Insights from AAOS: Using Social Media to Enhance Patient Care (OrthoTec)
At this morning’s AAOS event, Dr. Raymond Raven III, MD shared how he leverages social media to engage with patients, grow his hand & upper extremity surgery practice, and raise awareness of medical issues.
While a Web site is the marketing foundation of any practice, social media has made it easier to keep website content more patient-focused while increasing search engine optimization.
In addition to leveraging YouTube and Twitter, Dr. Raven relies heavily on Facebook to communicate expertise and share important information.
On his professional Facebook page, Dr. Raven posts cases he thinks patients would be interested in, insightful news articles, and links to different educational sites. He also has a link on his Facebook page that goes to his practice’s website and a section that displays his Twitter feed.
Twitter, a popular microblogging site, has more than 21 million users, and can be an effective way to keep in touch with patients, get referral,s and communicate important medical information.
Posting a few Tweets a day—or even a week—also helps keep your Facebook and professional website fresh with new content. Dr. Raven “tweets” about relevant industry news articles and educational information that he thinks might benefit his patients.
Another important social media resource that Dr. Raven recommends for medical professionals is YouTube. Sixty hours of videos are uploaded via YouTube every minute with over 4 billion viewers every day. As the second largest Internet search engine, YouTube offers an excellent platform to not only share pertinent medical information, but also to get your practice found online.
Dr. Raven recommends using YouTube to post videos of CME lectures at the hospital, Grand Rounds at global universities, interesting cases, public service announcements, and any other professional information you’d like to illustrate to a wide audience. You can also link all your YouTube videos back to your website and Facebook page.
The AMA (American Medical Association) also has a policy related to social media that you can review online. The primary recommendation is that medical professionals separate their professional social media engagements from their personal.
Social media has become not just an effective marketing tool, but also a powerful medium to deliver beneficial medical knowledge and enhance patient outcomes.
How are you using social media in your medical practice or within your medical technology company?
How do you think social media will change the way medicine is practiced and patients are treated?
Tricia Rodewald is director of marketing at Pro-Dex Inc.