The Social Media Side of Healthcare
August 21st, 2009 by Hugh Kennedy
If you consider the healthcare industry a social media laggard, you might have been surprised had you attended The Business Development Institute’s recent Social Communications & Healthcare conference in New York. There was so much content packed into 4 1/2 hours that the whole experience felt like an evening of speed dating, or even more dizzying, trying to monitor your TweetDeck for 30 minutes.
Some of the topline takeaways:
* The CDC used some pretty darned impressive social media to help contain the recent spread of H1N1, including podcasts, RSS feeds, flu I.Q. tests, a YouTube video with > 2 million views, and a number of Twitter profiles with more than 500,000 current followers. There’s even a metrics dashboard with some enviable customer satisfaction scores. If only such a concerted effort existed to correct healthcare reform misinformation….
* WhittmanHart pointed out the successful YouTube and Twitter uses in the recent Stand up to Cancer campaign as well as a campaign on ostomies that positioned the suffering patient (and not the healthcare professional) as the true experts. Key learning here was that it’s easier to set up social media initiatives according to the therapeutic level rather than the branded level.
* Pfizer’s Ray Kerins explained the company’s social media strategy by noting that the entire pharma industry is trying to recreate itself through engaging, educating and listening. He is currently using their Twitter feed as a news outlet. Interestingly, when it was verified through the Twitter network that the feed was legit, they added 100 new followers in 25 minutes. The message they want to get out there? “We’re Pfizer and we’re willing to engage.” As Kerins wisely put it, “The world is run by people who show up.”
* Marketer and research team Andy Levitt and Nigel Roth hit on some topics everyone in the room wanted to talk about: social media guidelines. In such a highly regulated industry, what do you do? A few of their pointers: get the regulatory and legal teams involved early and make them a part of the solution, be wiling to defend your ideas, run a pilot project, and consider a first step like a private moderated online community where a group of patients can share their stories and build trust. Social media is just an adjunct in this world, of course, since a new Keller Fay study showed that 86% of healthcare word of mouth happens offline.
* Tricia Geoghegan did a great case study on the McNeil Pediatrics online communities ADHD Moms and ADHD Allies on Facebook. Her advice: work with Legal and Regulatory to set guidelines (as in 6 pages of guidance, not 40 pages of rules), keep up a steady drumbeat of content like podcasts and industry leader features, and keep your long-term sustainability plan in the forefront of your mind, because the ROI of healthcare social media is still way out there.
* Finally, the very unassuming and very amusing blogger Jonathan Richman shared his list of healthcare and social media rules of the game. A good set of points on which to close my August social media commentaries:
1. Be aware, not afraid (that is, develop a simple policy for dealing with people reporting Adverse Events using social media channels, even though most people won’t use the channels for AEs)
2. Monitor and get involved: be aware of what people say about you
3. It’s all about E.V.E. (expected visitor experience): don’t close off avenues to feedback and interaction if they are the expected ways these channels work
4. Prepare to surrender control
5. It’s not about you: patients care about their needs and conditions, not your products
August 28th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
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