MGMA In Practice blog

If you're asking yourself, "What's the point of Twitter?" you're not alone. Several medical practice administrators have asked us why they should participate in this form of electronic messaging. If you're wondering, too, this guide is for you.

Twitter is a microblogging platform that allows you to discover individuals and organizations that interest you and openly join their conversations. There's no pressure to interact with other "tweeters"; you can simply lurk.

However, the more you interact, the more likely others who share similar interests and perspectives will find you. And unlike Facebook or LinkedIn profiles, a Twitter profile thrives on immediacy and brevity - 140 characters, to be exact.

You join, you find individuals and organizations to follow, you add followers (if you want), you track conversations at your leisure via your cell phone or the Web. Much like a breaking news headline, a "tweet" has a short shelf life that gives you three distinct benefits not found with other social media. Twitter:

1. Is brief, so others will be more likely to read what you have to say.
2. Eliminates many barriers in communicating with people or groups of people. You can essentially talk directly to individuals (if they want to follow what you say).
3. Has the potential to spread your messages from person to person - or "go viral," as they say in social media.

Unlike the viruses you may contend with in your medical practice, this type of virulence is good because it means free publicity to advance your career or your practice. If others find your tweets valuable, they'll spread them by "retweeting" or reply to you using "@" and your username, which you can track on your Twitter home page. This allows you to engage your audience in a way beyond typical public relations, marketing and advertising.

Other advantages of using Twitter include:

• Staying current with the "buzz" in the health care community
  For example, you're a busy administrator who wants updates about the swine flu. With Twitter you can send them to your cell phone, allowing you to be away from your desk while staying in the know. Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allows you to do just that.
  
• Marketing your skills or your medical practice
  MGMA joined Twitter so we could spread our resources about practice management and medical practice to members and other audiences who influence decisions that are relevant to us. Creating a Twitter account for your medical practice can help establish you as an authority among peers and patients.
  
• Communicating with patients who use social media
  
• Recruiting new staff or posting job offers for free
  There are even Twitter accounts dedicated to posting the latest health care job offers.
  
• Getting feedback and engagement from colleagues, patients and other audiences about an issue

Those are just a few of the ways you can harness Twitter for your personal or your practice's benefit. To get the most out of Twitter, follow these few basic guidelines:

1. Use your real name for your username.
   You'll be easily identified and look more professional than using, say, your Yahoo! username, such as soccer4893.
   
2. Add your location, a Web site, short bio and your picture.
   If you don't have these, people will be less likely to find you. Also, this information helps you brand yourself or tell others what they can expect to see you tweeting about.
   
3. Add followers - and follow people who follow you.
   The only way you can "direct message" (send a private message) to another Twitter user is to be his/her follower. By not following anyone, you're only half participating in Twitter.
   
4. Know that anything you tweet could be found by potential or current employers.
   If you're strictly using Twitter for personal, not professional, benefit, understand that what you say can still affect professional relationships. Because of this, some Twitter users have disclaimers in their bios saying their opinions do not reflect those of their employers.
   
5. Be conscientious of patient/employee privacy.
   If you're not taking on Twitter duties yourself, designate a trusted individual to tweet on your behalf and make sure the tone and content of the tweets is appropriate.

If you want more ideas about using Twitter for your medical practice read "100 Ways for Hospitals, Health Systems to Twitter" from HealthLeaders Media.

You may also be interested in our Facebook guide for medical group practices.