Social Media and Healthcare: Challenges and Strategies

Social media is an essential part of any medical practice’s marketing strategy. The reason that social media plays a vital role in your approach is that it allows you to connect with patients where they are – online.

Using Social Media as a Medical Practice 

Today, we’re going to look at three strategic reasons you should be using social media and how to use it effectively to grow your healthcare practice. 

1. Know Why You’re on Social Media

Many social media efforts fail because of a lack of cohesive purpose or strategy put in place. Before joining social media with your medical practice, think about which platforms your patients are most active on and what type of content they’d like to see from you on those platforms. Only when you have a focused plan should you begin implementing social media strategy in your overall marketing strategy. At Moxy, we specialize in social media management for physicians, medical practices and hospitals. We build comprehensive social media strategies that will help you connect with patients.. 

 2. Schedule It Out 

Part of your social media marketing plan should be a schedule of when you plan to post. This will allow you to carefully think through everything that you put on social media as a practice and enable you to get the most out of each platform that you use for your professional brand as a physician or healthcare organization. Instead of trying to plan something new to post each day, choose one day a week to schedule out the week ahead so you never forget to post or put something up last minute that may not be relevant or medically accurate. Think of your content as a new patient office visit, and begin creating your strategy from the top five questions you get from new patients.

 3. Be Sure to Interact, Wisely!

Don’t forget about the “social” aspect of social media. Your physician or practice pages and accounts provide the opportunity to connect with your patients, and they may choose to use these platforms to try to talk to you. Be sure that someone on your team checks your accounts daily and responds to messages so that you don’t miss an opportunity to connect with a patient – or a potential patient. When engaging with followers or responding to direct messages, it’s important to refrain from offering medical advice. A better practice is to share general medical education and encourage your followers to visit your website or contact your office to schedule an appointment.

Challenges of Social Media in Healthcare 

Using social media is not without its own unique set of challenges. Let’s look at three major pitfalls to be avoided when using social media professionally or for your medical practice. 

1. Keep It Professional

While social media does allow doctors and medical professionals to connect with patients, make sure that you never blur lines between professional and personal. Avoid adding patients as friends or followers on your personal accounts, and make sure that you keep all posts on the professional profiles about the your medical speciality, medical practice and less about the personal details of your life. 

2. Don’t Give Advice 

Inevitably, when you start posting on social media, patients will message or comment hoping to receive medical advice through your social media channels. If a patient asks for medical information or advice on social media, always invite them to call the office to speak directly with a physician in a professional setting. 

3. Watch out for HIPAA violations 

 Anyone who will have access to your social media accounts must have an in-depth understanding of HIPAA and how to avoid violations. Only HIPAA-trained staff members or a social media strategist who understands HIPAA should ever have access to your social media platforms. This will help you avoid any unexpected issues where something is posted that should not have been displayed to the public. Watch for small things like a patient visible in the background of a photo, patient information legible on a piece of paper in the corner of an image, or even personal identifiers like tattoos being visible on a person whose face has been blurred.

What sets Moxy Company apart from other social media and marketing strategists is our knowledge of best practices in the medical space precisely and the way that we understand HIPAA and how they apply to your social media strategy and content creation.. MOXY’s CEO, Christy Owenby, was a featured expert in a Mayo Clinic article about Facebook Advertising and continues to be a leading voice in social media for doctors and medical practices. 

Now is the time to use social media to keep the lines of communication open and engage with current and potential patients. Let’s help you get started today!