FEATURE EDITORIAL
By Daniel Kantor, M.D. Ready or not, social media has become an integral part of
the way patients expect to interact with their physicians. Engaging in social media may seem daunting at first. But, the benefits of developing a comprehensive social medial campaign outweigh any potential disadvantage. Social media can be an effective way of recruiting new patients and can be crucial in the growth of a medical practice. Not just a teenage fad, physicians should look carefully at how this user-friendly medium can be harnessed for the ultimate benefit.
Tweets? Facebook? These dizzying new words in our
dictionary have become central to the way our patients communicate with each other and with their physicians.
Social media allows physicians access to thousands of
potential patients. While some physicians are initiated into social media through requests to volunteer their time to answer questions on a patient-oriented site, many others have created their own interactive websites and Facebook pages.
There are various ways to structure the interactive dynamic
that social media offers. Some physicians disseminate information in a unidirectional manner, while others create a truly interactive experience.
The choice of which method of interaction is appropriate
depends on your practice type, how much time you are willing to invest in a Web presence and your individual goals.
Your level of computer skill is fairly unimportant, since the social medial tools available are fairly user-friendly.
Facebook and Patient “Friends” Currently, the most popular social media site, with more than
300 million users, Facebook uses the term “friends” to describe the connection between individuals. While some physicians use Facebook to connect with their real-life friends and family, it is important to separate these connections from the public.
If your patients discover you on Facebook, they may want to
befriend you, and you will be forced to either accept their friendship or to deny or ignore their requests. For this reason, it may be desirable to use Facebook only as a professional tool and treat “friendships” as connections to the public.
People on Facebook tend to befriend (or collect) others,
which may be used to your advantage in growing your audience and potential patient base.
A doctor’s practice can open a Facebook Fan Page that allows
the practice to communicate with the public. Once patients “like” the Fan Page, their “friends” could be encouraged to join as well, and then their friends would join—the viral idea of social media is a definite advantage.
The key to keeping the public engaged is to update content
frequently and to make it relevant to the “viewing audience.” Interaction between the users and the physician (or physician representative) is crucial.
2012-2013 The Greater Daytona Healthcare GuideTM 9
Facebook users are
accustomed to immediate and timely response, and this means that allowing others to comment on your Facebook would be seen as inviting questions and would mean that you are giving up complete control of the content. You can easily adjust the Facebook settings and not allow such bidirectional communication.
LinkedIn for Colleagues Social media outlets are not only appropriate for interactions
with the public, sites such as LinkedIn can help physicians interact with other health care professionals as well.
Generally, more appropriate for physician-physician
interaction than sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Google+, LinkedIn encourages users to update their online resumes and CVs and to form networks based on employment, education and interests. This means you can use LinkedIn to update your professional profile (publications, presentations, employment), while you use other avenues to create and disseminate novel content.
Twitter and Tweets Twitter allows users to publish 140 characters of content that
can be “followed” by an unlimited number of people. These content updates are termed “tweets” and are often read through mobile devices. An example of an appropriate tweet would be, “Dr. Smith is now accepting new patients at her new location— 1345 New Wales St., Jacksonville FL 32204.” This timely brief reminder serves as an advertisement for a new location and could potentially increase patient traffic.
Physicians can also use Twitter to update the public (current
and prospective patients) on new developments in their field of interest. For example, “Nue-dextra receives FDA approval as the first and only treatment for pseudobulbar affect – to learn more visit:
www.drsmith.com.”
Advantages: You only need to write a short blurb and you control the message.
Disadvantages: You are constrained in terms of space and reach. Whether you are ready or not, for Facebook, Twitter, a website
or anything social media has to offer, the public is online and looking for you. Start researching how you, your practice and your expert advice can get “out there” to a growing audience. Once you do, there will be no turning back, and that won’t even be a consideration because you will be hooked, or should we say “LinkedIn.”
From “Social Networking: Who Are Your Friends?” Originally published in Northeast Florida Medicine, Winter 2011
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