best practices for social media in healthcare

People also use social media to feel included and be part of a community. Doximity uses a national database to create placeholder accounts with demographic and contact information for all U.S. physicians. Avoid any discussion of patients, even in general terms. People also use social media to feel included and be part of a community. Want to use social media to bring in more patients to your practice? Leverage User-Generated Content. The authors also discuss suggestions for using social media carefully , and future directions for research . Having a marketing strategy that includes proven social media best practices for business is a great way to gain exposure for your products and services-without eating up too much of your budget. We gathered insights into how hospitals use private messaging by directly interacting with hospital Facebook pages through Messenger. Social media for doctors doesnt have to be complicated. You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. Repeat steps 4 and 5. But, who says educating people about a cause cant be fun? Many social media tools are available for health care professionals (HCPs), including social networking platforms, blogs, microblogs, wikis, media-sharing sites, and virtual reality and gaming environments.18 These tools can be used to improve or enhance professional networking and education, organizational promotion, patient care, patient education, and public health programs.3,510 However, they also present potential risks to patients and HCPs regarding the distribution of poor-quality information, damage to professional image, breaches of patient privacy, violation of personalprofessional boundaries, and licensing or legal issues.24,8,1017 Many health care institutions and professional organizations have issued guidelines to prevent these risks.3,4,7,10,17,18, The definition of social media is broad and constantly evolving. With your authority as a healthcare professional, you can help people understand how they can protect themselves and the people they love. By creating an SMM plan, working with influencers, and taking advantage of the analytics tools available, practices can . This site uses cookies to enhance user experience, analyze site usage and provide a personalized browsing experience. 1 - 8 these tools can be used to improve or enhance professional networking and education, organizational promotion, patient care, patient This includes information about contracts-financial or clinical dates, regulatory concerns, or HR issues. Respecting patients privacy on social media is a matter of ethics but also a legal issue. The site also provides dedicated group pages for medical directors working in a wide range of sectors, including: hospital, veterans affairs, Medicare, group practice, employer, behavioral health, managed care, correctional facility, and long-term care.20, Other physician networking sites include QuantiaMD (www.quantiamd.com), Doctors Hangout (www.doctorshangout.com), and Doc2Doc (doc2doc.bmj.com).17 Many of these sites require doctors to submit their credentials to a site gatekeeper, recreating the intimacy of a physicians lounge in an online environment.17, The nonprofit Student Doctor Network is a popular social community site for undergraduate and practicing physicians, dentists, and veterinarians in the U.S. and Canada.5 It claims more than 40,000 active members and 1.5 million unique monthly visitors.5 The forums on Student Doctor Network focus on clinical career topics, do not support detailed user profiles or friending, and encourage anonymity.5, Social networking sites are also available for pharmacists. Therefore, although only 12% of U.S. physicians are active members of Doximity, nearly 100% can be messaged through the network.14, The Medical Directors Forum (www.medicaldirectorsforum.skipta.com) is a social networking site for medical directors that provides a verified, secure, closed-loop environment for peer-to-peer interaction. If you dont know what to post on your social media, get inspired, and use one of our templates. You can use this template to share any news or information on medications, treatment options, or programs for your patients. A Web service that allows subscribers to send short messages to other subscribers. Benefits of social media in healthcare The benefits of social media in healthcare include: raising public awareness combating misinformation communicating during a crisis expanding the reach of existing resources and recruitment efforts answering common questions promoting citizen engagement Despite this, brands of all kinds and sizes are not using this tool to its you need to implement this year, The functionality is limited to basic scrolling. If you are not amongst them, you should step ahead and start working on your community management strategy today. 2. The use of social media tools is a powerful channel to reach target audiences with strategic, effective, and user-centric health interventions. Be personable but professional. People trust social media more than they trust any other traditional marketing channel, which helps them decide when it comes to healthcare providers. Educate your audience As a healthcare brand, educating your audience is one of the most important and impactful social media strategies for you. Never friend a patient or family member online, this can lead to unanticipated sharing of information about your job and role that can be seen by others. Healthcare social media marketing has evolved significantly over the past decade. Social media: a review and tutorial of applications in medicine and health care. 5. According to the survey, the number of social media users in India increased by 365%, from 142 million in 2015 to 519 million in 2020. If a patient initiates contact online, it is the nurse's responsibility to establish professional boundaries and not engage in a personal relationship, online or in . It is designated by an @username identifier. Audit Your Social Media Presence. Define employees responsibilities when witnessing inappropriate use of social media. These sites include ASHP Connect (www.connect.ashp.org), which is sponsored by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; PharmQD (www.pharmqd.com); and The Pharmacist Society (www.pharmacistsociety.com).1,6 Professional networking forums for nurses include the American Nurses Associations ANANurseSpace (www.ananursespace.org), NursingLink (www.nursinglink.com), and SocialRN (www.twitter.com/socialRN).17, In addition, HCPs can easily connect with each other via general purpose online social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.8 Facebook is the most popular social media site in the U.S., while LinkedIn is the most popular professional networking site.1,11,17, The blog, a term formed by truncating Web log, is the oldest and most established form of social media, which has been used in medicine since as early as 2004.17 Blogs can reach wide audiences, especially if one writes content that is of significant interest.14 Posts that garner enough interest can be shared and viewed again and again by readers (referred to as going viral).14 Content that goes viral can establish a reputation or an online presence.14, Blogs can also provide the opportunity to publish large amounts of information in a variety of media (text, video, and audio) in an open forum.14 Most blogging platforms allow readers to respond to published content by posting their own comments.14 This enables an ongoing dialogue between the blogger and his or her audience.14 Examples of widely used free long-form blogging platforms include Tumblr (www.tumblr.com), WordPress (www.wordpress.org), and Blogger (www.blogger.com).14, Some physicians use blogs to communicate with other HCPs or the public.14 For example, the Clinical Cases blog (www.clinicalcases.org) features case studies in a wide range of medical specialties.17 This blog also includes a special section on admission note templates, procedure guides, and related material.17 Blogs are becoming more popular among pharmacists, but approximately two-thirds of these blogs are written anonymously.1, Microblogs provide the most dynamic and concise form of information exchange via social media.17 This format allows users to post a large number of brief messages or updates over a short period.17 Numerous microblogging platforms exist; however, Twitter is the most prominent.17 On Twitter, users publish messages (called tweets) that consist of a maximum of 140 characters.17 Tweets can be supplemented with hyperlinks to other online media, such as videos or websites.17 Tweets can also include hashtags, a form of information indexing that allows people to search for tweets that are related to a particular discussion or topic.17 Hashtags followed by HCPs include #HCSM (for Health Care Social Media), #MDChat, and #Health20.17, There are more than 140 reported uses for Twitter in health care.17 The Penn State College of Medicine has used Twitter to facilitate discussions between students and instructors, to conduct course evaluations, to solicit class responses, and to monitor students progress.17 A Twitter Journal Club also provides advance posts about papers and questions to be discussed, along with a hashtag, so that students, doctors, and anyone interested in the subject can interact.17 Twitter has also been used at medical conferences to discuss and enhance speaker presentations by posting real-time comments from the audience.17 Some physicians have used Twitter to develop a large following, enabling them to reach a broad audience and potentially even affect health policy decisions.14, Wikis are public forum websites featuring text and multimedia content that can be edited by users.17 Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning quick, which refers to the speed with which information on a wiki can be accessed, added, edited, or deleted.17, Surprisingly, Wikipedia is the most commonly used wiki in the medical community.17 It is often used as a reference by clinicians, despite its known shortcomings, such as errors and narrow breadth of information.5 One study found that 35% of 1,056 pharmacists used Wikipedia, although only 19% trusted it.5 In another survey of more than 1,000 pharmacists, one in five respondents said they trusted Wikipedia, but only one in four knew that anyone could edit the site.1 One reason for the popularity of Wikipedia is its prominence in Google searches.5 A study found that 70% of 35 junior physicians used Wikipedia to find medical information during a week-long period, with 93% citing ease of use as their primary motivation.5, As the accuracy and completeness of Wikipedia are often debated, the drug information on that site was compared with a validated and trusted information source, the Medscape Drug Reference.17 This analysis found that Wikipedia included approximately 76% of the content found in Medscape and had very few factual errors (most were errors of omission).17 In contrast, other studies have found that Wikipedia includes factual errors and has a lack of depth compared to traditionally edited, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information sources.1,21, Other wiki projects emulate Wikipedia in that they crowd-source medical content. Thats why you have a huge responsibility to share correct information and ethically use social media. Speak generally about conditions and treatments. Keeping in mind that most patients fear or avoid seeing a doctor when they feel unwell, they created a marketing campaign with a short video for Halloween. Let's schedule a call to chat about your marketing goals and challenges. The redistribution of a tweet from another user on Twitter to a users personal network. Social media marketing is a must for practices that want to grow online. It is any content- texts, videos, images, or audio- posted by consumers on social media talking about a company's products or services. Digital marketing companies in Dubai say that 5.5% of all Facebook posts posted by hospitals are analyzed and signaled as "the most-likely boosted posts.". http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies, www.ashp.org/DocLibrary/BestPractices/AutoITStSocialMedia.aspx. Ensure that the medical staff and employees include a disclaimer when they are not speaking on behalf of the organization. Since that introduction, the use of Stories has exploded. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ASHP statement on use of social media by pharmacy professionals. There are many ways to improve care by reaching out to patients through social media in healthcare. Dental anxiety is a common problem, and its actually one of the most widespread medical fears among people. Its important to understand that patients do not need to be identified by name to discover their identity. This applies to all forms of communication including online methods and social media. Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) for an additional level of security. Given the importance of social media in healthcare, the team at Convince & Convert wanted to identify common trends across social media marketing from the top U.S. hospitals. You can do this with ease using a health insurance social media posts. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) also issued its White Paper: A Nurses Guide to the Use of Social Media in 2011. Posting any kind of diagnostic or medical history information without patient consent may constitute a HIPAA violation. In this article, Im going to show you the best practices of social media in healthcare, using examples of how to leverage social networks to create awareness and engagement and bring relief to patients. And, if done right, it can become an instant success. The term generally refers to Internet-based tools that allow individuals and communities to gather and communicate; to share information, ideas, personal messages, images, and other content; and, in some cases, to collaborate with other users in real time.26 Social media are also referred to as Web 2.0 or social networking. 5, Social media sites provide a variety of features that serve different purposes for the individual user.19 They may include blogs, social networks, video- and photo-sharing sites, wikis, or a myriad of other media, which can be grouped by purpose, serving functions such as:4,7,8, Participation in social media by the general public has increased sharply over the past nine years.5,11 In the U.S., the proportion of adults using social media has increased from 8% to 72% since 2005.5,11 The use of social media is prevalent across all ages and professions and is pervasive around the world.2,8 In 2012, Facebook users exceeded one billion people worldwide, a number that represents one-seventh of the worlds population.2,8 In addition, each day 100 million active Twitter users send more than 65 million tweets, and two billion videos are viewed on YouTube.2 Social media have been linked to highly significant political events, such as the Arab Spring revolution, as well as to widespread societal trends, including the shortening of individuals attention spans and the decline of print news media.5, Social media provide HCPs with tools to share information, to debate health care policy and practice issues, to promote health behaviors, to engage with the public, and to educate and interact with patients, caregivers, students, and colleagues.6,11,14,16 HCPs can use social media to potentially improve health outcomes, develop a professional network, increase personal awareness of news and discoveries, motivate patients, and provide health information to the community.8,11, Physicians most often join online communities where they can read news articles, listen to experts, research medical developments, consult colleagues regarding patient issues, and network.9 There they can share cases and ideas, discuss practice management challenges, make referrals, disseminate their research, market their practices, or engage in health advocacy.14,15 A growing minority of physicians also uses social media to communicate directly with patients to augment clinical care.9,15, A survey of more than 4,000 physicians conducted by the social media site QuantiaMD found that more than 90% of physicians use some form of social media for personal activities, whereas only 65% use these sites for professional reasons.9,14 Nearly a third of physicians have reported participating in social networks.8 However, both personal and professional use of social media by physicians is increasing.3,9,15, Unlike physicians, pharmacists have been relatively slow to adopt social media.1 Much of the growth in the professional use of social media among this group appears to involve pharmacist-specific social networks.1 Surveys have shown that many pharmacists use Facebook.1 Although this use is most often for personal communications, more than 90 pages on Facebook are related to the pharmacy profession, such as the Pharmacists Interest Page, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Cynical Pharmacist.1 Only 10% of pharmacists use Twitter, and a search for pharmacist on LinkedIn identified 274,981 profiles.1, As social networking has evolved, medically focused professional communities have been established.14 These networks are often private and protected from nonmembers, such as the lay public and even members of other health professions.1 Funding sources for these sites vary, with financial support often being provided by professional associations, advertising or data sales, research funding, and pharmaceutical companies.17, Sermo is a physician-only social networking community that verifies the credentials of new members during registration.15 Physicians representing 68 specialties in all 50 states gather on this site to network, to discuss treatment options, and to query peers for expert advice.15 As of April 2014, Sermo boasted a U.S. membership of 260,000 physicians, most of whom use pseudonyms for anonymity. Healthcare technology providers, hospitals, and other service providers are opening new accounts to create a consistent image among consumers. Here is a list of tips and examples to inspire you when building your healthcare social media marketing strategy. Based on posting frequency, Instagram and YouTube are as secondary channels, despite these audiences being more engaged. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: We take your privacy seriously. The use of social media in healthcare should be accompanied by some rules and regulations. Names or key words added to blog posts or photos. A social media primer for professionals: digital dos and donts. Successful Facebook content is made up of a lot of different types of content. Posting something where you dont specify the patients name but include details that could lead to the patient being identified is considered a HIPAA violation. Pharmacy 2.0: a scoping review of social media use in pharmacy. Research shows that 41% of users say social media would influence their choice of a doctor or hospitaland 9 out of 10 18- to 24-year olds would trust medical information others shared on social media. Moorhead SA, Hazlet DE, Harrison L, et al. Download Beyond the Newsfeeed: The Best Healthcare Social Media Marketing for 2020 now. Trust the team.. Hasty RT, Garbalosa RC, Barbato VA, et al. In its mission statement for the network, the clinic said it sought to provide an authentic voice for patients and health care professionals, building relationships through the revolutionary power of social media.9 To that end, this initiative has created a presence on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.8,9 It also provides a vast library of blog posts, podcasts, conferences, and webinars to engage various community stakeholders.8,9 The Mayo Clinic and other educational health care institutions have also used blogs to foster peer-to-peer learning and to implement new protocols.17 Many universities also have a branded YouTube channel, where videos can be shared through the universitys social media site.2, Social media also allow pharmacies to communicate with large groups of customers simultaneously, to conduct surveys, and to enable patients to feel that they are part of a pharmacy community.18 Many pharmacies use social media to reach out to followers about products, services, discounts, newsworthy events, and health information.18 Several large pharmacies and insurers have piloted programs that provide prescription refill and appointment reminders via social-media text messaging.10, Although there has been a reluctance among HCPs to use social media for direct patient care, this practice is slowly being accepted by clinicians and health care facilities.3,7 For example, Georgia Health Sciences University has provided patients with access to a platform called WebView, which allows the patients to reach their doctors to ask questions or to request prescription refills.3, Recent studies have found that physicians have begun to develop an interest in interacting with patients online.9 Some physicians are using social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to enhance communication with patients.3 Approximately 60% of physicians were found to favor interacting with patients through social media for the purpose of providing patient education and health monitoring, and for encouraging behavioral changes and drug adherence, with the hope that these efforts will lead to better education, increased compliance, and better outcomes. 9 However, other studies have shown that considerable resistance still exists to using social media to interact with patients.7 In a survey of approximately 480 practicing and student physicians, 68% felt it was ethically problematic to interact with patients on social networks for either personal or professional reasons.7, Evidence indicates that electronic communication with patients can improve their care and health outcomes.9,10 Studies have shown that supplemental electronic communication emphasizes physicians advice and improves adherence for patients with chronic diseases.10 It may also improve patient satisfaction by increasing the time spent communicating with and having questions answered by their physicians.10 A survey of patients at an outpatient family practice clinic found that 56% wanted their HCPs to use social media for reminders, for scheduling appointments, for diagnostic test results, for prescription notifications, and for answering general questions.15 Patients who did not use social media said they would start if they knew they could connect with their health care provider.15, Social media can also improve patients access to health care information and other educational resources.12 In the U.S., eight in 10 Internet users search for health information online, and 74% of these people use social media.5,19 Through social media, patients can join virtual communities, participate in research, receive financial or moral support, set goals, and track personal progress.4,19, Physicians are also using social media to promote patient health care education.7 They tweet, make blog posts, record videos, and participate in disease-specific discussion forums focused on patient education.7,15 Such forums provide an important opportunity for physicians to distribute evidence-based information to counter inaccurate material on the Internet.7 In some social media forums, the public is provided with an opportunity to participate in these discussions.7, Unlike other health advice that a patient might encounter online, physicians could use social media to develop messaging that may be more likely to resonate with and be acted on by patients.8 Some physicians believe that social media would be particularly beneficial for patients with chronic, rare, or fatal diseases; with questions about maternal or infant care; or with personal health-related goals, such as weight management.9 The distribution of credible information has been proved to motivate observable behavioral changes within social networks.8 Research has begun to show that interventions based on social media can positively affect weight loss, tobacco cessation, risky sexual behaviors, and physical activity.8,9, Patients are also using social media to connect with others affected by similar conditions.9 For example, the social networking site PatientsLikeMe (www.patientslikeme.com) provides a venue for patients to access information, suggestions, and support from other people who have the same disease or condition.12 Facebook groups also frequently focus on specific medical conditions.19 These groups actively engage in peer-to-peer support as well as fund-raising efforts for affiliated organizations and individuals.17, Social media have created vast global networks that can quickly spread information and mobilize large numbers of people to facilitate greater progress toward public health goals.8 Social media can therefore be a powerful tool for public education and advocacy regarding public health issues.10 Some states public health departments are using Twitter and other social media for these purposes.9, Other public health organizations use keyword content from Twitter and other social networks, in combination with location-tracking technologies, to respond rapidly to disasters and to monitor the health and welfare of populations.8 The CDC maintains an active presence on Twitter and Facebook to track tweets that might indicate a flu outbreak and to share updates about such incidents.8 The CDC has also used social media to locate and monitor sources and suspected cases of Legionnaires disease.9, Organizations such as the Red Cross track Twitter posts during natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, to gather information about where the greatest needs are.8,14 Citizen-report blogs have also been monitored by hospitals for information about potential mass casualty events.17 When used in this way, real-time social media sites provide greater agility and enhanced preparedness for responses to disasters and public health emergencies.8 Social media sites also provide disaster and emergency response personnel with a means to rapidly share and access important information provided by agencies such as the CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.3, The widespread use of social media can also influence public health behaviors and goals through social reinforcement.8 Because human beings are a highly social species, they are often influenced by their friends, as well as by friends of friends.8 One example of the powerful effect of social media was seen after Facebook decided to allow users to post their organ-donor status in their profile.8 According to Donate Life America, the week after this feature was introduced, online state organ-donor registries experienced a 23-fold surge in donor pledges that was presumably due to this social-networking effect.8, The main limitation of health information found on social media and other online sources is a lack of quality and reliability.16 Authors of medical information found on social media sites are often unknown or are identified by limited information.13,16 In addition, the medical information may be unreferenced, incomplete, or informal.13 While evidence-based medicine de-emphasizes anecdotal reports, social media tend to emphasize them, relying on individual patient stories for collective medical knowledge.1 Similar problems exist with traditional online media; however, the interactive nature of social media magnifies these issues, since any user can upload content to a site.16 Social media users may also be vulnerable to both hidden and overt conflicts of interest that they may be incapable of interpreting.13, Measures are available that may be useful in addressing this problem.

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