Health Standards

Healthcare & Technology Resources

  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • #HITsm Chat
  • About
  • Authors

On Target: Focus Your Social Media Strategy to Keep Others Engaged

November 13, 2012 By Jennifer Thew, RN, MSJ Leave a Comment

Have you heard this before? “We have to start a Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest account!”? I have. All the social media venues weren’t crammed into one sentence, but I’ve had the “We have to start” conversation more than once (last week it was Vimeo). My standard response is, “Why?” The standard response to my standard response is, “Everyone else is and we don’t want to be left behind.”

“But what is the goal?” I ask. The response to this is usually a sigh and a head shake that, without words tells me, “You poor, out-of-touch soul. You nurses really do hate technology.”

I don’t ask these questions to be difficult or because I am afraid of technology. I ask them because, as a registered nurse, I have spent much time creating patient care plans. Care plans have helped me to identify and implement interventions to help patients reach their health goals. I can tell you that the more specific you can get with a patient, the better. Finding out what motivates them and creating a plan that is practical and can be incorporated into their day-to-day lives is going to be more successful than just telling someone with diabetes that an ideal fasting blood sugar is less than 100mg/dl, so they should try to eat right.

When it comes to social media, much like caring for patients, I want a plan with goals and measurable outcomes. But often companies have a scattershot approach to social media. If asked you what your organization’s social media plan is and what you want it to achieve, how would you answer? Think that over and please share them in the comments section of this post. I’m willing to say that many of you want your products and services to be used to improve patient care, support clinicians, or market your product. If I’m wrong, also share that in the comments section of this post. (My well-defined goal is to get people talking in the comments section. Hint, hint.)

As many of you have probably experienced, social media can be a great tool or an incredible waste of time. Think about your own use of it. Personally, I use Facebook to keep up with my friends and family since many of them live all around the country. My sister and I can share photos of our kids and I can hear about my friends’ latest vacations.

Unfortunately, there are times when my Facebook feeds fail me. This happens when long lost friends get into the habit of excessive posting. I don’t care if you bought a burrito, are halfway through the burrito, finished the burrito and are now throwing the aluminum foil the burrito was wrapped in into the trash can. I also am not interested in political, religious or social bickering. All the posts on things I don’t care about clog my news feed and make me miss my friend’s post about what’s blooming in her garden, which I love to see.

Now, some people are interested in these types of interactions on social media. Which is fine. To each their own. But when you are trying to reach a target group of patients or care providers, think about how they will use the platform and information you are providing. Do they want to meet other patients with similar conditions to form a virtual support group? Or are they looking for straightforward information they can share with their physicians?

Lately, I have joined two “closed” Facebook groups. One is made up of mothers from the yoga studio I attend and the other is a book discussion group I was invited to join through a friend. I know most of the members in the yoga group but I only know two in the book group. I participate in both and look forward to reading what the members say.

I find the concept of closed groups on Facebook interesting and I think it’s something that could work for those in Health IT who are looking to target a specific audience. Perhaps limiting membership to care providers or to patients would work for you. It seems that the closed groups have an understanding that they will only post what is important to the group (ie, potty training advice or book suggestions), the participants value the information shared there and are respectful of each other.

What types of closed groups do you think would work best for those in the Health IT? A group of professionals discussing the latest developments in Meaningful Use? A group targeted towards e-patients? Maybe a nursing informatics group?

Give it some thought and give it a try and tell us about how it works for you.

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profile

Jennifer Thew, RN, MSJ

Jennifer Thew, RN, MSJ, is a registered nurse and journalist who has covered healthcare issues and how they relate to the nursing profession. She began her nursing career as a neuroscience nurse at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and then transitioned to journalism after receiving a degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago. She has edited and written numerous articles on a wide range of nursing and healthcare topics like Accountable Care Organizations, evidence-based practice and telehealth.
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profile

Latest posts by Jennifer Thew, RN, MSJ (see all)

  • Telemedicine Use Primed to Keep Going Up… Up… Up - February 10, 2015
  • Burnout Among Health IT Professionals - January 13, 2015
  • Gathering Together to Create a Family Health History - December 2, 2014

Filed Under: #HITsm, Social Media

HL7 FHIR Resources

HL7 FHIR Resources

Connect

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
Tweets by @HealthStandards

#HITSM Chat

[#HITsm chat 11.18.16] Celebrate Passing the #HITsm Torch

November 15, 2016

Moderated by Chad Johnson, @OchoTex, HealthStandards.com Editor and Corepoint Health Senior Marketing Manager. November 18th will be the last #HITsm chat under @HealthStandards. Celebrate ‘Passing the #HITsm torch’ to @techguy @HealthcareScene.

Passing the #HITsm torch

November 10, 2016

The first #HITsm tweet chat was held almost six years ago on Jan 10, 2011. Since that time, we have hosted approximately 280 #HITsm chats. While some of you may have participated in that very first chat (only 15 actually participated), I’m proud to say that the chats and the community have continued to grow […]

View More #HITSM Chat >

Podcasts

‘Hactivist’ Fred Trotter on the Cancer Moonshot, open source data in healthcare, and more

August 3, 2016

Artificial intelligence is a topic that isn’t going away in the health IT and medical community. One reason it’s come as far as it has is thanks to open sourcing, or shared data. Today’s guest, Fred Trotter, has a lot to say about the Vice President’s Cancer Moonshot initiative – which he was recognized for […]

Sue Schade on gender equality, CIO challenges, and value-based healthcare

July 27, 2016

View More Podcasts >

Copyright © 2021 Health Standards. All Rights Reserved.