Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to expand a personal brand and/or business is becoming commonplace in the health care industry. The Mayo Clinic's Facebook page has 6,400 fans. Surgeons are twittering during operations. Your physicians may be using Sermo or iMedExchange to connect with their peers. What about you?
Here are five compelling reasons why you should put social networking to work for you and your group practice.
1. Social networking is a free way to gain exposure.
Having a presence online is more important than ever, whether you're thinking of your next career move or new ways to market your group practice. In fact, Millennials might argue that if you're not online, you simply don't exist.
You might think social networking is a waste of time or even an inconvenience to your already busy job. The fact is, many of your patients and peers (just look inside the MGMA Member Community) are online: The fastest growing demographic for Facebook is those 35 years and older,1 while Twitter ranks 45- to 54-year-olds as its top age category.2 Whereas the younger generation once dominated the Internet, now the patients you want to reach - old and young - are at your virtual fingertips.
2. Your patients are looking for your medical practice online. Make sure they find it.
When it comes to choosing a new primary care doctor or specialist, the Internet is the first place many patients look. If you "Google" your health organization's name, do you know what shows up? How about your organization's listing on online locator services like Google Maps or MapQuest?
The first step is to see what's online about you or your practice. The second step is to correct it if necessary (e.g., updating your phone number on your Google Map listing). The last step is to enlarge your presence. Starting a Facebook page or Twitter account for your group will give you more opportunities to appear in online searches for your practice's name – and let you connect with patients in ways you can't with your practice's Web site.
3. Your patients are looking for your doctors online.
Plenty of sites allow a patient to do everything from finding a physician to rating a physician. The scary part is that you can't control what's said about your physician, but you can control how you react.
Ignoring physician review sites such as Vitals.com, HealthGrades.com and RateMDs.com won't make the comments go away. Instead, do some research in the social space and see what patients are saying about your doctors. You may even find incredible opportunities for delivering great customer service.
CHRISTUS Health company representatives did this recently through its Twitter account. They noticed a potential patient tweet about an unhappy experience at the hospital, so they tweeted right back, "Disappointed to hear about your negative experience at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa New Braunfels." But they didn't just acknowledge they'd heard the complaint - the hospital did something about it in a follow-up tweet: "Santa Rosa hospital leadership met to discuss your concerns and will be addressing you directly, on a personal level."
Don't let others dominate online conversation about your practice. Talk back!
4. Communication is instant and fast.
Sending a brochure about your practice's new location is not fast, or free. Telling your patients via your practice's Facebook page is. There are no significant barriers to entry like there used to be online, so publishing your brand's presence is literally a click away. While you won't reach everyone at your practice through just one platform, the more places you make available for information, the more likely that it'll end up in the hands of the patient.
5. Social networking can help advance your career.
Potential (and even current) employers Google you to get a snapshot of your personality and credentials. Give them a good impression with a free, professional profile on LinkedIn. Because this network is solely for work-related activity, it's taken more seriously by employers than Facebook. It's perfect for electronically putting your foot in the door before you even send out a rèsumè. And you may even find yourself being recruited without having to send a thing.
Do you use social networking in your job or to build your professional portfolio? Leave your URLs in the comments so MGMA can connect with you via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.