TAKING SOCIAL MEDIA INTO THE

FUTURE OF HOSPITAL

MARKETINGBy Prabha Malamakal & Jessica

McGaha

April 24, 2011

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA? Definition: the assortment of forms of

user generated content and array websites that allow people to interact with other people (DailyBlogTips, 2011)

DailyBlogTips (2011). Retrieved from (http://www.dailyblogtips.com/what-is-social-media)

WHY DO WE NEED IT? People are constantly searching the

internet for information. Information that is searched may include

finding out if certain healthcare providers are available online or obtaining recommendations on which healthcare provider to go to (Stoakes, 2010).

Patients are connected to online social communities. They network through mainline and/or disease specific communities (Shark, 2011).

Stoakes, U. (2010) Retrieved from: http://mashable.com/2010/12/12/social-wellness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

Shark, J. (2011) Retrieved from: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/perspectives/2010/social-media-in-health-care-barriers-and-future-trends.aspx#

WHY DO WE NEED IT? Hospitals and health care centers have

more than 300 YouTube channels and more than 500 Twitter accounts. The trend is to monitor and monetize social media in the health care community.

Consumers are listening to consumers and getting involved empowers organizations to participate in and manage the conversations.

According to Groundswell, “Anybody can put up a site that connects people with people. If it is designed well, people will use it.” (p.13).

Li, C., and Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell. Harvard Business Review Press.

WHY DO WE NEED IT? Twitter has 105 million registered users

(Owyand, 2010). Social network and blog sites are visited

by 75% of global consumers, and this an a 24% increase over the last year! (Owyand, 2010).

The world spends 22% of all on-line time on Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia (Owyand, 2010).

Owyand, J. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2010/01/19/a-collection-of-social-network-stats-for-2010/

THE PLAN Social Media is a tool. With the

plethora of avenues out there, we are faced with the choice of what avenue we as an organization would want.

To do this, we cannot simply jump into the world of social media and expect to be successful.

THE PLAN Groundswell suggests POST (People,

Objectives, Strategy, Technology):People refers to asking the question on

what are the company’s customers ready to handle. 

Objectives refer to analyzing what the company’s personal goals are in terms of how to use Groundswell. 

Strategy refers to asking how the company wants relationships to change by using Groundswell.

Technology refers to which applications a company should use after having completed the aforementioned steps

WHAT DO WE NEED TO CONSIDER? Once we form a strategy for how to

implement social media we must consider our audience

Creating policies that limit user contentMust let employees know what they can

and cannot doMake it clear that the organization will

monitor posts for content

RaganCommunications (2010). Youtube. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e8Aw8yePP4&feature=related

WHAT DO WE NEED TO CONSIDER? Policies continued

Let consumer know about privacy and content

Privacy issues; may violate HIPAA “Any form of communication (even

conversations in an elevator!) can violate important privacy rules…” Paul Levy (Youtube)

Establishment of an FTE that will monitor and regulate social media usage

RaganCommunications (2010). Youtube. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e8Aw8yePP4&feature=related

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE… Evaluate most recent customer survey

results Identify specific areas or topics to be

addressed based on survey results Initiate POST