a healthy dose

A healthy dose of social media

2015 checkup

How Ohio hospitals use social channels to build relationships

Exclusive research by

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When hospitals need to communicate, they are increasingly turning to social media. Across Ohio, hospitals and health systems are focusing more of their resources to:

Executive summary

John Palmer Director, Public Affairs

[email protected]

Spencer Hunt Analyst, Project Manager [email protected]

•  They are spending more time. Well over half devote between 10 percent to

50 percent of their total communication efforts on social media—a big shift from 2012 when most committed less than 10 percent of their time.

•  They are spending more money. Just over half of the responding hospitals expect to see their spending on social media to increase, up to 10 percent or more.

•  They don’t have enough people. Nearly two-thirds of hospitals lack full time employees devoted to social media. The biggest challenges to effectively using social media? Sufficient staff and time.

•  Facebook •  Twitter, •  YouTube •  LinkedIn •  and Instagram

How do we know? They told us. The Ohio Hospital Association and Mindset Digital first teamed up on a Healthy Dose of Social Media in 2012 to research for the first time how Ohio hospitals use social media and their goals. We collaborated again for a new exclusive online survey to see what’s changed. Organizations that operate 83 Ohio hospitals told us:

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More time on social media

8%

23%

38%

23%

8%

2015

Well over half of the hospitals and health systems said they would spend more than 10 percent of their overall communication efforts on social media.

Communication effort devoted to social media

That’s a big shift. Looking only at the hospitals that responded in both 2012 and 2015 illustrates how much has changed in just three years. In the first survey, 71 percent, reported that they would spend less than 10 percent of their communications on these channels. This year, 70 percent reported that they would spend 10 percent or more (at right).

24%

47%

18%

0%

12% 12%

18%

35% 29%

6%

0-5% 5.1-9.9% 10.1-25% 25.1-50% more than 50%

Communications devoted to social media (17 hospitals/systems reporting in 2012 and in 2015)

2012 2015


27%

39%

22%

7% 5%

2012

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More money on social media

4%

40% 44%

12%

Reduce by >10%

Reduce up to 10%

About the same

Grow up to 10%

Grow >10%

In 2015 hospitals expect the social media budget to:

64%

26%

10%

Reduce by

>10%

Reduce up to 10%

About the

same

Grow up to 10%

Grow >10%

2013 Budgeting

A majority of respondents—56 percent—expect to spend more this year on social media, with most projecting an increase of up to 10 percent of the previous year’s budget. In 2012, nearly two-thirds of the hospitals reported that they expected their social media spending to stay “about the same.”

The increased commitment in overall time and money shows how much hospitals value the ability to directly engage with patients and communities via social media. Again, this trend is reflected among a smaller group of hospitals that responded in both the 2012 and 2015 surveys. (at right)

0% 7%

33%

53%

7%

Reduce by >10%

Reduce up to 10%

About the same

Grow up to 10%

Grow >10%

2015 social media spending (Among 15 hospitals that reported in both surveys)


Reduce by

>10%

Reduce up to 10%

Remain the

same

Grow >10%

Grow up to 10%

Remain the

same

Grow up to 10%

Remain the

same

5

Not enough people or time

46%

23%

12%

4%

Time and staff

Growing connections/likes/followers

Consistently posting quality content

Response to complaints/negative comments

What is the biggest challenge in using social media?

The increased commitment to social media comes with some substantial challenges. Hospitals listed “time and staff” as their biggest challenge in using social media. This problem far exceeded other typical challenges, including growing followers and posting good content, that all organizations face when developing their social media channels. A big part of this concern likely extends from the fact that only 35 percent of the hospitals reported having at least one full time person committed to social media communication efforts.

Hospitals that lacked full time social media staff reported that the work was almost entirely handled by full time employees who had other duties. Of those workers who handled social media for those hospitals only 5 percent were part time employees or interns.


Yes 35%

No 65%

Are people assigned full time?

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How hospitals are using social media

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

Blogging

LinkedIn

Instagram

Google+

Pinterest

What channel is most important?

Top priority

Secondary channel

96%

77%

65%

35%

35%

31%

23%

19%

Hospitals still deem Facebook, YouTube and Twitter the top three most important social channels. The biggest shift in ranking came with LinkedIn and blogging. This year, 35 percent of hospitals rated LinkedIn and blogging as either a top or secondary priority. Only 25 percent of the 2012 respondents ranked LinkedIn that highly, and blogging was favored by only 17 percent of hospitals. Instagram, which wasn’t an option in the 2012 survey, is already considered a top or secondary priority by 31 percent of the hospitals and health systems in this year’s survey. Instagram’s presence reflects the channel’s explosive growth (Instagram surpassed Twitter in its number of monthly users late last year).


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Hospitals want to share news, build interaction The top priority of nearly every hospital and health system in this year’s survey was simple: Leverage the opportunity social media provides to directly share hospital news with their communities and their patients. Their number two priority: Tapping the power of social channels to help build and maintain their reputations and strengthen ties with communities. All three top priorities in this year’s survey were also reflected in the 2012 report. How the index works: We created a weighted index in which a perfect score would equal 1. In other words, if all hospitals said that a particular goal was their “top goal,” that would generate an index score of 1. Answers that a priority was a “secondary goal” or “less important” received less weight, and “not a goal” received no index points.


0.96

0.88

0.87

0.85

0.83

0.72

0.53

0.46

0.45

0.38

0.31

Sharing hospital news

Building local reputation

Building community relationships

Sharing general health information

Connecting with patients/their families

Answering questions

Recruiting and/or staff retention

Building national reputation

Fundraising

Connecting with other health officials/institutions

Issue advocacy

What are the top priorities for social media? (1 = top priority)

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Hospitals want to promote health

81%

65%

50%

42%

35%

27%

15%

12%

General health/awareness

Brand marketing

Community building

Fundraising

Fitness

Customer service

Issue advocacy

Employee development/hiring

What social campaigns have your hospitals implemented? (2015)

Social campaigns are a key strategy to build relationships with patients and communities. Just over 80 percent of hospitals reported they launched general/health awareness campaigns in 2015. General health, brand marketing and community building campaigns also topped the list in the 2012 survey. Fundraising campaigns rose in importance. Only 29 percent of the responding hospitals in 2012 listed it among their social media campaigns. In 2015, it ranked fourth on the list with 42 percent reporting a social fundraising campaign. Employee development and hiring dropped to the bottom of this year’s chart. Twenty-four percent of hospitals listed it among their campaigns in 2012 compared to only 12 percent in 2015.


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About this survey

Small Hospitals

27%

Large Hospitals

50%

Health Systems

23%

2015 Survey

Small Hospitals

40%

Large Hospitals

35%

Hospital Systems

25%

2012 Survey

The Ohio Hospital Association and Mindset Digital LLC jointly prepared this survey of Ohio hospitals. The survey was conducted through an online survey offered to OHA members from March through April 2015. Thirty-six percent of the OHA membership responded, and the results reflect a mix of large hospitals, small hospitals (less than 100 beds) and health systems, which represent several hospitals. Answers from individual hospitals or hospital systems will not be publicly released.

The Ohio Hospital Association is the nation’s first state-level hospital association and represents 219 hospitals and 13 health systems throughout Ohio.

Mindset Digital helps hospitals and other healthcare clients take advantage of social media to engage patients, enhance their reputations and reach large audiences. In short, we show clients how to get attention in a digital age.

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Mindset Digital helps hospitals and other clients take advantage of social media to engage supporters, enhance their reputation and reach large audiences. In short, we show clients how to get attention in a digital age. We have trained more than 14,000 people. Our clients include Fortune 500 firms, universities and health care organizations including, the Ohio State Medical Association, the Wexner Medical Center and the Kettering Health Network

The Ohio Hospital Association is the nation’s first state-level hospital association and represents 219 hospitals and 13 health systems throughout Ohio. Established in 1915, OHA exists to collaborate with member hospitals and health systems to ensure a healthy Ohio focusing on three strategic initiatives: advocacy safety& quality and economic sustainability.

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Social Media Success Stories How do Ohio Hospitals use social media to their benefit? Some success stories: Nationwide Children’s Hospital (at right) conducts regular Facebook chats on child health issues. This April 9 chat drew 162 questions and comments.

St. Vincent Charity Medical Center (at left) live tweeted a knee replacement surgery in November 2013. More than 3,800 people tuned in to watch the video stream. They could comment via Twitter at #StVKnee.

Adena Regional Medical Center draws engagement with a series of monthly Facebook contests. One contest, (at right) in which people vote to honor student athletes, earns higher than average likes and comments.

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