Various stakeholders in the health care industry are increasingly turning to social media, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Health care providers are using social media to:
Attract new patients;
Communicate information;
Increase awareness about specialty services; and
Raise money.
To spread information, physicians and health care companies are using:
Facebook pages;
Twitter accounts; and
Online discount coupon sites.
Concerns
Some members of the health care industry have found success in promoting their services through social media. Other groups have faced difficulties controlling their message because customers and patients can post to sites like Twitter and Facebook about having a negative experience.
Groups that promote services online also are trying to navigate potential drawbacks to offering discounts on a product or service, such as losing money if an offer becomes popular.
Chad Capellman — director of social media for Genuine Interactive, an online marketing agency — said that some health care companies must make sure they do not violate privacy regulations by revealing too much information about patients online.
He added that other stakeholders — such as pharmaceutical companies — must ensure that Twitter messages and Facebook posts contain enough information about products to meet standards set by federal regulators (Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 10/11).
Source: iHealthbeat
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