Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/812313
Hospital Leaders on Social Media: BY VALERIE LAUER WITH THE RIGHT STR ATEGY, HE ALTH SYSTEM CEOs CAN LE VER AGE ONLINE OUTLE TS TO IMPROVE THE RE ACH OF THEIR HOSPITALS' VOICE AND ENGAGE A POPUL ATION HUNGRY FOR INFORMATION AND PERSPECTIVE. TODAY, MORE CONSUMERS than ever look online for informa- tion about hea lth care. According to the Pew Research Center Internet Project, 80 percent of internet users search for health information online. Pew survey data showed that searching for hea lthcare information was the third most popular online activity among respondents, and that 36 percent of those users sought information specifi ca lly about medica l facilities. Consumers searching for healthcare information represent a vast swath of the population, and hospitals have an opportunity to engage them via blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other socia l media outlets. However, even among hospita ls that ma ke robust use of socia l media, it is less common for their leaders to be a public, reg ula rly engaged presence in these eŠ orts. That C-level disengagement can be perilous. "Patients and caregivers on those platforms have voices," says Brian Loew, Founder and CEO of Inspire, a website that hosts hea lth-specifi c communities with 900,000 registered patient and caregiver members. "They are ta lking about and repor ting about rea lly impor ta nt things. If leadership at hospita ls were to ignore that, they would be ignoring ver y important feedback." ENTERING THE FRAY In hospita l marketing departments across the country, trained professiona ls put great thought into online strateg y. Idea lly, each post and reply is crafted to meet brand standards, respond to concerns a nd tie in to a big-picture ma rketing pla n that moves the hea lth system for wa rd. W hen hospita l leaders enga ge on line, they ca n enha nce t he or g a n i z a t ion's c on ne c t ion w it h on l i ne u s er s who va lue authenticit y. Stephen K lasko, MD, MBA , CEO a nd President of Thomas Jefferson Universit y a nd Jefferson Hea lth in Philadelphia , recog nized the potentia l of socia l media ea rly on. He ha s had a n online presence for 10 yea rs a nd posts reg ula rly on a hospita l blog, Facebook, Twitter a nd Instag ra m. The video of his 2014 TED ta lk, " W hat Hea lthca re Will Look Like in 2020," ha s been v iewed more tha n 120,000 times. He ha s found his online endeavors productive a nd enjoyable. BY VALERIE LAUER Risk and Potential 1 4