Thank you for checking out the Get Social Health Podcast. On this first episode I would like to share with you our mission for Get Social Health, what plans are in the works for the podcast, give you a little background on why I think this podcast is needed and also a preview of some of our future guests.

I became an early adopter of social media and am now something of an evangelist for what social media can do to connect people around the world or in your own backyard by discovering like interests, needs, passions and cultures.

In 2013 I was approached by EHR 2.0, a company that does HIPAA compliance and data security for medical practices and hospitals, and asked to develop a series of social media webinars for healthcare.

The sad fact is, less than 70% of registered hospitals in the US are actively engaged in social media. The reasons are many – Time, Resources, lack of understanding of the power of social media and, probably the biggest reason, concern that a privacy law of HIPAA violation may occur.  Through teaching webinars and workshops it was clear that social media in healthcare required a slightly specialized set of skills, knowledge and tools not widely understood and available in the general marketplace.

Podcast Goal: 

My goal for this podcast is to interview the marketing, communications, PR and other team members doing the everyday work in healthcare social media. You’ll hear from physicians, nurses, e-patients, advocates, nonprofits, hospital marketers, writers, vendors and other professionals doing the daily work of engaging, educating, informing and building community.

I hope after listening to this podcast you’ll say one of two things. Either “That’s a great idea. I think I can use that in my job.” Or, alternately “I didn’t know that and I’d like to learn more.” You may think a lot of other things as well but if this podcast can educate, inform or inspire it will be 30 minutes well spent.

Podcast Format:

Speaking of time, let me explain what my plans are for the Get Social Health show format.  This will be a weekly interview show. My guests may be unknown to you but their experiences, ideas and even failures should be a great source of information for you. The interviews will last from 25 to 30 minutes. We’ll talk about their jobs, projects and passions always striving to give you practical suggestions, real life examples and suggestions usable immediately in your work. We will also discuss how privacy and HIPAA compliance has impacted their work.

At the end of the podcast we’ll take a moment for a “social media tip” from another professional. These 60 second ideas have been gathered at conferences, conventions, former or future podcast guests and via the Get Social Health website. You are welcome to join the conversation and send me a social media tip. Just go to the Get Social Health website and look for the “Send Voicemail” tag on the right side of the website.

Each podcast will be posted on iTunes and Stitcher as well as the Get Social Health website, so listen where it is most convenient for you. If you have a recommendation for a guest, I would love to hear it so send an email to [email protected] or leave a comment or voice message at the website.

Looking ahead, here are a few of the future guests scheduled for Get Social Health.

• My first guest is Dr. Holly Peek, a psychiatrist at Tulane Medical Center and newspaper and television medical contributor. She travels under the Twitter handle @PsychGumbo.
• Andre Blackman, Digital consultant for healthcare, a Mayo clinic social media committee member and advocate of the #Sustain or Die manifesto.
•  Ophthalmologist Dr. Isaac Porter will visit Get Social Health to tell us about his video blogging.
• Alexandra Tursi Social Media Strategist for the Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont will be joining me to talk about how she uses Pinterest for her hospital system.
• Dr. April Forman, who is the Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the SE Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs will share her unique outlook and the use of social media for the VA in her area.
• Jason Papagan, Director of Digital Marketing for REX Healthcare in Raleigh, NC and System Director for Digital Strategy for UNC Healthcare. They have been making some “Top Social Media Hospitals” lists lately and we’ll be discussing how that achieved that status.

These are just a few of the guests lined up so I hope you are looking forward to hearing them as much as I am to interviewing them.

Thanks for downloading this first mini-episode and I look forward to sharing great healthcare social media content with you in future episodes.