Using Social Media to Add Value to Your Medical Practice

Our social media survey found that many medical practitioners perceive that their patients are not active on social media. Thanks to all who participated in our social media survey, and if you haven’t taken the survey, it’s not too late!

However, according to the latest Pew study*, for the first time, more than half of all online adults 65 or older are using social media. Of the adults in this range, 56 percent use Facebook, which represents 31 percent of all seniors. So even if your patients aren’t on social media yet, the Pew study shows that the audience is moving that way.

In an ongoing effort to serve as a resource for those in the nephrology and health care industries, we want to provide our readers with relevant suggestions for your medical practice to use social media. With the majority of online adults ages 18 to 64 using Facebook, there’s an opportunity for medical practices to have a professional presence on this platform. Here are a few ways your practice can utilize social media:

1. Sharing health IT news. Now more than ever, people are looking to social media to provide news stories. Posting recent health care discoveries, tips for healthy living and industry updates can make your practice a relevant news source for patients and employees.
2. Posting specific information about your practice. Creating a Facebook page that lists your operating hours and phone number can be helpful if a new patient is looking to get in touch with your office, or to verify information about your practice that a potential patient received from another source. If weather or another event causes your office to close early, your Facebook page is a great place to post that information.
3. Staying in touch with large industry partners. Your practice’s Facebook page can follow other leaders in the health care industry, allowing you to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and events.

Practices are more than welcome to share our Facebook posts and tweets about the Acumen blog, nephrology news and industry data.

Follow us on Facebook at Acumen Physician Solutions and on Twitter at @acumenMD.

If your practice is active on social media, we’d love to hear from you. Write a short note, and please include your email address in the comments below!

*The PSRAI September 2014 Omnibus Weeks 2 and 3 obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2,003 adults living in the continental United States. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (1,002) and cellphone (1,001, including 594 without a landline phone). The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI). Interviews were done in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from September 11 to 14, 2014, and September 18 to 21, 2014. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ± 2.5 percentage points.

 

Megan McConnell is an assistant account executive at McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations. MP&F is an award-winning, full-service public relations firm based in Nashville, Tenn. It provides total communications and marketing services for a diversified client mix at the local, regional and national levels. For more social media tips, check out the blog post “15-Minute Guide to Social Media Management.”