How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media

Sep 25

How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media

by Rohit Bhargava
Category: Digital Influence

Amidst the attention on Twitter and how Pharma brands may be using it, what the FDA is doing with their blog and the rise of internet users finding health information on the web there is one group that has been quietly innovating with using social media without receiving much attention or credit for it.

Today in the US, there are 367 hospitals that are actively using social media. Collectively they are responsible for 186 YouTube Channels which include over 5,000 videos. They have created 267 Twitter accounts and published more than 10,000 tweets. (Stats from Ed Bennett’s great Hospital Social Networking List) In the process, hospitals are creating several interesting case studies of the power of social media:

A patient who had surgery for a rare carcinoid cancer at the Nebraska Medical Center and shared her cancer experience via YouTube generated so many requests for the surgery that it prompted NMC to open a monthly clinic for the condition.
Back in March, at the Henry Ford Hospital near Detroit, doctors used Twitter as an interactive media to connect with more than 1,900 people to answer tweeted questions during actual brain surgery on a 47-year-old man.
Recently the Children’s Hospital Boston launched the first health and science blog from a pediatric hospital in the country, called Thrive.
The President and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston is using a blog to share an opinion and comment on behalf of the hospital on the possibility of a public health insurance plan.
The Sarasota Memorial Hospital is using Twitter to actively answer patient questions and provide real time customer service and support for patients and their family.

These are just a few of the many examples emerging from hospitals as they continue to explore opportunities for using social media.

Why Does It Matter?
Hospitals are on the front lines of patient care, at the intersection of the medical community and healthcare information. As people continue to seek healthcare options online, local information will hold a currency and importance that makes this information not only relevant but also actionable in terms of physically going to a particular location.

These hospitals are also at the center of the public health policy debate happening in Washington right now, and have a vested interest in how and if a public insurance option does come to fruition. They also have a marketing challenge and customer service challenge as they struggle to continue to have people select their facility and address the needs (and sometimes issues) of their patient population.

There is significant data to show that these efforts are paying off as well. Web traffic on the majority of hospital sites has risen exponentially for those that use social media, and a recent report from Ad-ology noted that social media impacts nearly 40% of recent hospital or urgent-care center patients, with more than half of 25-to-34 year olds reporting they are influenced by it. According to the report, this was particularly pronounced when it came to women deciding on hospitals for maternity care.

Summary & Implications
As more hospitals continue to gravitate towards social media, they will continue sharing their experiences with other hospitals at industry events and online. This is already leading to a rapid rise in social media adoption among new hospitals. For those hospitals who have become sophisticated in their use, leveraging blogs, Twitter and Facebook, they often have built a significant patient channel that could be useful to partner with in order to reach for various marketing reasons, including polling, identifying potential spokespeople and crafting marketing strategy for new products. Some of the individuals leading the way for hospitals to engage with social media may also be potential speakers, advisors and even, in some cases, strategic hires for any of clients to make to build or grow an internal team of social media focused communications professionals.

Resources & Links:
http://ebennett.org/stats/
http://ebennett.org/hsnl/

This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 5:55 am and is filed under Digital Influence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

64 COMMENTS
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64 Responses to “How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media”

Jason Says:
September 25th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Great post. thanks for the insight.

Social media should be a much bigger conversation in the healthcare reform conversation. If Obama is going to cut down admin costs of most healthcare providers, beside healthcare IT and digital medical records, online social interaction between patients and care providers is key. I think too often time patients go into hospitals for questions that can be simply answered by couple tweets. Social media can make doctor’s work more efficient, hospital more lean and ready for more serious illness and give patients the access to quick response addressing their concerns.

Hope to see more innovation in this soon.
Phil Baumann Says:
September 25th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I’m sure you’ve read 140 Healthcare Uses of Twitter.

A lot of these issues were raised then. Yes, it’s good to see hospitals come along.

http://philbaumann.com/2009/01/16/140-health-care-uses-for-twitter/
Dean DeLisle Says:
September 25th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Rohit, you are spot on. This is so critical with the doctors, clinics and hospitals we have met with many seem so skeptical, yet once you get with the patients - most have spent a minimum of 6.5 hours on the internet prior to selection or following recommendation. And, with the health care system the way it is right now, many areas are getting very competitive. It’s the facilities that get this that will flourish for time to come.

Great post!
TwittLink - Your headlines on Twitter Says:
September 25th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
[...] How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media [...]
Roger Ewing Says:
September 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Rohit, aside from providing some very intersting information. Your article is well written. I particularly like your use of different colored text. Nice job.
Social media has replaced the way we communicated in the past. The party line telephone was the original internet and people still need a way to communicate on a personal level.
ICMCC News Page » How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 2:13 am
[...] Article Rohit Bhargava, Fresh Influence, 25 September 2009 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media”, url: “http://articles.icmcc.org/2009/09/27/how-hospitals-are-quietly-leading-the-way-with-social-media/” }); [...]
What Are Some Of The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Globalization Leading To A Single World Culture? « 美綠島嶼 Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 5:01 am
[...] How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media [...]
So Doctors Are Using Social Media | Avantrasara Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 6:39 am
[...] How Hospitals Are Quietly Leading The Way With Social Media [...]
Social media and healthcare: hospitals lead | e-Patients.net Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 8:49 am
[...] few months, and it’s surprising and hopeful how eager they are to use social technologies. Rohit Bhargava at Ogilvy discusses how hospitals have been “quietly innovating with using social media without receiving much [...]
lucien Engelen Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 9:38 am
If you’re interested in how the European hospitals are doing, have a look at the sister-site of Ed’s great work.
http://hospitalseu.wordpress.com
Nick Dawson Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Great article!
Like Phil has pointed out, there are many uses for social media in the medical setting.

One of the reasons it is gaining so much traction may have to do with the focus on customer service in healthcare. We have figured out how to circumnavigate most of industries known for poor service via the internet - traevl, we book online rather than dealing with a surly agent, shopping - buy anything on amazon and then rate it, etc

Healthcare on the other hand is one of the last things where you (at least today) need to see someone. You need to be in front of a doctor to get a diagnosis, or at the ER to get stitches. That makes customer service more important than ever.

Using social media to connect with patients and caregivers is a natural extension of that - its as close as we have to amazon ratings for healthcare right now.

Its an exciting area to follow - thanks for the great write-up!

-N
Hospitals in Social Media @ Tech Crunchies – Internet Statistics and Numbers Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 3:34 am
[...] Oglivy PR 360] All Social Media statistics and FactsBiggest Online Social Communities (By Share of Unique [...]
Taylor Walsh Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 10:54 am
The adoption of social media by hospitals could have more far-reaching consequences than improving communications among current participants in a hospital’s operations. Health “care” is undergoing far more disruption than the deck chair re-arrangement now going on in the national debate. True prevention — setting optimal wellness goals and activities ahead of onset — will become more prevalent (following smoking restrictions, and environmental health accompanying green programs); include nutrition in schools, phys ed in schools, even stress reduction in schools. Then there will be all the responsibility being dropped into consumers’ laps, including behavior-change incentives at work.

Hospitals are getting into social media at a time when they are also slowly applying minimally-remunerated therapies like massage therapy and acupuncture, among others described as “integrative medicine.” To the extent that social media will bring the consumer deeper within the confines of hospitals and influence the patient-doctor relationship, it will bring in their experiences with and demands for all options that work, including those “alternatives” that have been shown to strengthen one’s health and protect against future disease.

Secondarily, the hospital as a trusted local social- and civic-good organization could re-invent the model of citizen engagement (i.e.: everybody listen to the conversations) for similar local, public service-oriented institutions through its experience with social media.
Pixels and Policy Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Social Health: How Hospitals Adopted and Refined Social Media …

Hospitals are turning to social networking to keep patients healthy and informed. Find out why social media is already transforming how we view medicine….
PixelPolicy Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I made sure to link the information in your article as some source material for a more in-depth study on my blog, PixelsandPolicy.com. Thanks for doing all of this great research!
Jason Heller Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Rohit et al - thanks for the thought provking perspective.

Here’s one more. BJC in St. Louis luanched a pretty groundbreaking site for consumers and healthcare providers to openly engage in a dialog about health care reform and simply how to make medicine better http://www.makemedicinebetter.org
NewsBits » Blog Archive » Hospitals and Social Media — a Quick Note Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
[...] interesting blog post: — How Hospitals are Quietly Leading the Way with Social Media at http://blog.ogilvypr.com/2009/09/how-hospitals-are-quietly-leading-the-way-with-social-media/. Perhaps attitudes are starting to change about the use of social media within [...]
Corey Walker Says:
September 29th, 2009 at 11:41 am
We just had a lot of fun using social media at Mercy Sacramento http://www.mercysacramento.org. Mercy celebrated Mercy Day by having 50 participants do random acts of kindness throughout Sacramento. Things like giving out free Starbucks cards, paying parking meters, giving out water and dog treats at the park and washing people’s car windshields. The street team that was out doing these acts would email or text me with info of where they were going to be and I would then tweet out the location. For instance “Mercy is handing out free Starbucks cards at the corner of 5th and P St. Go get ‘em!” In all I did 40 tweets that day incorporating photos and one video. We got about 15 RTs too. It was a blast!
Hospitals use Twitter, YouTube to interact with patients « FCEdge Powerful Marketing Communications Says:
September 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
[...] Hospitals use Twitter, YouTube to interact with patients Hundreds of hospitals across the country are embracing social media with 186 YouTube channels, 267 Twitter accounts and thousands of educational videos by one expert’s count. Hospitals are using blogs and Twitter to answer patients’ questions, plan efforts to fight rare diseases and explain complicated procedures such as brain surgery, Rohit Bhargava writes. 360° Digital Influence [...]
David Ormesher Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 11:39 am
It’s interesting to me that hospitals are the leading innovators in communicating with their customers, while some of the other major healthcare players (with more $$) such as pharma and health insurance are largely on the sidelines due to legal and regulatory fears.

As Taylor Walsh notes, the real move is on the wellness and prevention end. Finding ways to “nudge” patients towards owning and managing their health and making healthy lifestyle choices. Hospitals can provide a social media context for building local, healthy movements.
Using Online Video Can Help Explain Complex Terms and Situations | GlynnDevins Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
[...] kinds of online videos people are watching; the other was a report by social media thought leader Rohit Bhargava about how hospitals are using social media. Did you know there are 186 channels on YouTube with [...]
Rohit Bhargava Says:
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
@Jason - Great point about how social media can make the docs time at the hospital more efficient, and help patients get their important

@Phil - Yes indeed, but thanks for sharing it with the readers of this post. It’s a great resource.

@Dean + @Roger - Thanks for reading and commenting!

@lucien - Thank you for sharing this link, it’s a great resource. I will be sure to share it with my European colleagues.

@Nick - Thanks for reading and interesting point you share in your comment. I would agree that for the most part this is still an “in person” industry … but even with new concepts such as 23andMe for DNA analysis or ePrescribing there are trends that are moving healthcare towards more automation. Of course, I doubt there will ever be a way to get stitches virtually - but you never know!

@Taylor - Really interesting that you raise the role of hospitals as potentially reinventing the model for citizen engagement. If that does start to happen, it would be a great end result for our society and something that perhaps could add to the significance of this trend. Thanks for sharing this “big picture” idea to add a different dimension to the conversation!

@PixelPolicy - Thanks for your post and sharing this idea and content with your readers.

@Corey - Thanks for sharing, that does sound like a great campaign! Let me know if you do something like that again and I’ll be sure to help tweet it out and maybe help you get even more conversation going! (I’m @rohitbhargava on Twitter)

@David - You’re right that hospitals certainly seem to have been more aggressive when it comes to using social media. I think the other potential reason for this is that they have a far more direct connection on a patient by patient basis than most pharma or healthcare brands to. More person to person contact could likely lead to an easier sell on why social media matters. Just a thought …
Social Media -- Hospital Innovations | Health Care OS News Says:
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:00 pm
[...] technology firms to consumer products manufacturers–there is one flying under radar. Rohit Bhargava, on the Fresh Influence blog, points out that hospitals are quietly but actively involved on the [...]
Steve Christensen Says:
October 6th, 2009 at 10:29 am
While I find these statistics highly interesting, I think that an equally interesting issue is found when looking at the healthcare PR apparatus and how they have operated in the past.

There is a PR “control” culture that says every external effort must be coordinated, monitored, and planned. Well, from this perspective, the ROI just isn’t there in most social media projects. But in the case of a hands off PR culture (which almost sounds like a oxymoron) the cost is minimal, so the benefit threshold is much lower, which means that this sort of activity makes sense.

My hope is that the benefits will grow faster than the cultures change, but somethings got to improve before we see widespread social media activity from health systems.
Healthcare Marketing: Making the Case for Social Media - Online Marketing Blog Says:
October 9th, 2009 at 7:10 am
[...] organizations that are quietly innovating on the social web, as Digital Influence blogger Rohit Bhargava [...]
Social Media in Healthcare, Elder Care, and Senior Service Marketing: Making the Case « The Elder Care Market Says:
October 9th, 2009 at 11:58 am
[...] organizations that are quietly innovating on the social web, as Digital Influence blogger Rohit Bhargava [...]
Social Media in Healthcare Marketing: Making the Case | SocialMarketingReport.com Says:
October 9th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
[...] organizations that are quietly innovating on the social web, as Digital Influence blogger Rohit Bhargava [...]
Top Blog » Blog Archive » Social Media in Healthcare Marketing: Making the Case Says:
October 10th, 2009 at 12:45 am
[...] organizations that are quietly innovating on the social web, as Digital Influence blogger Rohit Bhargava [...]
SociaListed » Social Media in Healthcare Marketing: Making the Case Says:
October 10th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
[...] organizations that are quietly innovating on the social web, as Digital Influence blogger Rohit Bhargava [...]
Hospital and Social Media at AdPharm Blog Says:
October 18th, 2009 at 8:49 am
[...] Click here for the full story. [...]
Epic Supplements Says:
October 20th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Great blog thanks for the information
Stinky39 Says:
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
They are also trained to fill out a written evaluation form after completion of the simulated examination. ,
Wolf57 Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:53 am
When you wrote the slip you wrote it with your at the time full band. ,
scuba diving Says:
November 13th, 2009 at 7:48 am
nice to see this happening,
San Diego LASIK Says:
March 5th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
This is great news, I support this also and am helping other physicians to do the same. Thanks!
Social Media in Healthcare Marketing: Making the Case « Social Media In A Healthcare World Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
[...] organizations that are quietly innovating on the social web, as Digital Influence blogger Rohit Bhargava [...]
10 Hospital Social Media Success Stories « Launch Your Movement Says:
April 15th, 2010 at 9:22 am
[...] mostly of time (and interest!), not of capital. One ad exec from world-renowned Ogilvy even thinks hospitals are quietly leading the way with social media. I’m not sure about that, but we’re off to a great [...]
Tiens Says:
May 17th, 2010 at 8:35 am
That’s a very interesting post. The sosial media seems to be doing a great job with almost every sphere of life
Tianshi Says:
May 17th, 2010 at 8:36 am
I’m glad and impressed to know all these is happening.
Muslim Online Network Says:
May 21st, 2010 at 10:54 am
No-doubt the information is interesting and I like it very much and here I want to share a link of muslim online community where you can find the interesting activities and many more. So do visit the link and join it.
Irum Waheed Says:
May 25th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
I really liked GreenKonnection.com because of the text appearance is just write. It is a relatively new Muslim Social Networking site to cater the need for people who left Facebook
Kyisha Massage Therapist Says:
July 24th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Social media can be very powerful and can provide a host of opportunities for all industries. It is great to see hospitals taking advantage of this facet of media. I can’t wait to see what further impact social media will have within the medical industry. There is great potential to impact people’s lives. Thanks for the article!
Funginix gal Says:
July 24th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Social media is probably one of the most powerful and effective means to how people think and reason today. It’s unfortunate the power and control it has.
Tinnitus Says:
July 24th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
As a 10 year internet veteran, social media is one the most exciting new marketing channels I’ve seen in a long time.

This should help to even out the playing field between large and small mom and pop businesses who are looking to gain some market share.
Martin DX1 Acoustic Guitar Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 1:46 am
It’s great to see that hospitals are doing this. I think social media is a fantastic marketing channel.
David Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Social media is one component to get more traffic to your website along with article writing,blogging,videos,audio,and building back links to your site.Local business owners lacking in these skills are being severely hurt as over 65% of todays customers are searching online first to find a local business that provides the product or service they required
Mike the Daily Life Wellness guy Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Building a hungry, captive audience — whether it’s hospitals or any business — by way of social media has become a means for long term success. Good to see that some medical centers are putting marketing efforts front and center.
Kevin Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Social Media Marketing is a very powerful tool that builds a viral presence for any business
Steve McCardell Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Probably a good idea in an era when people are both clamoring for medical attention and conversely getting sick (sorry — pun intended) and tired of the pharmaceutical mentality. And at a time when health care is seen more and more as a business that doesn’t care.
Uygun Otel Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Very helpful post.Thanks for the contribution.
Rowan Says:
July 25th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Hospitals can add that human feel that is so needed via social media. Nothing is scarier than a very sterile unpersonal hospital experience.
Nancy Smith - Austin Massage Therapy Says:
July 27th, 2010 at 10:06 am
I recently started using social media also to promote my own licensed massage therapy practice in Austin, Texas and to help drive down my own advertising costs which means I can pass those savings along to my customers. I am doing my little part to keep health care costs down, its good to see that hospitals and medical centers are now doing this also.
Health & Nutrition gal Says:
July 27th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Glad to see hospitals finally jumping on the band wagon. Social Media is where it is at, if they want to improve their name and ranking, they better be a part of the social media revolution.
Houston Senior Care Says:
July 29th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Glad to see this industry catching on to social media.
Chris the Medical Instrument Sales Guy Says:
July 30th, 2010 at 3:08 am
Wow these are impressive stats for a relatively quite industry. However, being in Medical Instrument Sales it never ceases to impress me as to how innovative the professionals are in the medical field.

I must also mention that with a great income comes great technical gadgets and a somewhat streamlined technical lifestyle in both personal and professional spheres.

It does not surprise me one bit that this has spilled over into their mainstream professions. You really do have allot of choices when it comes to doctors, critical care facilities and hospitals.

It just makes since to connect with those who you serve and save daily in a meaningful way that provides better service!
Woodland Hills Insurance Guy Says:
July 31st, 2010 at 12:34 am
Unbelievable. Who would have ever thought? This article was posted a little while back so I’d love to see the stats now. It’s like I’ve always said, doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, they are all business too. Good for them.
Peter the wellnness informer Says:
July 31st, 2010 at 9:45 am
I’m not working in the healthcare business, but provide information about differet possibilities about better health and so on. And as soon as I went on Twitter I reached a lot more people, which are looking for health information and are discussing seriously about. So it’s really valuable for hospitals to open to broader social communities and start to get in touch in an more informative and friendly way, so the image of an cold atmosphere according to hospitals will vanish.

Peter
typesofinsurance Says:
July 31st, 2010 at 4:02 pm
This is an interesting article. I am glad to know that hospitals are nicely leading with social media.
Chris the Medical Instrument Sales guy Says:
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Social Media drives the Medical Industry today. From the operating room to the receptionists desk there are always ways to improve customer service, efficiency and knowledge.
David - The Colostrum Convert Says:
August 9th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Social Media allows people to become better informed about the options that are available to them from people who have had, or do have, similar conditions. I have found it very beneficial to my rehabilitation over the last 4-5 years.
Leal Meredith Says:
August 11th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
With the ever increasing inquisitiveness and knowledge seeking of service users there is a constant need to develop health promotional activities to connect with patients. Health is a competitive market and a large part of the market lives online, Doctors need to continue to ensure that there is good information available for people in appropriate forums. Health in general and Hospitals in particular would be remiss should they not develop comms strategies that incorporate the appropriate medium’s for the market.
Nick Traffic Submitter Says:
August 18th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Hi Rohit,

I really enjoyed your post and I agree that new technologies are useful to modernize the communication system in hospitals and to evacuate patients to doubt your way through these communication channels.

Greetings and good information
Columbus Auto Insurance Says:
August 19th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Yes I do agree its important to stay on the cutting edge of technology because things is always going to change and we have to adapt to that change
chiroguy Says:
August 19th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Rohit, Thanks for the stats…these are quite astonishing numbers. I know I always here how big twitter and facebook are but didn’t know that health care providers were using it in a big way. I would like to integrate these tactics into my chiropractic practice but it seems like so much work. We already have our hands full with enough “busy work.” But I’ll have to say, these numbers have inspired me to do some more research into the this phenom.