Leveraging Social Media for Healthcare Providers

Leveraging Social MediaLeveraging Social Media

Mollie DurbinMollie Durbin

Katie McInnishKatie McInnish

Meredith ReaganMeredith Reagan

Meg WatsonMeg Watson

1

Overview, History & TrendsOverview, History & Trends

2

OverviewOverview

• Definition– Social media is a conversation

– Interactive dialogue

– Utilizes highly accessible, scalable communication techniques

3

OverviewOverview

• Definition– A way to connect with patients, and gain

trust and customer loyalty

– A way to connect with fellow physicians to discuss industry issues, trends & topics of interest

4

Social Media GiantsSocial Media Giants

• Facebook–Most used social networking site by

worldwide monthly active users

– Over 600 million active users since creation in 2004• 41.6% of US population has an account

– If a country, Facebook would be the third-largest in the world (behind China and India)

5

Social Media GiantsSocial Media Giants

• Twitter– Created in March 2006, launched that July

– Active microblog: 140 characters per tweet

– 200 million active users with 65 million tweets daily and 800,000+ search queries per day

6

Health Information & Health Information & The InternetThe Internet• Internet is often the go-to resource

for people seeking health information

• 8 in 10 Internet users looked up health information, making it the third-largest search topic– 48% are searching on behalf of another

person (their parent, child, etc.)

7

Health Information & Health Information & The InternetThe Internet• Mobile accessibility is a plus– 17% of cell-phone users have used their

phones to look up health information

• Freedom to post information to the Internet can sometimes interfere with credibility of information

8

Health Information & Health Information & The InternetThe Internet• When posting information to your

social media sites, list applicable links and sources so patients can verify the legitimacy of information posted

9

Successful Social Media Successful Social Media UsersUsersin Health Carein Health Care

10

What They Do What They Do RightRight

• Planned Daily

– Deliberate, thought-out, careful posts

each day

• Multi-platform

– Video, pictures, events, custom tabs

11

What They Do What They Do RightRight

• Secure

– Access limited to only trained users

• Chrysler snafu

– Clear, concise “house rules”

• Not just a “Marketing Machine”

– Connect and build community,

not all self-promotion

12

What They Do What They Do RightRight

• Professional

– Not a personal profile, but an extension of

company itself

• Share Valuable Resources & Current

Events

– Post referenced articles on health tips,

new studies, events, etc.13

What They Do What They Do RightRight

• Do not respond to personal/medical

questions

– Strict control of page through settings,

monitoring, and posting “house rules”

14

HospitalsHospitals

15

HospitalsHospitals

Photo albums

Interesting, daily content

Connects with other users

Platform for company publicity

Disclaimer

16

HospitalsHospitals

17

HospitalsHospitals

Promotes sister companies & networks

Reaches out to mobile users

Provides company profile

18

Community Health CentersCommunity Health Centers

19

Community Health CentersCommunity Health Centers

Promotes community events

Encourages conversation

Connects with other organizations in health field

20

Health SystemsHealth Systems

21

Private PracticePrivate Practice

22

Private PracticePrivate Practice

23

SuccessEHS Client Spotlight!SuccessEHS Client Spotlight!

24

Connecting with OthersConnecting with Others

• Twitter Chats can be a great place for physicians and health care professionals to come together and discuss common issues with colleagues in similar fields.

• Twitter Chats use the # symbol to index conversations, allowing users to see the relevant stream of posts in real time– Example: #healthcarereform

25

Twitter ChatsTwitter Chats

• #HCSM is a weekly Twitter chat that takes place every Sunday @ 8 pm CST

• Brings together health care professionals and communicators to discuss topics relating to social media in health care.

26

Twitter ChatsTwitter Chats

• #CHCchat is a weekly Twitter chat that provides a forum for individuals and groups to network and discuss community health and the roles of CHCs.

• Takes place every Thursday at 3 pm EST

27

Connecting with OthersConnecting with Others

• Sermo—the largest online physician community in the U.S.–More than 115,000 members– Sermo’s purpose is to harness the power

of collective knowledge.– Free to join, open only to physicians

28

Social Media & Medical Social Media & Medical Research ExampleResearch Example• Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic

Center for Social Media– SM remove barriers for researchers to

spread their message to the group that might be interested, no matter how small.

– Rare conditions are less likely to have been discussed online, so research about that topic will likely top Google search results.

– SM can make it easier for researchers inthe same field to connect and collaborate

29

Industry ConcernsIndustry Concerns

30

Industry ConcernsIndustry Concerns

• Privacy & Legal

• Inaccurate Information

31

Privacy & LegalPrivacy & Legal

• Privacy Concerns–While HIPAA Concerns are real, follow

the simple rule of thumb: Use the same ethics and confidentiality online that you use in real life. Don’t disclose anything that could be used to identify a patient without proper patient authorization.

32

Privacy & LegalPrivacy & Legal

• Fraud & Abuse– Federal and state laws aimed at

preventing fraud and abuse in health care prohibit health care providers from giving third parties anything of value as an inducement for the third party to generate referrals to the health care provider for services which may be reimbursable by Medicare or Medicaid.

33

Privacy & LegalPrivacy & Legal

• Tax-Exempt Status– Health care providers that are exempt from

taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code are prohibited from intervening in political campaigns and from seeking to influence legislation as a substantial part of their activities. Don’t advertise on or sponsor social media sites that support a politicalcandidate or particular pieces oflegislation.

34

Privacy & LegalPrivacy & Legal

• Physician Licensing– Health care professionals should not

provide medical advice to patients via social media. If a patient receiving such advice is located in a state in which the doctor is not licensed, the doctor giving the advice risks liability under state licensing laws.

35

Inaccurate InformationInaccurate Information

• It’s true – some of the information patients are getting online is inaccurate. Patients are not likely to stop going to the internet for that information, though. The American Journal of Infection Control study confirmed that though only about 2% of medical tweets contained misinformation, the tweets potentially affected tens of thousands of patients.

36

Inaccurate InformationInaccurate Information

• Patients WILL get their information online – that’s all the more reason for physicians to “flood the web” with accurate information.

37

Social Media PlanSocial Media Plan

• Set up a social media policy

– The AMA released guidelines for these

policies in November 2010, which

encourage physicians to do the

following:

38

AMA Social Media AMA Social Media GuidelinesGuidelines• Use privacy settings to safeguard

personal information and content.

• Routinely monitor their Internet

presence to ensure that their personal

and professional information is

accurate and

appropriate.39

AMA Social Media AMA Social Media GuidelinesGuidelines

• Maintain appropriate boundaries of

the patient-physician relationship

when interacting with patients online

and ensure patient privacy and

confidentiality is maintained.

40

AMA Social Media AMA Social Media GuidelinesGuidelines

• Consider separating personal and

professional content online.

• Understand the potential negative

effects of misstepping in the realm of

social media.

41

How to be Awesome*How to be Awesome*

*at social media*at social media

42

Give your Organization a VoiceGive your Organization a Voice

• Direct patients to your practice

– Control organization info (hours,

policies, directions, parking, etc.)

– Give yourself, not a directory, control of

your information

43

Give your Organization a VoiceGive your Organization a Voice

• Participate in interest groups

– Learn from your patient population and

share your expertise on subject matter

44

Give your Organization a VoiceGive your Organization a Voice

• Generate content for your audience

– Become a hub of general (not clinical)

information with interesting articles for

the well-being of patients and non-

patients alike

45

What’s in a Post?What’s in a Post?

46

What’s in a Post?What’s in a Post?

47

SM as a Referral SourceSM as a Referral Source

• By interacting colleague to colleague and becoming a thought leader, you increase the likelihood of physician-to-physician referrals.*

*Again, remember that you can’t offer anything of value as an inducement for the third party to generate referrals to the health care provider which may be reimbursable by Medicare or Medicaid.

48

The Value of SM for The Value of SM for Relationship BuildingRelationship Building• Utilizing social media tools may also

help physicians be perceived as more “approachable” – As a result, patients may feel more

comfortable asking questions and seeking the care they need

49

Increase Patients & Patient Increase Patients & Patient EncountersEncounters• Patients want to know if OTHER patients

are satisfied with you. Owning your online presence helps manage those relationships.

• A Facebook page for your practice is like an online Yellow Pages ad.

• Social networking sites are crawled by search engines. This increases the likelihood of you being “found” online.

50

Questions?Questions?

51

Stay Tuned @ 2:15 pmStay Tuned @ 2:15 pm

• Administrative Track

– Networking Opportunity

• Clinical Track

– Patient Centered Medical Home

• General Track

– Business Objects52