Despite all of the advances in medicine, healthcare providers
have never been on the cutting edge of new business and
marketing practices. The industry is risk adverse and is more likely
to be a late adopter. It"s not surprising then that a new report in
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which lists the top social media industries ranks hospitals and
healthcare clinics in the bottom 10, joining by automobile parts
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stores and lumber and wood production. But healthcare on a whole
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is not completely behind in the recent report. Biotechnology and
pharmaceuticals tied for 29th place out of 50 most social
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industries.
The report looked at "social presence," the number of
employees registered with social media profiles on Twitter,
LinkedIn or Facebook using a corporate email address; and "social
connectedness," the number of connections across social networks.
Given this scoring method, it"s understanding why hospitals would
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rank low. Hospitals and other providers have not encouraged
employees to represent it on social media platforms or actively
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participated in social media. But this doesn"t mean the industry has
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not adopted social media. In fact, hospitals have made greater
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strides in using social media to connect with patients and
consumers.
Healthcare may still be in catch-up mode compared to other
more social industries, but advances being made by health systems
and physician groups are insignificant. When healthcare moves
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beyond talking and, instead, uses social media to engage with
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patients, employees and consumers, the impact on people"s lives
will be phenomenal and, possibly, life-saving.