Twitter

The Healthcare Hashtag Project – #Ebola

There is a concern that healthcare has been slow to embrace social media and appreciate it’s potential to educate and inform. Twitter numbers about healthcare conversations tell a different story: over 610 million Tweets, over 11,00 topics, almost 5,200 hashtags and more than 2100 contributors. The reason we know the data about millions of healthcare tweets is due to the Healthcare Hashtag Project – a program of Symplur. Get Social Health had a conversation with Tom Lee, Co-Founder of Symplur about the reasons the Healthcare Hashtag Project was created. We also chatted about hashtag bombing, tracking specific healthcare conversations and the use of hashtags in conversations about Ebola.

To catch the segments of our conversation, check the time stamp content below.

Ebola Chat00:00 Intro
00:47 Meet Tom Lee
01:19 Creation of Symplur
04:10 Healthcare Hashtag Project
04:56 How does a healthcare hashtag get created?
07:48 Hashtag bombing & hashtag trolls
11:20 Community management at Symplur
12:00 Why Tom Lee tried Twitter
12:58 New users to the Healthcare Hashtag Project
14:23 Tracking hospitals, pharma, physicians and health agencies
17:12 What’s your project goal?
18:20 Big Data and project use
20:50 Ebola and it’s Twitter path
24:00 Transitions – from fun to serious
25:30 Tracking rumors
26:40 Tracking History
29:01 Massive
29:50 Focus on Cancer hastags: Dr Matthew Katz @subatomicdoc
33:21 Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1
35:00 Conventions and “remote tweeting”
37:15 Social Media Success Tip: Greg Chang of for[MD] “Give before you ask”

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

Tom Lee

Symplur

How to report a spammer in Twitter

 

Healthcare Twitter Legend in the Making: @Nxtstop1

Are you active in Twitter? I thought I was until I had a lively conversation with physician, aging mobility advocate and Twitter evangelist Dr. Bernadette Keefe. As of this writing she stands at 77,800 tweets and counting – at over 100+ Tweets a day. How? Why? Listen to this episode of the Get Social Health podcast and learn how Bernadette has found an effective recipe to engaging in healthcare Tweet Chats, Conferences (where she is not in attendance) and one-on-one relationships. But get this – she is tracking multiple conversations, thought leaders and conversation threads with only a smart phone, an iPad and the Twitter platform.

Bernadette KeefeTo drop in on specific parts of our conversation, refer to the time stamp below:

00:01 Introduction
01:45 How did you come to Twitter
02:47 What does your Twitter handle, @nxtstop1 mean?
03:53 Dr. Keefe’s medical background
04:30 Helping through social media
07:40 “An all you can eat buffet”
08:16 Tending the Twitter Garden
09:10 Physician’s role in social media
10:10 The Walker Education Project
14:24 Mobility & Independence
17:30 How can social media help @WalkerEDU project?
18:45 How did you get involved in Tweet Chats?
19:10 Online Tech communities were welcoming
19:43 #HCITsm
21:19 Dropping in on Tweet Chats
22:13 Classical Education & Tweet Chats
23:00 How do you paticipate in conferences happening half a world away?
28:30 How are you curating conference tweets
32:50 Getting the conference Tweets rolling
33:20 What tools are you using?
34:50 Social Media Tip: Dr. Betsy Bennett – “Watch emotions when Tweeting”
Visit our resources page for more valuable (and free!) resources on social media and digital health:

The Walker Education Project: @Walkeredu

Tweet Chats:

Symplur

Healthcare Hashtag Project

#Bioethx

#kareochat

#IrishMED

#jacr

#HITsm

#hcsmca

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.

 

 

Dr. Anonymous – Blogger, Podcaster, Early Adopter

Dr. Mike Sevilla, a practicing family practice physician, has one of the best known names (and voices) in social media. One of the original physician bloggers, Mike started blogging in 2005 under the nom de plume of “Dr. Anonymous.” As Mike recounts, pre-HIPAA physician blogging was generally under the radar using pseudonyms to allow physicians the ability to speak their minds and “rant” against the system. His perspective on the birth of healthcare social media is unique because he has established a presence in a number of media platforms including a personal website, a blog, a radio show, a podcast, Google Hangouts on air, Twitter and Facebook.

Links:

Grunt Doc Blog

Example of Grunt Doc rant from 2002: Consults and Pain

Dr. Anonymous’ first blog post: “Does this thing Work?”

Dr. Anonymous post from 2006: Safety of Anonymity

Dr. Anonymous’ blog feature on the FOX News Website

Dr. Mike SevillaFollow or Contact Dr. Mike Sevilla:

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

Dr. Mike Sevilla: podcast

Dr. Mike Sevilla: website

Tweet Chats:

Breast Cancer Social Media Twitter Chat #BCSM
Meets Mondays 9pET
Medical Education Twitter Chat #MedEd
Meets Thursday 9pET
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Twitter Chat #HPM
Meets Wednesdays 9pET
Diabetes Social Media Chat (mainly patient twitter chatters) #DSMA
Wednesdays 9pET

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

 

Global Social Media – TweetChat Pioneer

Dr. Gia SisonDr. Gia Sison is a physician who recognizes the potential of social media to share content among fellow physicians and educate patients.  Unusual? Maybe not in the US but as a practicing physician in the Philippines so is more than an early adopter, she is a social media pioneer. In our conversation we discuss how she started her social media journey by participating in Tweet chats happening in the US (12 hour difference). Dr. Sision joined with 3 other physicians in social media to promote the use of  Twitter to engage her nation in healthcare advocacy.

In our conversation we discuss how she found Twitter through Stanford’s #MEDx chat and then joined the #HCLDR and #HCSM chats to engage colleagues around the world.

To follow along, here is a time stamp of our conversation:

00:00 Introduction
00:10 EHR 2.0 Advertisement
00:51 Opening
01:16 Welcome
01:52 Hey – Dr. Sison is in the Philippines!
02:26 Maritime health care & tele-medicine
04:00 How do you perform health care at sea?
05:05 Is there a similar HIPAA law in the Philippines?
06:00 What is the state of social media in the Philippines?
06:33 Help from @NurseFriendly & #healthxph
06:50 #HCLDR chat – #HCSM chat
07:30 Are you encouraging physicians or patients to enter social media?
08:05 Who is involved in Philippines Tweet Chats?
09:30 Are you using Twitter to teach health education or about using social media?
10:05 Are all your Tweet chats global?
10:48 WHO project
11:40 Youth and social media in the Philippines
12:40 What other social media platforms do you use?
13:06 How do you manage to be involved in so many US Tweetchats?
13:38 MEDx at Stanford
13:55 Social media used for physician promotion?
15:00 Using Facebook to educate about Ebola
Ebola Symptoms17:02 Closer to Ebola in NC than the Philippines
18:00 Dr. Sison’s breast cancer journey
18:53 Patient privacy and social media. “A Culture of Shyness”
20:32 Mental Health Stigma
21:30 Social media goal – to drive in-person engagement
22:58 Dr. Sison “walks the walk”
23:20 Stanford’s MEDx program
24:35 Social Media is a great tool for learning
26:17 Social Media Tip from Theresa Robinson of Express Mobile Solutions “Keep it short and Sweet”
26:46 Close

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

Contact Dr. Gia Sison:  LinkedIn, TwitterBlog

Stanford’s MEDx program

#HCLDR Chat

#HCSM Chat

Ebola Facebook page

Nurse Friendly – Andrew Lopez

Philippines colleagues in social media:

Dr Iris Isip Tan @endocrine_witch
Dr Remo Aguilar @bonedoc
Dr Narciso Tapia @cebumd

 

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