Social Media and Its Impact on the Healthcare Industry
Tags: social media, HCNM, Pharma, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, medicine, health systems, FDA, CDC, physician
Today, 650 hospitals have an active presence on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and numerous healthcare organizations have turned the corner to engage in conversations online. As we look back on the impact social media has had on the healthcare industry over the past year, we see dramatic growth in social media adoption by health care consumers, providers, and organizations.
For example, health systems such as Henry Ford have begun to broadcast surgeries and answer clinical questions live via Twitter, new communities like WiserTogether have made it easier for patients to share novel practices around specific conditions such as pregnancy, and services such as iGuard have changed the way we think about drug safety. The FDA’s public hearings in November also gave hope that the cloud of regulatory uncertainty would soon be lifted and the Dose of Digital Wiki now lists hundreds of active pharmaceutical social media programs.
While the industry has taken a giant leap forward into the brave new social media world, we've only scratched the surface of what is yet to come. So what does the future hold? Join me June 14th in Chicago, as Shahid Shah (CEO of HITSphere) and I explore the past and future at the 2nd Annual Healthcare New Media Marketing Conference. Our talk kicks off a terrific event, and I am honored to join the distinguished group of speakers Q1 Productions has assembled.
Health 2.0 2009, San Francisco, Day 1: A Summary
Tags: point of care, Health 2.0, telemedicine, EMR
There are some underlying themes at Health 2.0 this year that are quite different than last year. While 2008 was all about mobilizing for change and encouraging new ideas, this year seems to be focused on incenting people to adopt all the new technologies that have been built.
Aneesh Chopra kicked off the conference with a great talk on his experience with HIT in Virginia and how how he believes that innovation in the Health 2.0 space is critical to controlling costs and improving care.
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Improving Practice Health - Using Social and New Media Tools to Improve Practice Management
Tags: social media, medicine, practice management, patient recruitment
A majority of physicians’ offices are run as small businesses and are extremely sensitive to economic pressures. With the US economy in the midst of a recession, physicians, right along with everyone else, are facing financial difficulties.
We feel the crunch at my practice in Northern Virginia, and are actively searching for practical solutions to improve office efficiency and increase revenue. As physicians across the country struggle in a similar search, I have paid attention to the suggestions many have shared in their discussions on Ozmosis, and other sources like Twitter. Of particular interest are the Social Media or Health 2.0 solutions (generally readily accessible and inexpensive) that offer promise in improving the bottom line quickly and effectively.
Of the available suggestions, I feel the following have the most value, or have been implemented into practices with some measure of success.
Marketing Solutions to Recruit Patients
1. Start a practice Blog - This is a marketing and practice growth tool. It can help increase your visibility in the community and improve your communication of services to existing and new patients. 2. Create a Facebook page - A form of social marketing, Facebook can increase your reach as well as advertise existing and new services in your practice. 3. Send practice updates through Twitter - Keep patients informed of practice specific events (flu shots, physicals, etc) and increase your practice visibility. Maximize Revenue and Reduce Operating Costs
2. Extend practice services to the Web - such as online scheduling with ZocDoc (available only in NYC for now) and automated patient appointment call reminders with PhoneTree. 2. Provide online lab results to your patients - Using services like Quest360 or use your EMR's patient based portal - this may allow you to reduce or re-purpose your current staff.
3. Move to a Web-Centric or Concierge practice - Consider a practice solution like Myca or converting to a Micro-Practice or concierge service.
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