A Social Media Prescription for Physicians and Medical Practice Executives

I’ve heard I need to Tweet my LinkedIn Facebook to YouTube!

Help!

James Lineberger, PhD, MHAPrincipal

Learning Objectives

• Define & differentiate various social media channels• Describe why and how physicians and medical practices are

using social media• Understand privacy, security & professional association

guidelines• Utilize practical steps for establishing a social media presence

Simultaneous “Tweet Chat”

During today’s Webinar, Tweet your comments & questions in real time using Twitter Hashtag

#HCSMID

Type “#HCSMID” into your Twitter search box to see everyone’s Tweets!

Why Use Social Media?

• Branding – significant & differentiated presence to attract & retain patients and position you and your practice as a trusted expert(s)

• Connect with key influential contacts - members of Congress and the media– Majority of Congressional members & their staff use social media to

receive & send messages– Journalists use social media (Facebook & LinkedIn to source articles)

• Safely engage with patients - 42% use SM to access reviews of treatments or physicians & 45% use SM in deciding for a 2nd opinion

• Connect with affiliated physicians and referral sources & resources

1 Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Examples of Healthcare Social Media

• Several Idaho practices, physicians & executives are using HCSM; many examples across U.S./World

• Institute of Medicine: Natural disasters – Texting or tweeting on a smart phone – works when infrastructure compromised

• CDC: Public health – Twitter trending used during cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010 – identified pandemic potential (GAO to DHHS – make a plan!”

• USOC: SM used as a surveillance system in Vancouver (2010) & will be used in London (2012)

1 Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Reasons to Avoid Social Media

• It won’t drive more patients to the practice (will it?)• No one (BC/BS, CMS) pays me to use social media!• I’m already too busy• I’m afraid I’ll do it “wrong”• Exposes me/us to too much risk

Featured Social Media Channels

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Google+

Blogs

Facebook• Connects people personally & professionally• Message, photos, videos, events, games• Over 900M monthly active users; Over 526M daily active

users; if it were a country, it’d be the 3rd largest one!• The average user has 130 friends & “Likes” 80 pages• 56% of consumer say that they are more likely to recommend

a brand after becoming a fan• Each week on Facebook more than 3.5 billion pieces of

content are shared• Fastest growing segment is women over the age of 55

Facebook – Getting Started

• Your logo• A creative cover photo or photo of your practice• Your mission statement• Basic contact information• Ideas for updates:– Clinical research study recruitment– Presentations open to the public– Community events you or your practice supports– Content to encourage patients & to motivate compliance

Facebook Examples

• Saltzer Medical Group• Primary Health Medical Group• Others? Tweet it using #HCSMID

Twitter• A “micro-blog” service for friends, family, and

co-workers to communicate with quick, frequent messages.

• 500M registered users tweeting 175M times/day; 100K users added every day

• Over 1,500 physicians registered with TwitterDoctors.net

• “Tweets” of up to 140 characters – your own or “Re-Tweets” (RTs) of those you follow

• Use “Hashtags” (#) to ease searching (i.e. #HCSMID)

Twitter – Getting Started

• Profile photo• Profile statement – 140 character description of your

practice (or you!)• Search for topics (hashtags) of interest to you &

follow people who Tweet about them• Save searches to enable quick review of new Tweets• Send Tweets to Evernote for retrieval later

Twitter Examples

• Medical Group Management Association (@MGMA)• Idaho Medical Group Management Association

(@IdahoMGMA)• Who do you follow? Tweet it using #HCSMID

LinkedIn

• Over 150M users – grew 45% between Jan 2011 & Jan 2012• Nearly 4 out of 10 members are titled Manager, Director, Owner, Chief

Executive or Vice President• The world’s largest professional network allows people to interact with

each other and businesses• Features include individual profiles, Groups & Companies• Additional applications available including Amazon reading list, events,

polls, blogs & Slideshare (among others)• Physician recruitment – 70% of physicians use LinkedIn when looking

for a position*• A company page helps others learn more about your organization’s job

opportunities, work culture & services

Physicians Practice

LinkedIn – Getting Started

• Join & establish a profile with company e-mail domain (i.e. Margy@IdMed.Org)

• In the “Companies” button, click “Add a Company”

• Complete the company profile information & invite others to the page

• Establish a “Group” instead of a “Company” if there’s no domain e-mail (i.e. Margy@gmail.com)

LinkedIn Examples

• Saltzer Medical Group• Rocky Mountain Diabetes and Osteoporosis

Center PA• Which companies do you follow? Of which

groups are you a member? Tweet it using #HCSMID

• YouTube is owned by Google – the 2 largest search engines• 490M users & 92B page views/month• 1 hour of video is uploaded ever second• YouTube visitors/viewers generally stay on the site longer &

view more content• Visit YouTube and get familiar with how the video search

engine works

Getting Started

• Establish your YouTube channel & link it back to your website• Embed YouTube videos on website & link to your YouTube channel• Transform a patient education article into an 8-slide PowerPoint &

export to a 3-minute video– Use with patients while in clinic (iPad, tablet, etc.)– Use to prepare patients for visits, procedures, etc.

• Prepare a screencast (Jing, Camtasia) of a patient education website tour - show patients how to get the most out of the site

• Take digital photos of your practice & convert to a video slideshow• Remember to optimize your videos by including keywords & link your

SM accounts to announce when you’ve posted new videos• Tweet your favorite YouTube channel(s) using #HCSMID

Google+

• Social networking site for the world’s largest search engine – items “+1” rank higher in Google’s search engine algorithm (i.e. show up earlier/higher in searches)

• Users establish “Circles” of contacts – connect with the right people for the right things

• Permits sharing of conversations, links, photos, video – those you’ve “circled” can “+1” (like), share & comment

• Integrated live audio/video chat called “Hangouts” including screen sharing

• Many applications and plug-ins available

Blogs

• A digital publication that allows for comments from readers and allows them to subscribe to the content

• Thought leadership – positions you & the practice as industry experts• Helps patients understand why to visit you & your practice (as opposed to

others)• Gives patients a “feel” for your culture• Your blog should include information about your practice and link to your

website or be housed on your website• Use metadata: keywords, tags, and hyperlinks; Search engines use

metadata to direct people to blogs• Blogs indexed in search engines – drives traffic back to your web site

Blogs – Examples

• Bill Jonakin, MD (http://ipnmd.wordpress.com)• MedMan (www.medman.com/blog)• Idaho Medical Association (http://idmed.wordpress.com)• Primary Health Medical Group (blog.phmgidaho.com)• Saltzer Medical Group (www.saltzermed.com/news)• Others? Tweet it using #HCSMID

SM Channel Summary

I naps!

I’m taking a #Nap via @NapInstituteofAmerica

I am a Board Certified Nap-ologist

Join my Hangout/Circle of Nap-taking friends

Here’s a cool video of me napping (& snoring!)

Read about my obsession to napping; includeslinks to the best ear plugs & eye shades

Legal & Regulatory RisksFor Discussion Purposes Only

• HIPAA & other privacy statues - must de-identify PHI– Don’t reply to comments on Facebook, Blog if PHI involved– Write about fictionalized/composite patients

• Professional liability for professional advice provided via social media• Groupon/Living Social “daily deal” sites – issues with AKS, fee-

splitting & other statutes• Develop a social media policy

– For physicians & other clinicians– For employees– For patients (consider updating Notice of Privacy Practices)– Include general disclaimers (“Tweets are my own”) & actively moderate all

channels– Involve your legal counsel & professional liability carrier

Professional Association Guidelines

• American Medical Association – conservative (be cautious, beware of down-sides of SM)

• Veterans Administration – progressive (use it to inform & engage with patients)

• Mayo Clinic – 12 words (don’t lie, don’t pry, don’t cheat, can’t delete, don’t steal, don’t reveal)

Feedback From Today’s Tweet Chat

Tweet your comments & questions now using Twitter Hashtag

#HCSMID

Type “#HCSMID” into your Twitter search box to see everyone’s Tweets!

Parting Thoughts

• Consider developing a formal social media plan– Web site w/blog is the nucleus – start here!– YouTube, Google+, Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn (Pinterest?) in subsequent

stages

• Consider “lurking” and following to gain comfort– @kevinmd (Kevin Pho, MD)– @hjluks (Howard Luks, MD)– @DrAttai (Deanna Attai, MD)

• Divide up the work – assign responsibilities for content (updates, blogs, tweets, etc.)

• Track outcomes – FB “likes”, Twitter followers, Google+1’s, blog subscribers/commenters, etc. – Platforms offer free “analytics”

• Check your Klout score (www.Klout.com)

James Lineberger, PhD, MHA | FACMPE | FACHE | CPHIMS linejboise@gmail.com | 208 440 1545

Twitter: @JMLineberger

Thank You!