-time to what's going on in your niche and around the Web.

5. Post what the audience likes-and wants to share.

Read more at: http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/Main/Articles/11549.aspx

More than ever, it’s essential for hospitals and health providers to rethink their healthcare marketing mix to include social media.

The proof is in the numbers: 34% of consumers use social media to search for health information

While it’s easy to identify demand, many healthcare marketers are not exactly sure how they might tap into the social web to reach business goals. To help understand the possible applications, consider these five examples of how the social web can work for hospitals and others in the healthcare industry:

1. Tweet Live Procedures
In the past year, social media channels have helped open up an area of healthcare previously only available to a select few: the operating room.

Last February, Henry Ford Hospital became one of the first hospitals to Tweet a live procedure from an operating room. Doctors, medical students and curious non-medical personnel followed along as surgeons tweeted short updates on the kidney surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

This healthcare marketing tactic can effectively create excitement and raise public awareness for a healthcare organization. In the case of the Henry Ford procedure, Twitter was abuzz that February day with users both re-tweeting the messages from Henry Ford and adding their own thoughts on the event. That buzz can help healthcare organizations both attract new patients and recruit medical personnel.

2. Train Medical Personnel
Some healthcare organizations are beginning to recognize the potential impact of leveraging social media channels to complement training efforts. Mayo Clinic Social Media Manager Lee Aase, for example, incorporated social media into a recent training presentation for local chapters of the American Heart Association. During the presentation, Aase leveraged Twitter to encourage participants to contribute to the discussion using the #AHAchat hashtag.

Weaving social media into healthcare training initiatives can provide multiple benefits, including:

• Giving trainees a forum to ask questions and quickly receive answers
• Providing presenters with immediate feedback from trainees (i.e., if trainees have mastered a concept of if more guidance is needed)
• Enabling organizations to complement healthcare marketing efforts by sharing slideshows, video or pictures from training sessions on social sites like YouTube or Flickr

3. Reach Mainstream Media
70% of journalists now use social networks to assist reporting, compared to 41% the year before, according to a  Middleberg Communications survey. With numbers that high, it only makes sense for healthcare marketers to leverage social media channels in order to achieve coverage by both mainstream media and industry publications.

As part of healthcare marketing efforts, organizations can use social media channels – including blogs, forums and microblogs – to share success stories from out-of-the-ordinary operations or treatments, medical research or other significant achievements. For example, when Aurora Health Care tweeted a knee operation in April, it received significant media attention, both from mainstream media and industry publications including Good Morning America, the local Milwaukee public radio network and Hospital Management Magazine.

4. Communicate in Times of Crisis 
When disaster strikes – whether it be a flood, an earthquake or a terrorist attack – hospitals and healthcare providers are at the center of it all. Healthcare providers can leverage social media networks to provide real-time updates both for those directly affected by the crisis and those watching from afar.

During the November Fort Hood shooting attack, Steven Widman of Scott & White Healthcare – one of the hospitals that treated Fort Hood victims, used Twitter to provide up-to-the-minute news. Through Twitter, Widman provided updates on emergency room access and hospital operation status, re-tweeted news from Red Cross and communicated with reporters.

Widman shared with Found In Cache Blog the results of the social media crisis communication efforts:

• Twitter followers increased 78% in just three days
• Scott & White Healthcare was listed on the front page of Twitter as a “trending topic”
• The hospital’s YouTube channel was ranked the 79th most viewed non-profit channel during the entire week surrounding the crisis

5. Provide Accurate Information to Patients
73% of patients search for medical information online before or after doctors visits, according to this video from the HealthCare New Media Conference. With the magnitude of health information available on the web – both accurate and inaccurate – it’s likely that these patients can easily be misinformed.

By integrating social media into the healthcare marketing mix, organizations can share accurate, timely information regarding symptoms, diseases, medications, treatments and more. Social sites like Inspire are providing a forum for patients to share their health problems and questions about treatments with other patients, as well as qualified medical personnel. Inspire, for instance, partners with trusted health nonprofit organizations to ensure information is accurate and its community is safe.

The benefits of integrating social media into healthcare marketing efforts are priceless – from improving patient care to gaining media coverage to attracting new patients and staff. If your healthcare organization hasn’t already taken advantage of social networking channels, now is the time. If you’re having challenges getting approval, check out “Social Media in Healthcare Marketing: Making the Case“.

How else can healthcare marketers leverage social media to complement their efforts?

You see, it is rare that doctors air their views on social media (SM), and I have done a fair bit of that on this forum. If you sift out all my posts pertaining to healthcare and read them in sequence, you will have a pretty representative idea of how the average South African doctor feels about the changes and current status of our profession. It’s all there, every sorry complaint about an industry that in its state of disruption has little to cheer about.

These are issues about which you, the lay public, are generally unaware until things fall apart. I believe you should be, because they impact you directly every time your health takes a knock.

Little of what I say is new to my colleagues. There are many other doctors who write far more eloquently than I do about the challenges we face, and by proxy that you, the consumer, face, but they publish predominantly in medical journals or medical newspapers — media that are read by the medical community alone. The issues we fight about impact directly on our ability to offer good medical care to you. You don’t get to read about them. So you, the consumer, have little idea how much angst pervades the doctors you rely on to get you out of a bad health situation. Unless a few of us spill the beans in places like this.

So it is fitting that I bleed my heart out here, for the world of SM is where opinions are aired, challenged, established and changed. SM is a realm of revolt and upheaval, the domain of the common man, where every person has a voice.

You would think that the organisations that profess to recognise doctors’ rights and represent us would have a good grasp of this potential. I hoped that they would. My experience over the past two years suggests that this is not the case.

I have made a careful study of the impact SM will have on the practice of medicine in this country, based on the already remarkable changes that have taken place in the US and Europe. There are rules to be followed, things a doctor should or shouldn’t do, massive advantages of engaging with patients via SM, and equally big risks in doing so. It is an ethical minefield pocked with big rewards. Every point of the SM universe has advantages and pitfalls.

Marketing has come a long way since the first time someone put a sign in a window or created a simple flyer.  Success with marketing is predicated on your understanding of what you are marketing, and the best target markets to receive and act upon your message. Gone are the days of simple marketing solutions.  Today, marketing is as varied as the industries it serves.  Niche marketing agencies are the norm today, offering specialized solutions for clients that require in-depth knowledge, understanding and marketing experience.

Each industry presents unique marketing challenges. For example, marketing a cell phone or tech product is very different from marketing professional services such as legal or accounting firms.

Marketing for medical professionals, healthcare organizations and even international hospitals and medical tourism organizations must be tailored specifically for their end users: patients seeking healthcare services.

When your medical facility or healthcare organization is looking for a marketing partner, it’s best to find a provider that offers expertise in your specific area. In other words, it’s important to work with an experienced specialist. It’s a bit like choosing a cardiologist over a general practitioner for a complex heart surgery. Experience matters.

Remember, the primary reason to engage a marketing partner is because you need someone who can help you effectively promote your services to the right target market at the right time.

Doctors are extremely dedicated to their work.  However, because of their specialization and intense commitment to medicine, they rarely have time to become experts in marketing. Hospital administrators are masters of complex healthcare management issues, but rarely have expertise in successful marketing.  In fact, most business professionals are specialists in their fields these days. This includes marketers.

Remember, experience in marketing healthcare services, both domestic and international healthcare marketing, is critical.  You may have a highly skilled web developer who feels they can build a website that will market your institution effectively. But the technical and design aspects of a website are only a fraction of the skills needed to build a quality patient-focused healthcare brand and to develop patient relationships built on credibility and trust.

Health care marketing partners already have contacts that will help you promote your services today. When working with proven medical marketing professionals, your organization will have a measurable advantage over your competitors.  Health industry marketing professionals are already immersed in the industry. They know the trade shows, key trade media vehicles, consumer media, email lists, public relations outlets and more.

An experienced healthcare marketer will help you better understand and appreciate your competitive advantages, helping you build a healthcare brand on what makes you different and what makes you better.  In the end, a good marketing partner will help you tap new markets and continually find improved ways of communicating with patients in innovative and meaningful ways.

An experienced healthcare marketing partner will know what channels are the best, what resources are attractive to people who are looking for health care and where potential patients go to find the information they need. They understand competitive price structures and how your services can be positioned to stand out and get noticed in a world of competitors.

Some healthcare marketing agencies have experience with hospital branding or design development.  Other agencies may have experience with website development and SEO services.  Others may be specialists in media planning and purchasing.  How you do know which healthcare marketing agency to choose?  Very few healthcare marketing agencies do it all.  Decide what’s important for your company and find a marketing partner that offers the services you need.  In today’s competitive healthcare marketplace, it’s important to understand which marketing tools will help distinguish and differentiate your facility from your competition.

We’ve created a healthcare marketing checklist for you to follow on your path to finding the right marketing agency for your organization.  The best marketing agencies will offer most if not all of the following services “in-house”.

We’ve developed the following checklist for your use. This may be a helpful tool to use when comparing agencies.

 Branding: Corporate Identity: Logo/Tag Line/Branding Statements/Branding Book

 Marketing Plans: SWOT Analysis/Competitive Analysis/Market Analysis

 Media Research, Planning, Negotiation & Purchasing

 Public Relations: Print, Broadcast & Online Publicity, Article Development

 Print Material Development: Sales Literature & Brochures

 Print, Broadcast & Direct Mail Advertising

 Trade Show Marketing

 Intuitive & Interactive Website Design: Content Creation, Ecommerce, Microsites

 Social Media Marketing: Facebook, YouTube Twitter & More: Social Display Advertising

 Video Marketing: Corporate Videos/Testimonials/ Infomercials/Webinars

 Mobile Marketing & Websites: Smart Phone & Tablet Platform Compliance

 Content Marketing: Online Content/Articles/Blogging/Public Relations

 Targeted Digital Media Advertising: Development/Targeting/Purchasing

 Tracking & Analytics: Web Site Analytics/Online Advertising Tracking

 Digital Media / Traditional Media Integration: Print, Broadcast & Online Marketing

 Email Campaigns: Program Development & Execution, List/Database Development, Lead Generation

 SEO: Search Engine Optimization

 SEM: Search Engine Marketing (Paid Search)

 Bid Management & Optimization/Landing Page Optimization/Affiliate Marketing

Many physicians not only understand but use social media to improve relationships with patients and find new ones. Social media marketing for your medical practice is an efficient way to enhance marketing and bring in new patients.

It can be a little challenging to connect with patients outside your clinic or hospital. Many doctors use Medical blogs, Facebook and Twitter accounts to make this connection. Below are a few tips on using social media marketing for doctors offices.

1. Build Relationships 

You can develop loyalty and trust with both your prospective and current patients through social media. Add patient staff interviews and patient testimonials on YouTube and upload these to social media sites for more coverage. Creating a professional profile for networking on LinkedIn can better your practice as well and help you to network and build relationships with potential patients.

2. Read & Respond to Reviews

People tend to leave reviews on social media sites about other businesses and practitioners. Make sure you are not just reading reviews of your practice but also leaving feedback and making positive responses to them. You can really influence your reputation by staying active on these sites and interacting rather than having reactions or doing nothing at all.

3. Test the waters

You will want to dive into many different social media sites, however, be careful not to spread yourself out too thin. Facebook is a popular place to be, and so is Tumblr and Twitter. To effectively develop an online reputation, you will need to embrace diversity and get involved in a few social sites, just start off slowly. This will enable you to test out your audience.

Other things you can do include:

• Offer in-depth knowledge and healthcare tips
• Make suggestions on new healthcare services and products
• Interact and engage with your followers and community

By staying active on social media sites and offering things like healthcare tips, products and more, you can stay active and avoid conduct that is unprofessional. You can stay social by making new product recommendations to help your social following stay healthy. Community interaction will encourage more people to participate and keep them around. If you receive feedback from a patient, make sure you go back and respond or share feedback as well. Being active online through social media will really benefit your medical practice and let people know you are available more than just in the office.

According to a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center, almost 40% of adults in the U.S. are currently caring for an adult or child with significant health issues. These unpaid “caregivers” may come from a wide range of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, but they face similar challenges when it comes to making decisions that can significantly affect the health and wellbeing of their patients as well as their own lives. 

While traditional healthcare marketing efforts have been focused primarily on educating and influencing patients, new research shows that family caregivers are often just as influential (if not more so) than patients when it comes to making choices about health providers, products and services. With a rapidly aging population contributing to an increase in caregivers, it’s vitally important for healthcare marketers to understand the behaviors, needs and interests of this audience.

Understanding how caregivers research, evaluate and make decisions for both their patients and themselves can lead to more effective ways of getting our messages out and improving brand recognition within this influential but underserved audience.

One of the most interesting findings of the Pew study is that caregivers are more likely than the general population to search for health information online. Eighty-four percent of caregivers with internet access say they went online within the past year to research health topics such as medical procedures, health insurance and drug safety. And of those caregivers, 80% used a search engine.

Although the importance of maintaining a robust web presence is not new for marketers, regardless of industry, the Pew data underscores the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) when it comes to increasing exposure and driving qualified traffic. Organizations that rank highly in organic search have a greater chance of attracting information seeking users and then converting them into prospects, leads and then customers.

Juggernauts like WebMD and Wikipedia may get the lion’s share of these health-related queries, but there are many opportunities for smart organizations to improve their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) that relate directly to the products and services they offer. Through proper keyword research, active link-building, and the creation of useful, useable, authoritative content using their subject matter expertise, healthcare organizations can improve brand exposure and increase qualified upper-funnel traffic to their websites.

Caregivers often look to search engines to help them find medical information, but they’re also relying on social media, online groups and discussion forums to connect with other caregivers, get and give support, and exchange recommendations and tips on common challenges. In fact, social media use among adults ages 50-64 (the prime caregiving years) increased more than 400% from 2008 to 2012 (source).

And while Twitter and Facebook may be appropriate for sharing and getting support and recommendations from friends and family, caregivers may not always feel comfortable sharing personal health information on these semi-public platforms. A number of sites such as CareZone have recently launched that merge the community aspects of social media with tools for helping caregivers communicate in private groups and manage the care of a loved one.

Healthcare organizations have multiple opportunities to connect with caregivers through these social channels. Whether it’s advertising on social media or communities geared towards caregivers, creating and distributing relevant, engaging content through these same channels, or even building their own in-house tools and support networks for caregivers, the power of social sharing and engagement to build trust and generate interest can’t be ignored.

In addition to normal day-to-day care, a 2012 study by the AARP Public Policy Institute found that almost half of all caregivers are also in charge of performing complex medical or nursing tasks, such as managing multiple medications, providing wound care, dealing with special diets, and even operating specialized medical equipment. Unfortunately, those caregivers also reported that they’ve received little support or training from health professionals on how to perform these tasks, causing them added stress and worry about making a mistake.

One of the biggest challenges facing caregivers is that they often spend so much time taking care of their patients that they have little time to take care of themselves. In addition to the stress associated with caring for (and worrying about) a loved one, they also often end up neglecting their own health and wellbeing due to the demands of caregiving. Things like getting enough exercise and sleep, maintaining a healthy diet, and giving themselves time to re-charge end up taking a back seat to the day-to-day care of their patient. Add onto that the financial worries and time constraints of caregivers who also need to work full- or-part time jobs and you have a recipe for severe stress and burnout.

While caregivers may be reluctant to actively seek out personal help and respite, that doesn’t mean that health organizations can’t offer these types of services and information in order to address their needs. This might take the form of counseling programs aimed at helping caregivers navigate their own care, respite services that run in parallel with patient care or even pamphlets and online resources that show caregivers how to provide better care for their patients by proactively taking care of their own health and wellbeing. The idea that a healthcare organization cares about their health as well as their patient’s health is a powerful message and one that can help build trust and credibility.

When it comes to marketing to the growing caregiver population, the most important thing is to have empathy for their situation and to understand the significant role they play in their patient’s ongoing care and success. By understanding the daily challenges and decisions that affect the lives of caregivers (and their patients), you’ll start to identify how your organization can address those needs in ways that strengthen your brand and increase your exposure among this influential audience.

And since there’s a good chance that you might be called on to provide caregiving services to a friend or loved one at some point in your life, keep in mind how you would want to be treated and marketed to if you were in a similar situation. Ditch the pushy sales pitches. Forget the self-promotional marketing fluff. Be authentic. Be helpful. Because making life easier for caregivers is just good business. 

With the right strategy in place, doctors have the most to gain by properly using social media to market their practice, share their years of experience and chime in on discussions with colleagues in the industry.

Many doctors are afraid of the unknown and choose to remain silent across social media due to liability and privacy concerns. It is possible to strike a good balance of transparent communication, while conforming to the necessary limitations of the industry.

Today, 24% of doctors use social media at least once a day to post or seek medical information according to Allied Health World.

The use of social media by doctors is still in its infancy, which presents a huge opportunity to take advantage of these digital platforms and build scalable credibility for your career as a doctor. The medical industry is far less saturated online as other industries, due to the many legal restrictions and fears most health care professionals and organizations have since they wish to avoid liability issues associated with social media and other digital platforms.

As a doctor it is entirely possible to create an effective, scalable and profitable social media strategy to market your career and practice. It will take time, effort and a lot of hustle, but the results could have far reaching effects for your long-term success online.

If you’re a doctor, here are ten ways to stand out amongst the chatter and effectively reach the right people in your extended network on social media:

This seems like a no brainer, but it is an important first step for building a presence online. Fill out each section of your profile on these three networks to optimize them to the fullest.

Start with these three platforms in the beginning and then expand to use others in the future. Focusing your efforts at first is an important way to ensure you’re gaining momentum from the time spent using social media.

Begin with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn today to start filling out your profiles and sharing content with your network.

Visuals resonate more with people than just text, therefore incorporate more images with your social updates on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. This is the most important to implement on Facebook, followed by Twitter and then LinkedIn.

When sharing content, use original content, free stock footage or non-copyrighted photography to boost how engaging your posts are. Another option is to use the photos used in the blog post, article or video you’re posting about on these networks.

No matter what platform you’re sharing content on, be sure that what you’re saying to connections, friends and followers is educational and actionable. Pull from your unique expertise and share timely and relevant information about what you know best.

In addition to joining existing Twitter chats, LinkedIn groups and other relevant discussions online about your expertise and industry, start your own knowledge-sharing hub on social media to bring a new perspective and depth of knowledge to your professional interests.

Whether this “knowledge hub” is a Facebook Group, LinkedIn group, Twitter chat or some other form of niche community, it is an important method of sharing what you know and building your credibility as you educate others.

As a doctor it is important to follow this rule of thumb to ensure that you’re providing the most value to others and making use of your time spent using social networks. A doctor’s job is to share their expertise and help execute their advice. Social media merely helps to scale the spread of knowledge between physicians, their patients and the larger medical community.

As the largest network of professionals online, LinkedIn’s profiles allow a doctor to highlight each aspect of their career path with text and visuals. LinkedIn has the most benefits to offer doctors due to its professional nature and vast network of like-minded experts interested in connecting with others. Begin by making the most of your profile by sharing content from your account that reflects your expertise and interests as a healthcare professional.

Content shared on LinkedIn should be of a professional nature and a little more reserved than content typically shared on Twitter or Facebook. Share links to articles and other relevant information that could be of value to your connections, while making sure to add your own perspective to each piece of content by adding a comment to the post.

Start by reaching out to your existing network of contacts that you already know by searching for colleagues, friends and peers in the medical field on all three networks. Follow, connect and friend these individuals to foster a following that you can continue to build from.

Now start searching using each network’s search feature for individuals in a similar role, industry or expertise. By building a large network on each platform you’ll have other like-minded people to interact with, rely on for support and an active feed on engaging information to read, share and discuss.

Twitter is the best social platform for public one-to-one conversations at scale. Start discussions with other doctors and medical professionals to address current trends, recent industry news or interesting findings or studies.

Find these conversations from other’s you’ve followed in your field or by searching Twitter hashtags or keywords related to your interests or focus as a physician. Twitter users often communicate in a more conversational tone when speaking with others, which allows a doctor to better incorporate their personality and build the trust of others in their extended network.

Twitter chats are weekly, monthly or quarterly conversations centered on a particular topic and hashtag. Discover what Twitter chats are available for doctors and medical professionals, then join in on theses conversations with other chat participants, to learn something new and share your expertise.

Some health care related Twitter chats are #FOAMed, #abcDrBchat, #hcsm, #MDChat and #SocPharm.

When participating in a Twitter chat, answer some of the questions posed by the moderator by adding your opinion and insights to the larger discussions. Follow the moderator and other participants in the chat, while making sure to consistently include the appropriate hashtag in all of your tweets about the chat.

Search for groups using LinkedIn’s search feature or browse what groups your connections are a part of to find communities that match your expertise and interests as a professional.

Groups on LinkedIn offer a unique opportunity for similar professionals to discuss, post and share content about a particular subject. Some of the most popular LinkedIn groups for physicians on LinkedIn are: American Medical Association, Medical Doctor (MD) Network, Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Physicians Practice and the America’s Leading Practice Management Resource.

Once you have become a member of a few relevant groups on LinkedIn, search through the existing discussions, learn what other group members are talking about, post engaging content for the group to discuss and connect with other group members. LinkedIn groups are only as valuable as the time and effort you put in to them.

There is a high amount of misinformation online when it comes to the medical field, confusing consumers and diluting the effectiveness of accurate medical insights found online.

As a doctor, it is important to act as a voice of reason when sharing information about health care online. Strive for accurate coverage and discussion when it comes to the information you decide to share on social media. Avoid interacting with illegitimate accounts and connections on social media that could affect your credibility for the long-term.

Limit the time spent on social media to a certain part of the day or a few times a week to help focus your efforts to be more accurate. Again, it should always be quality over quantity when it comes to the content being shared and the discussions you are having online.

One of the most beneficial aspects of social media is the ability to have actual conversations online with peers, friends, family and other connections in your network. As a doctor it is also important to ask questions of your audience to get their feedback on a decision or perspective on industry news.

By asking questions you’re able to learn from the collective insights of your network and help share your human side. No one person knows everything, but everyone has something to share with others. Poll your network on social media to gain new insights and further establish your credibility as a well-respected doctor.

Compared to other areas of business, healthcare marketers tend to fall behind in the realm of social media. Part of this problem is figuring out how to walk the fine line between the casual nature of social media, the seriousness of healthcare and the well-being of patients.

It is important for hospitals to be reputable, but not all content shared through a social media account needs to be formal. Think of social media as a place to promote a lifestyle and attract people with similar interests, rather than as a daily newsletter for your hospital or physician group.

It’s important to mix up content with interesting articles you find on other blogs, infographics, recipes and funny pictures. It’s okay to make people laugh; you need to come across as human, rather than a robot churning out posts that were preloaded months in advance.

Showing your human side is especially relevant in healthcare to make patients more comfortable and feel like they have a deeper connection with their doctors and nurses. It will also encourage patients to take more responsibility in managing their health.

If you need help convincing your CEO that social marketing is worth the time and money, check out the new Health Care Social Media List from The Mayo Clinic. It is a compilation of hospitals, physician practices and other health-related organizations in the United States that are actively using social media. You can use this list to see how you stack up against the competition.

However, it’s important to note that the marketing department isn’t the only staff group at a hospital that needs an online presence. Physicians are now using social media to connect with patients professionally, although some have reservations about this new medium.

Many physicians shy away from using social media to communicate with patients because they are afraid of violating HIPAA. Although this is a valid concern, the truth is that the odds of a physician violating HIPAA on social media are the same as in any other environment, including within the hospital and at a social event.

Nicola Ziady explains that HIPAA (in relation to marketing) simply restricts hospitals or physician groups from using private patient information to promote products or services without written permission, and that a patient may “revoke a written authorization at any time.”

Keeping that in mind, Leigh McMillan advises physicians not to talk about patients, even without stating their names, on social networks. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get inspiration for a post from one of your patients, but make the illness or condition the subject rather than featuring the patient.

Once a post or tweet is complete, McMillan recommends applying the “elevator test” before submitting. This means that you should read the post out loud, and if there is any part that you would not be comfortable saying in public, you should not publish it online.

There are two main reasons physicians should take the time to develop an online presence through social media, websites and blogs. The first is to build relationships with patients, and the second is for reputation management.

According to a survey conducted by Avvo, 73 percent of patients research physicians online, and a survey conducted by the National Research Corporation showed that 41 percent of patients search for medical information on social media sites. \

These e-patients search for and read patient reviews, disciplinary history, physicians’ resumes and published articles in order to make an informed decision rather than relying on referrals or word-of-mouth.

Dr. Howard Luks, a member of the External Advisory Board for the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, said: “The most meaningful reason to establish a presence is that patients can find you and perhaps learn a bit more about your perspective, approach and rapport with your patient base.”

Another advantage to establishing an online presence is reputation management. Creating content on a blog, Facebook page or Twitter account won’t prevent patients from making negative comments, but it will “drown out or dilute content or comments that exist on many of these physician grading platforms when a patient performs a Google search of your name,” Dr. Luks said. If you have a website that generates content, you can control your messages and ensure that a lot of quality information will pop up in the first page of your Google search.

While healthcare marketers still have some catching up to do, a lot of progress has been made. In the Mayo Clinic’s Health Care Social Media List there are 1,500 hospitals alone that actively use social media accounts to improve brand reputation and retain patients. As an industry, we are on our way to developing best practices through exploration of new platforms and shared successes (and failures).

Healthcare providers have a lot of competition, so standing out is critical. A recent article on Media Post discussed social media best practices for organizations looking to optimize their social media presence.

Here are the key points to building, and maintaining, a successful social media presence:

• Go where your audience is. Facebook and LinkedIn are great places to start due to their large base of users.
• Focus your purpose. Knowing what objectives you are working toward through your social media presence helps keep your social media presence relevant.
• Choose your measurements. Your objectives will determine how you measure success.
• Understand social media tools. Make sure you know what tools are available to you and how to use them to your advantage.
• Data, data, data. Use the data you gather to integrate social media with your other efforts.
• Quantity vs. quality. Keep track of what is being said about you on social media and how many people are saying it. Remember to follow up on your findings and handle any issues quickly.
• Mutual followers. Following your associates, partners, vendors, patients and other important people and having them follow you will help spread the word about your healthcare brand.
• Employee participation. Your employees can often be valuable resources for providing relevant and timely content to keep your social media interesting.
• Lessen your risks. Social media comes with a risk, but beginning with a comprehensive policy and training for your employees can help minimize your risk.

Using social media to your fullest advantage can launch your healthcare business to top of mind for your consumers. How do you keep your social media relevant and focused? Let us know in the comments.

Medical marketing services have been undergoing some major changes lately. As social media claims an increasingly larger percentage of marketing spend, healthcare providers are seeking ways to expand their presence in this important new sector. Social media marketing is based on providing content that is appealing enough to attract the attention of website visitors, and valuable enough that these users will want to share it with others.

Taking that goal as the basis for their new ventures into medical internet advertising, healthcare providers are beginning to post videos of medical procedures online.

Surgery Videos as an Online Medical Marketing Technique

A video heart-surgery tutorial

Memorial Health Care System in Chattanooga, Tennessee has posted a free webcast on their site, which allows visitors virtual access to the operating room. This webcast contained two compelling elements: An edited, narrated video of a patient’s open-heart surgery, and an opportunity for live chat with the lead surgeon who performed the operation. The practice of medicine has traditionally held a certain mystique, where no one but the service providers themselves really have the full story on what’s happening. Opening the doors and giving a full view and discussion of such a major procedure results in physician practice marketing content that’s terrifically appealing. The thousands of viewers who signed up for this webcast and told all their friends about it are a great demonstration of this appeal.

Live streaming surgery and the hospital tweeting team

In Orlando, Florida, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children took virtual access to their operating room one step further as they provided 46 live updates (via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook) of a dramatic surgical procedure in which a 3-year-old received a Goretex graft on her heart. The hospital’s social media team included commentary on these images, which were released about once every 10 minutes.

Future possibilities

According to the Chattanooga Times, Memorial Health Care plans to live stream a surgical procedure in the near future. While live footage of surgeries is commonly used for physician training, it’s a new idea to use this video material to engage interested website visitors. Furthermore, surgeons are beginning to use Google Glass as a non-intrusive method of capturing and sharing live video of procedures, and it is only a matter of time before these videos make the leap from physician training material to hospital marketing content.

Multi-target marketing

When a hospital posts video of surgical procedures, they are creating marketing material with an eye to more than just the pool of prospective patients. They are also demonstrating to physicians that the institution has a high level of professional confidence and technological know-how. This can affect the choice that these physicians make when deciding where to refer patients.

Sharing surgery videos as a form of online medical marketing is probably still in its earliest days. It’s likely that, in the future, hospitals and doctors will use such transparency to build credibility and establish a reputation for doing excellent work. Prospective patients and their families are likely to share video of similar operations with each other before undergoing those procedures themselves, and the possibilities for marketing are almost unlimited.

As the Internet increasingly becomes the medium of choice for researching health information, social media has become an important channel for healthcare marketing.  In today’s social media-connected, content marketing rich environment, healthcare marketeers who are not using social media as part of their strategy are missing out.  In today’s post,  I will outline the four essential steps required for successful healthcare  social media marketing.

The first step is to gain a clearer image of who your audience is and what they are saying about you. Only then will you be able to create compelling, relevant and valuable content to fuel the social media engine.

(1) Identify and segment your online audience

Your healthcare marketing efforts will be much stronger if you can identify your target market and segment it so that you can tailor your content more specifically for them. Unless you take this first step, your social media marketing activities will remain unfocused. If you can clearly identify your target market, then you can plan the best combination of email marketing, social networking strategies, SEO, Pay Per Click, Banner ads, etc. You are looking to drill down deeper to discover their geographic location, their gender, level of education, family status, which social media sites they use, what conversations they are having online, how they are engaging with you, your competition and your online partners.

(2) Plan your social and digital media channels

Armed with this information you will now be able to plan which social media channels are most suited to your target market and direct your efforts accordingly. For example, if you identify that your audience is predominately female, you might direct some of your healthcare marketing efforts to Pinterest, a site whose rapid growth and success has been driven by women.

(3) Join in the online conversation

There is a support and community group for just about any medical condition or interest online.  To further expand their reach and focus on patient care, these groups need the input of qualified healthcare practitioners to help validate the information discussed on their sites and to ensure balanced views that are in the best interest of patients. Participating in these communities by providing advice, educational podcasts, guest contributions to widely read blogs and websites can help you broadcast your brand and build your reputation, while providing valuable support to the group.

(4) Monitor your online reputation

Consistency, credibility and connection are the cornerstones of maintaining your healthcare brand’s integrity.  It is important to listen to what is being said about your brand, not just to know what is going on and whether you are receiving any negative publicity or comments that need to be addressed, but also to know what you are doing right, so that you can do more of it. At a minimum keep an eye on tweets, comments and messages on your Twitter, blog and Facebook accounts. You should also set up Google Alerts for your brand and industry.

There’s no question that social media is growing in importance in the healthcare field and it is no longer an optional marketing strategy.  The conversation is happening online with or without you, so for the sake of your healthcare brand, join it!

Whether you already have an effort underway, or are contemplating dipping your toe into the social media pond, here are Manifeste Medical’s 7 “Need to Knows” for this dynamic and growing channel.

Doctors, nurses and hospitals are respected most for being impartial and only sharing information for the sake of benefiting patients. if your medical personnel are too busy to post (not unusual), work with content providers or your agency to develop themes to help them get started, or even finished written posts for them to approve.

Your patients are on Facebook. It’s where they talk about their health issues and reach out to others with their thoughts and concerns. The infographic below shows that 84% of hospitals with a social media presence use Facebook.

People love spreading the word on a good cause using social media. If you’re spearheading fund raising activity or your institution is supporting a local or national cause, social media is a great way to spread the word. We’ve gotten some great viral action offering $1 for each new Like for a good cause.

“Let’s do a Facebook page” is not a plan. Pick your platforms, define who will run your effort, establish a content schedule, map out approval processes and posting permissions, and decide who will monitor and respond to comments. Social media is, well, social! It’s an ongoing conversation with your patients. Plan it as as an ongoing project. No, not even a project. Rather, a process.

Simply put, provide your followers with information they find useful. You gain valuable traction by sponsoring varied and appropriate messaging, not by talking about yourself. Think about it this way, you are competing for attention not just within your category, but against every other post on your patient’s Facebook page.

Photos, infographics, charts and now video. We are a visual information society so include visuals in your posts. Pinterest continues to grow fast and it is only visual.

Healthcare is stories. Healthcare is emotional. Video does both of these better than any other form of communications. Post videos and you will see immediate increases in engagement times on your site, your blog and any social media platform. Facebook now lets you post videos quickly to your pages so what are you waiting for?

Social media can sound intimidating to the uninitiated, so it makes sense to engage an expert if you don’t have in-house resources. Once your plan is set you’ll find it’s like any other business process; ongoing and easily managed. Who’s doing it well? The Mayo Clinic has a phenomenal effort worth emulating. Keep in mind their program has been years in the making. Check out healthcare institutions in your area and see what they’re doing to get some ideas.

How important is social media to healthcare marketing? Ask the professionals at the University of Michigan Health System, or the Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, or the Cleveland Clinic, or a host of other large medical organizations and they’ll tell you that social media is at the root of their patient outreach. Learning from these remarkable organizations and understanding their social media methods can help you to grow your own physician social media outreach.

According to the Wall Street Journal…

The efforts are part of a larger movement to engage patients and families in care and enhance the hospital experience. The federal Medicare program is basing some hospital payments on patient satisfaction surveys, including questions about how responsive a hospital is to concerns. Similar surveys are being developed for pediatric hospitals.

With social media, a hospital can cast a wider net for more feedback than it can expect from a traditional patient and family council composed of a small group of appointees who meet once a month or so.

Patient Satisfaction with Social Media Outreach

Social media outreach has broken down barriers, so that parents who want to get involved or patients who want to stay connected but have limited time or abilities, can still connect, become educated, stay involved and assist in making hospital procedure better through social media.

There have been amazing benefits to both patients and hospitals through these social outreach programs, including an improved checklist of ways to console families at the C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital, appointment reminders via text message at Nemours Children’s Hospital, and complex scheduling.

With social media outreach to patients, parents and families, the possibilities for improved care and enhanced hospital procedures is limitless. These strategies can easily be transformed and integrated into your own small practice social media outreach.

Local Physician Social Media Outreach

Just as these large medical organizations utilize social media to better the patient experience, so to can your practice, no matter what the size.

1. Break Down Barriers – One of the greatest benefits of social media patient outreach is the ability to break down all barriers. Your patients have access to your staff, or your social media agency, at all times for questions and concerns. Give them the resources to ask the questions they need, whether that’s an open-platform Facebook Wall, an app, or direct messaging. Make it easy for your patients to voice their concerns, or praise, when they need to.

2. Questionnaires and Surveys – You probably notice that after an online purchase, no matter what the e-commerce company, you receive a questionnaire asking how the process went and if you were satisfied. Your medical practice should instill the same type of process not only to determine if the patient was satisfied, but to gain some insight into how that patient was treated, and what suggestions that patient has for future success. And, most importantly, use that information to make your practice a better place – improve patient satisfaction!

3. Be Proactive – Engaging with patients on social media is one thing, but actually putting their suggestions and advice into action is a totally different story. As the remarkable teams at C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Hospital have done, take what your patients are telling you and find a way to improve the patient experience based on what they’re saying.

Social media has opened the doors for so many possibilities!