Radiology

Social Media Tips for Radiologists

social media for healthcareIt is a pleasure to welcome former Get Social Health podcast guest to the blogger’s seat today. Sara has provided an insightful article on social media tips for Radiologists however they are excellent and apply to any physician. Thanks for contributing Sara!

Working in radiology marketing for three years now, I’ve learned the in’s and out’s of the industry, become well-versed in radiology specific terminology, learned more about Toshiba and Hitachi technology than I can fathom and found out how to use various forms of marketing to attract patients and referring physicians. The biggest lesson I have learned though is how to bring the actual radiologists to the table for marketing success.

A joke in our niche industry is that radiologist physicians chose their specialty because they, in fact, don’t like patients and would rather sit in a dark room all day powering through their work than ever have to see a single patient. It makes sense; being that radiologists are compensated for the number of interpretations they get through, rather than their amount of daily positive patient interactions. As a result, the radiologist is not normally well known for exquisite bedside manner.

That being said, many imaging centers and radiology departments end up marketing their centers the same way. Using crutch-terms like “24-hour turnaround time” and “ACR accredited” plastered all over their advertisements and signs, doing nothing to stand out against their competition. By finding unique ways to actually market your radiologist, you can take the road less traveled in radiology.

So what can you do to market a physician that rarely interacts with patients and referring physicians?

  • Build an online persona for your physician through LinkedIn and Twitter
    • Share posts and become a thought-leader in radiology by posting valuable content, studies and blog articles. As a marketing pro, you can help extend the radiologist’s reach through these two social mediums.
  • Patient-focused ghostwriting.
    • Write original content for patients from the perspective of your radiologist, advising them on the differences between procedures, how to prepare and how to understand diagnoses.
  • Brand journalism for your radiologist.
    • Take the ghostwriting a step further and reach out to local media and industry publications to explore whether they need an expert in radiology to consult on medical news and healthcare changes.
  • Video interviews and how-to’s
    • If you’re lucky enough to have a radiologist that wants to get involved with your efforts and feels comfortable being filmed, you can package short videos of the doctor explaining their services. Video content is great for SEO and is much more manageable for patient education than long white papers and jargon-riddled blog posts.

To discuss some ways to transform your practice’s marketing, shoot me an email. I’d love to share my ideas! To reach me via email use: [email protected] or give me a call at 813-284-2002.

 

 

Can Radiologists be Social? Sara McFarland of Atlantic Health Solutions

Sara McFarland“So you want to be a Social Media Ninja?” This intriguing question popped up in a social media search and brought me to Sara McFarland, Communications Specialist with Atlantic Health Solutions. Her expertise in social media and especially Twitter has led to speaking engagements at the RBMA (Radiology Business Management Association) and guest blogging for Ragan Communications. Her expertise was developed managing social media for the clients of Atlantic Health Solutions, a full-service agency that specializes in marketing for Radiology and Radiation Oncology.

Our conversation ranged from how radiologists may be the most introverted of physicians and how that impacts their social media efforts to using geo-codes to create very defined Twitter searches.

To follow key points in our discussion, here is a time stamp of the interview:

01:14 “How to be a Social Media Ninja”
02:10 Chris Christenberry owner of Atlantic Health Solutions
03:10 Unique aspects of radiology practice and social media
04:50 Is Facebook right for driving business for radiology practices
05:35 Using Twitter to drive business
07:18 Radiology Business Management Association
09:00 Geo-code location in Twitter to find prospects
11:00 Managing volume of searches in Tweetdeck
13:00 Social media time management
13:37 B2B selling
16:38 Content strategy for Radiology
19:35 Where do you get local content?
22:58 What platforms are you using?
25:58 Help Physicans become thought leaders?
28:26 Are radiologists the introverts of medicine?
30:10 If the target audience is older, is social media viable marketing option?
34:05 How do you capture video for your clients?
35:55 Monitoring for HIPAA and Privacy statements
38:59 Words of encouragement

Visit our resources page for more valuable (and free!) resources on social media and digital health

“So you want to be a Social Media Ninja?” (audio recording)

Sara’s Tip to use geo-location codes to use in Twitter searches:
Term you’re tracking geocode:40.7753201,-73.9558484,50km (radius you want)
(the coordinates can be found on Google maps)

Ragan’s Healthcare Communication News contributions:

Atlantic Health Solutions blog