hospitals & social media - fall 2009

Hospitals and Social Media

Ed Bennett, Director of Web StrategyUniversity of Maryland Medical System

@edbennett / ebennett.org

Agenda

What is Social Media?

How can hospitals use these tools?

Current numbers

Our experience at UMMC

Examples from other organizations

12345

The ROI issue

Getting started

67


About Me

Working in the Web since 1994

Many hats:Startup participant Business consultantProgrammer / Designer

Been at UMMC since 1999

Not a Social Media Expert


What is Social Media?

It’s a conversation, not a lecture

It’s an extension of everyday interaction

It’s group driven, not top-down

It’s messy, disorganized & hard to control

It’s a tool, not an end-point

It’s where our customers spend their time


It’s a bunch

of Web Sites

with very silly names


How can a Hospital use Social Media?

A. How do they use this tool?


How Are Hospitals Using Social Media?

Customer Service Another contact point for our customers

Community Outreach The people in our physical community are on these sites

EducationA natural extension of our efforts to reach & teach

Public Relations The media is there looking for stories & sources

Crisis Communications Take control of the message, and keep community updated in real-time

RecruitmentLinkedIn, Facebook and other tools are used to recruit Clinical and Administrative staff

Brand MonitoringPeople are talking about us - What are they saying?

Service RecoveryStep in to offer solutions / change attitudes


Current Hospital Social Media Accounts


Rapid Growth – YouTube and Twitter

Number of Hospital Accounts by Month


The UMMC Social Media Program

Background Started in the Fall of 2008 Run out of the Web Services

Department Uses Twitter, Facebook and

YouTube Conservative approach Minimal investment

Goals Another channel to spread the word

about UMMC Enhances / enables “Word of Mouth” UMMC brand & reputation monitoring Media corrections Puts UMMC “In the Room” Establishes UMMC as a trusted

source in social media spaces


UMMC YouTube Channel

YouTube.com

One of the largest social media sites

The #2 Search Engine An easy “safe” choice

for hospitals Transition between

push and collaborative models



YouTube.com/ummc Over 160 Videos Duplicates the videos embedded on

our Web site Core content from Maryland Health

Today – a professionally produced cable show

Adding 15 to 20 videos each month Doctor Bios Patient Testimonials UMMC Events



The "Secret Sauce" for getting viewers:Detailed Descriptions


0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09

YouTube

Umm.edu# of videos watched

The UMMC YouTube Channel

Impact

Each day: 1,500 people watch a

video on umm.edu An additional 600+

people watch on YouTube

These are new visitors, new exposure


UMMC on Facebook

Facebook.com

Largest Social Network

250 Million active users (83 Mil. U.S.)

50% log in everyday 1 Billion pieces of

content shared each month

Fastest growth with people age 30+


UMMC on Facebook

Facebook.com/medcenter

Over 1,000 fans Tools:

Newsfeeds Polls Galleries Events Videos Ask the Expert


UMMC on Twitter

Twitter.com

Rapid growth Quick adoption by

Hospitals Lots of media attention

(hype) Long-term

commitment Best for conversations

- not push


UMMC on Twitter

Twitter.com/ummc 2,700 followers 3 to 4 updates / day Clear identity Multiple accounts

(and some are push..) 80 / 20 rule – it’s not

always about UMMC

@edbennett / ebennett.orgwww.twitter.com/ummc

UMMC on Twitter

Service Outreach Reputation monitoring Quick response Sincere concern Converts a negative

impression to a positive


Examples from Other Organizations


Community Outreach – Sutter Medical Center

Sutter Eden Medical Engages the local community about hospital building plans with this blog and a Twitter feed.

suttermedicalcentercastrovalley.org

twitter.com/SutterEdenMed


Real-time Education - Aurora Health Care

Bilateral knee replacement surgery In the first wave of Live OR Twitter events Advance marketing built viewership from

900 to 2,000 followers in one week Tracked 20 consultations tied to the event,

that resulted in 14 procedures Local / National press coverage

twitter.com/Aurora_Health

“Had this done about 2 years ago but I know I will learn more today being awake”

“I heard about this on GMA this morning and got excited”


Referring Physician Outreach - MD Anderson Cancer Center

twitter.com/PhysRelations

Promote use of Referring Physician Portal

Targeted messages on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

Built Physician loyalty Saw a 9.5% increase in

physician-referred registrations


Coordinated Program - Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

Invitation to “Share Your Story”

Well designed YouTube Channel

Active Facebook Account w/ over 2,200 Fans

Engaged, conversational Twitter presence

Cross promotion between all sites

"wow . . . looking at your pictures, I can sense that your hospital has the heart and will to take care of your patients."

Blog:www.wearechla.org


Service Recovery – Scripps Health

twitter.com/Scrippshealth

Monitors Social Networks for the Scripps name

Steps in to help & resolve problems

Typical customer response – Surprise, amazement


Crisis Communications - Innovis Health

Used a Blog and Twitter during the Spring 2009 floods

Created the blog and had first update posted in one hour

Decreased Media demands & freed phone lines during the emergency

Took control of the message


Fall H1N1 Preparation

Targeting Young Adults

Social Media “Kits” – Badges, embedded widgets, content syndication

Coordinating with independent bloggers

Multiple Twitter feeds with over 800,000 followers

Podcasts, RSS feeds, email lists, text messaging alerts

Crisis Communications – Centers for Disease Control


These services will continue to grow and grab attention (time spent on site).

An expectation that your organization will be available where they “live.”

An expectation that feedback, commenting, mash-ups, and sharing of your content can be integrated into their community.

The end of traditional “Push-only” Web sites.

What to Expect:


Q. What’s the ROI of Social Media?

What’s the ROI?


A. What’s the ROI for putting your pants on in the morning?*

*David Scott - http://bit.ly/hSzIi


What’s the exact ROI of these services? Pastoral care Front desk staff Groundskeepers Housekeeping staff Call center

Certain services are expected, it’s a part of doing business


Instead of ROI, Think ROC: Return On Connections

1. Positive Word of Mouth

2. Service Recovery

3. Message Influence (not control)

4. Brand Monitoring

5. Instant Feedback



How Can Your Organization Use Social Media?

These examples could apply to any public-facing organization

Any communication function should be considered

Ask your customers / Look at your competition

Where does your community live?


Getting Started With Social Media

You can start small Look to your internal experts Consult with your legal team & create policies Audit courses at SMUG - social-media-university-global.org Only begin what you can maintain Be able to respond quickly Prepare for the negative, but expect mostly positive Remember, only 350 U.S. hospitals out of 5,000 use social media tools –

this is just the beginning


Thank You

Edward Bennett

Director, Web Strategy

University of Maryland Medical System

410-328-0771

[email protected]

http://ebennett.org

hospitals & social media - fall 2009

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