There is something awesome about these pictures…something so normal. This is my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and their children. They just had their third child. These pictures showcase their most recent appointment with the physician that delivered their third child, baby Miles.
Here we have one doctor’s visit with lots of smiles.
Have you thought through this before? When I asked a group of healthcare communication professionals to define content and “good” content…we recorded some interesting feedback.
So here are my thoughts:
Good Content – From 30K Feet
1) Creates the connected theater – How can we create an interactive experience so audience forgets they are watching and listening…yet feeling (movie theater analogy)?
2) Creates a connected voice – We can identify we each other…we speak the same language.
On Monday, I had a great opportunity to try out a Google Plus “Hangout” with Reed Smith and Ed Bennett. Our goal was to try it for the first time and maybe talk a bit about Google Plus in healthcare. Great conversation and great time to sit back and learn a but from smart healthcare, digital leaders. The video is above from our Hangout. Also, Reed’s friend Bryan Person joined us…great to meet a new person on Plus.
Here is the biggest take away, three things that have me thinking about Google Plus and healthcare:
1) Google Plus is so new, we have no idea how it is going to shape or integrate into our social structure. People are still learning how to use Google’s technology and the user base is still in it’s infancy. Reed Smith brought up a good point, we do not know if this iteration is the 1.0 or even 0.5 version. So many changes are coming, more users will be joining…so Ed Bennett thinks it will be a few months to really see the major impacts in the social space.
2) Integrating Google Plus into a large healthcare/hospital system. Ed Bennett shared some knowledge…he is creating “Circles” based on service lines and departments with the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) Google Plus account. As people are adding the hospital to their circles, Ed is sending them a personal note asking what type of information that would like to receive on Google Plus from the UMMC. Based on their response, Ed is putting that person into a specific Circle based on the relevant service line or department. This allows the person to receive the information they are seeking. Also, if the person asks about an area of the hospital that does not have a Circle, then you can decide to create a Circle based on that feedback.
3) We are still not sure what to expect from a business class account with Google Plus. We do know that the business accounts are right around the corner, so we are sitting back waiting to see how/if to convert our hospital business accounts when Google Plus releases this business option. We know it is right around the corner, especially given this Mashable Story about verified and business account. For this article, CLICK HERE.
Also…one side note, Apple released their Google Plus application in iTunes for the iPhone today. For many people, it is not showing up when they are doing a search in iTunes on their iPhones. If you read this post on your iPhone, CLICK HERE and it will take you to the Google Plus application in iTunes.
If you want to connect with me on Google Plus, CLICK HERE for my profile.
Last Thursday was one of those days that once again, I was touched.
If you look at this face above, this little girl. I am not sure her name…we never met formally. Thursday, I was working on a project…telling the story of “The Welcome Table”. This is a program put together by the Andrews United Methodist Church in Andrews, NC. Each Thursday, Andrews UMC partners with other churches to provide a meal to the community. From 5 to 6pm every Thursday, anyone from the community can come to have a meal, free of charge.
As leaders from Andrews UMC told me, unemployment in this rural area of Western North Carolina is high. Many of the manufacturing companies and other large businesses either closed or moved out of town. Many families left to figure out what next. The project was to document the day, find the story, and tell the mission of the Rural Church Initiative for the Duke Divinity School. I literally had one hour to capture the story, find the right people, interview them, and capture the essence of this day for others to see.
I was working the room, trying to capture the moments from a far with my video camera and digital camera…I began to gain the trust of those who were there for diner or maybe some fellowship. The pastor says that between 50 and 100 people from the community come to the Welcome Table on Thursdays. They come for many reasons, whether they do not want to eat supper alone, they have friends who attend, or they need a hot meal. Whatever the reason, Andrews UMC wants to provide the opportunity for the community to share with one another.
Some of the people thought I was a journalist with my big cameras. They have experience with “these types.” You see, I used to be one of “those” people. I have been to Andrews twice before. Once in 1998 when they thought that Eric Robert Rudolf had appeared in Andrews. I was there working, with my big cameras, trying to find a story. Then again in 2006 when they actually caught Eric Robert Rudolf. I was there covering that story…once again coming to this town in search of the big story.
On Thursday, As I made small talk with many of the volunteers, they asked me where I was from…I shared with them that I was from South Carolina. I also shared with them that I had been here before…twice. They knew it was for the reasons I just described…and they were glad I was here capturing a great story.
But I was struck…by the face of this little girl. As I sat across the room, capturing her face as she was eating her watermelon…I was struck, humbled, embarrassed, and scared. I am not sure why this little girl and her family were here today. I could only speculate that her little tummy was hungry. Here I am, I have had my share of meals. I almost felt a sense of sadness and doubt coming across her face.
She has no stake in this game. She has no fight in this political madness. She is just eating a meal. I thought about all the many children across our America…hungry, mothers and fathers unemployed, no insurance, no healthcare…who are we? Who are we to squabble about numbers, political discourse that leads to nothing but chest pounding resolve…this little girl. She is our future…
Andrews UMC has a big heart. They are reaching out to this community with one mission, to give. This Thursday…they are providing a good meal to close to 75 people; young, old, black, white, males, females, believers, and non-believers. They believe in their community.
This little face struck me and made me think all the way home. Think about my little girl, Rose Frances who will be here in September.
What does this video have to do with this post? Well, the exchange of information across the “Cloud” in a secure fashion. We are in a new world when it comes to patient information…especially with new devices like iPad2 and Motorola Xoom. So, let’s shift gears…let’s think about the possibilities with these new devices and this growing network.
So the iPad2 is out…and the buzz is HIGH! What is so cool, it has a two cameras with the ability to connect with 3G access. But it is not the only device/tablet out there with the same specifications. There is the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab…also carrying two cameras on the front and back and 3G access. So what does this mean for the healthcare industry…A LOT.
Imagine you are having a heart attack and the ambulance drive is 20 minutes. The EMT’s that show-up put you in the ambulance and start screaming down the road. The EMT pulls out one of these devices, connects via 3G and has a video conference call with the cardiac physician at the hospital. The physician can look at the patient, talk with the EMT, see the EKG, and communicate. Imagine the vital information that is exchanged via video conference while taking notes via an EMR on one device…wirelessly communicating with the physician…in real time. Life saving communication.
OK…hold your horses before you get too excited. We have to figure out how to protect the patient’s information. We have to decide, where is this data going to live? Seriously, will these tablets be able to access the EMR’s as a host or actually download the data to the device? Well, if it is downloaded to the device…what if it is stolen or the EMT decides to take it home to play? There are some talks about maximizing the GPS capabilities within tablet, and when it gets so far away from the ambulance or mobile care unit, it wipes the internal drive. Yep…you try to run away and poof, the data is gone.
Another concern…should the EMT need to access the full EMR? Do they need to know all the patient’s history for critical care situations or just recent history, current medications, and DNR requests.
Lot’s of logistics and IT infrastructure issues to think through. But with the upcoming release with the 4G LTE network from Verizon along with AT&T possibly purchasing T-Mobile…the infrastructure is going to be in place to support this transfer of data. Combine that with the scalability of “Cloud” computing…even a bigger WOW!
I think the biggest perk of these devices, the ability to combine the front and back cameras with access to EMR’s simultaneously, in a mobile situation. Being able to review a chart and consult with a physician via video streaming…all in one device. Video is going to become ever more present in the charting experience for providers. Not only sitting down to write in notes, but to record physician thoughts via video. How about the physician being able to video interview the patient with a mobile device and upload it to the EMR. Powerful information that cuts through the textual notes from the physician. No offense to you physicians that input great information and do great dictations.
These devices are going to transform mobile healthcare especially for critically ill patients. The ability to video conference via a wireless 3G device (4G on the way) and take notes on the EMR…this will help streamline critical decision making so when the patient crosses the doors of the ER/ED, assessment time has been cut dramatically.
The possibilities are endless…I think?
I am right smack in the middle of this mess. It is a mess and it is so disheartening. I have grown up around the world of healthcare. My mother is a nurse and has worked for Greenville Hospital System as long as I can remember. She has worked as nurse manager in the operating room, worked in the emergency room, became a nurse practitioner, and has served in many free medical clinics.
As a new media marketer, I have clients that have many different positions in this healthcare debate. I work with a hospital association (SCHA) that advocates for the patient, major hospital system, insurance provider, insurance broker, and I am a small business owner paying my own medical insurance. I see many different view-points of this debate.
Each month, I write a big check for my HSA plan to cover me and my wife. It is expensive and for a while Sarah and I went without insurance. I am also an advocate for access to care. I have produced more short documentaries showing those who cannot and will not ever be able to afford health insurance and decent medical care. I also have sat in the emergency departments and listened to my mother tell stories of those who have abused the system…from Medicaid, Medicare, and the list goes on. So why do I write about this topic…because I am human.
When you sift through the semantics and the political maneuvering…the bottom-line, we are humans. We as humans should be able to have access to those who can provide care. I remember doing an interview with a woman who had lost her job, looking for work, and all she needed was her high-blood pressure medication. She was so embarrassed to ask for help. This free medical clinic provided six months of medication for her…and let’s think how this has helped. If she did not receive this medication…her risk of having a heart attack increase dramatically. If she has a heart attack, 911 is called, she would be transported to an ER/ED, put into a critical-care unit, and the bill starts mounting up. Guess what…she would not be able to pay. The hospital would have to eat the cost of these services. Simple preventative medication and access to this care can prevent thousands of dollars in written off billing. This scenario happens everyday.
When I mean that humans deserve access to care, I believe in preventative care. Access to preventative care and patient education is key to the success of tomorrow healthcare system. I believe in providing affordable, competitive insurance to those across the board. Why is it that the one sector of business in American, the one that drives this economy, cannot afford access to affordable insurance. Small business like me spend more on expensive insurance premiums, these resources can detract from innovation. Yes…writing the check each month to a insurance provider can seriously destroy the entrepreneurial experience because it is such a huge economic barrier of entry for care.
When I interview these individuals in free medical clinics, or those who have used Medicaid to have a child…I think that could be me. They look like me…they are fighting through this troubling economic time period plagued with the healthcare debate. The more time we spend debating, fighting each other in court…the more money is spent not solving the real problem, providing an affordable healthcare solution to those who can provide to care.
This debate is driving innovation right out the door. Small practices are having a hard time surviving during this debate wondering if they should join the big box hospitals to whether the storm. Small practices that want to be innovative yet cannot survive in this costly debate.
I will say it here…I may not agree with the complete healthcare package but I believe that this package has forced reform. This country needs reform in healthcare. There are too many americans without access to care and they are the same ones who are driving up costs. It is a cycle, lack of affordable coverage that leads to individuals treating the local emergency rooms as primary care physicians. Lack of coverage has led to less access to preventative care. Less affordable coverage is actually the main reason why our premiums are too damn expensive. Please, re-read that last sentence…it may not make sense, but think about it a bit.
Just a few weeks ago, Sarah and I found out we have been able to finally get pregnant. I run a small business and we are crunching numbers to make sure we have our finances in order to cover the cost of the next 7 months…then transitioning to coverage for three people. It is expensive for a small business and an entrepreneur. It is necessary. But, imagine those who cannot even consider to have this conversation. Imagine removing programs that provide care for those who are having children and cannot afford insurance. They are all around us. Young families just starting out and they look like you and I. They are not taking advantage of the system, but they want to have a healthy family. Will removing the access to care help the state and federal bottom-line, if that child is not born in a manner that is provided the best possible care…that child will end up in the ER/ED and drive up costs for unpaid services.
*The image above is from a two-day free medical clinic that provided thousands of people with free medical, dental, and vision care in 2010.
As I sit here and drink my morning coffee…I am browsing through the healthcare column of my Twitter account. I have a healthcare list that follows many healthcare organizations, hospitals, doctors, healthcare marketing professionals, nurses, and any one talking healthcare and social media. One thing I have been noticing is how awkward it seems to me to watch tweets from healthcare groups using doctors names in a tweet for promotion or awareness. Well, weird that I cannot click the name to learn more.
Side Note:
If you look above, there is no link to read about Dr. March Seabrook or even an article to learn more about the award. It is not my intention to pick on Dr. March Seabrook or the hospital that posted this link. That is why I am not making it obvious the name of the hospital. I am sure Dr. Seabrook is a fine chap…so he deserves a link of some kind. So, here is where you can read more about the award…CLICK HERE.
What seems so weird about using just the name, well it is that I have no frame of reference to this person, no link, no Twitter account…just a random doctor with a name…in a sea of Tweets. If he walked past me down the road, I would have no idea who this person is and if they were even a doctor. Twitter is a good way to inform the public at-large about a doctor, their services, and even activities they are taking part. BUT, Twitter is still a place that moves so fast and crosses so many geographical boundaries. So if I am in South Carolina and a healthcare organization talks about a great piece of research or service from a doctor with no link in the Tweet…he is like “Joe Schmo” to me.
Ideas to help
Most of the time, healthcare organizations included links in Tweets to a referenced article or an event that includes verbiage and sometimes a picture of the doctor. This is good…so atleast one click can provide me with a little more information about this doctor. So how can we make these doctors names more personal on this social media platform?
1) Well, first of all…I think they should consider having a social media account (Twitter account) so that the audience at-large can click the name, see a picture of the doctor, and find more information.
2) Every time you talk about a doctor, and they do not have a social media account…include a link to read more.
3) Include the doctor in a regularly scheduled chat hosted by the health care organization. Regularly scheduled chats are a great place to build a community and then engage the audience with that program and doctor.
4) The doctor should have his own bio page inside the health care organizations web presence. This should include his/her picture, background, information about their specialties, and how they can reach them in the future (email, phone, and/or social media accounts for professional use).
5) A blog is a great way for a doctor to communicate with patients and the public at-large. This can be time consuming for a doctor, but it is a great way to write short posts that relate to the practice and their interests.
Social Media platforms like Twitter have developed their own language especially in 140 characters, so it is important for us as professionals to frame the conversation in the context of the end reader/user/community.
Doctors using Social Media
There is a time management issue that is hard to tackle when implementing these ideas, but putting together a plan is the most important to make this experience successful. Doctors barely have time for their families given their long hours of working, so their are ways to make this successful. If the doctor is interested, put together a plan to create the accounts and how often they need to be touched. Many marketing groups ghost write and ghost tweet for professionals, I am not a big proponent of this solution. The only way to be genuine is through genuine, heart felt writing.
1) Set-up a time frame to create and establish the blog and other social media accounts. This should include finding an appropriate picture.
2) Set-up a plan to engage online. Talk in terms of how often a week to get online to write a post and possibly spend with the social media account.
3) Engage the doctors in hospital chats so that they can take part in the online experience. When I mean chats, use Twitter or any other chat platform to engage with the community. Use a hashtag for the chat so that audience understands it is a chat and that they can track the conversation.
4) Track followers, hits, and conversation created to show success.
Here are a few doctors I follow, who I think do a good job with their Social Media accounts:
1) Kevin Pho, MD – @kevinmd – http://KevinMD.com
2) Bryan Vartabedian, MD – @Doctor_V – http://www.33charts.com
3) Wendy Sue Swanson, MD – @SeattleMamaDoc – http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org
For about six months, my wife and I did not have health insurance. Yes…no health insurance. This was probably the first time in my life that I walked around, drove a car, existed without health insurance. At the end of 2009, my wife and I decided it was best for me to un-invest in a company in which I was part owner. This company was my last health insurance provider before becoming self-employed. For years, I have worked for major companies, all of which offered major health coverage. But when December 1, 2009 rolled around…Sarah and I were un-insured. You never think about it until the first time you fall, get sick, or even have that one moment in the car when you think you were close to an accident.
Carrying health insurance is more than just something that is a luxury, in the world of small business…it is a line item. It is that one thing that is tough to justify, especially when building a business…trying to decide whether to pay yourself (which pays the mortgage) or have health insurance. We set benchmarks for the business, and when we felt the revenue reached a certain goal, investing in health insurance became a reality. That is why we invest in an HSA Program through Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC.
So, on August 6, 2010…I worked with South Carolina Hospital Association to find and document stories of the un-insured. AccessHealth’s SC Mission 2010 put together a free medical clinic in Greenville, SC at the Carolina First Center. Over 2000 people came from all over the Southeast, some as far as Virginia. Each one, seeking medical care.
I met a nice lady named Judy. Judy was a sassy lady, but one with tremendous conviction. She was determined to be seen and determined to seek help with her medications. She was so determined to be seen by a physician, she arrived a day early and spent the night outside the front doors of the Carolina First Center. I do not mean she slept in her car, she propped a chair against the front door and maintained her spot in line, overnight, outside, during a huge thunderstorm. She was determined to be seen the moment the doors opened. You never know what it is like to go without health insurance, until one day…you do not have that opportunity.
So many Americans today are without basic health insurance, access to care. They have no primary physician. This lack of insurance takes them to the Emergency Departments across America. Our Emergency Departments are today’s primary physician for most un-insured. Hospitals everyday write-off services because those who seek care come without insurance and the inability to pay the inflated costs dictated by insurance providers. Hospitals are struggling, trying to find the balance between providing quality care and declining reimbursements for the un-insured.
I met Sid at the Carolina First Center while waiting to have his eyes checked. Sid told me about a time he had to go to the hospital and the final bill was $13,000.00. He said, ” $13,000…I will never see $13,000.” This statement is the epitome of today’s un-insured population. America is slowly spreading the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots.” No wonder the idea of providing basic medical attention and simple health insurance is a promise of care for today’s struggling population. Imagine not having insurance, falling and breaking a bone, and then no idea what to do! So many small business survive everyday with this basic fear, the fear of the unknown.
AccessHealth’s SC Mission 2010 was just one event, bridging the gap just a little more between the “haves” and the “have nots.”
Read more about the day at SCHA.org by CLICKING HERE.
Evolution, evolution, evolution. Word of mouth gone digital…and the result, a CIO’s worst nightmare: SQUEEZE MORE IN THE PIPES!
BizReport.com reported in April, 2010 stats that we already know intrisically…7% of all business Internet traffic is going to Facebook and 10% of bandwidth used in a business is getting chewed up with YouTube. Makes sense because YouTube has become the number two search engine below Google.
Let’ look at the Facebook stats:
WOW…so, we know that people are accessing Facebook at work in some capacity. Let’s look at another statistic that I found interesting: There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices and people that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice more active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
Well…if you can’t get it on the company computer then you can pull out that iPhone, Blackberry, Android, etc. to access you favorite social media site. I have already tackled the reality of why hospitals and organizations should open up the pipes to Social Media, so I wanted to look at what are the hesitations for corporate decision makers. What are the top two arguments for not opening up the pipes to Social Media: 1) employee productivity and 2) bandwidth.
Infrastructure is a huge issue. Think of it this way. I have a house that was built in the 1920’s. The plumbing in the house was probably re-built in the late 70’s. I have a half-inch pipe servicing my house…so when someone is the shower, you better not flush the toilet or turn on the washing machine. And…do not plan on taking two showers at one time or consider doing the ole Navy Shower routine: turn on water and rinse, turn off water and wash, turn on water and rinse.
So…using this analogy…think of bandwidth in the same regard. Lots of hospitals have the same position when it comes to IT infrastructure. Legacy wiring, switches, etc. to support an ever increasing demand for bandwidth. So imaging opening the flood gates to all social media and other resource intensive web based, community platforms. There is only so much a hospital or organization can support given the current infrastructure. So with the demands of increasing bandwidth needs and access to information…there are policies and procedures that have to be put into place to decide how to allocate resources. The Department of Defense just recently opened up the pipes to Social Media but put into place strict guidelines for use…a “Consistent Policy.” “There has to be since 47 million of Americans visit Facebook daily, which is nearly as many who watch TV daily (55 percent),” states Neilsen.
So how do we get hospitals’ and organizations CIO’s and IT Departments on-board with opening up the pipes for Social Media’s:
Bandwidth costs money, whether if it is the amount of data transfer, the physical pieces of technology that manage the pipes, or the human capital accessing the networks…time and usage is money. So what type of investment should we allocate to this growing demand for information?
Remember the one stat that I mentioned earlier, one that I am sure is making a CIO happy: there are more and more people accessing Facebook on mobile devices. Is this out of necessity because corporate pipes have been locked down or is the mere fact more and more mobile devices have access to fast data and applications. This is diverting the bandwidth issue but raising the problem of whose mobile device is being used to access the Social Media’s? Is the company footing the bill for the device or is it a personal device; regardless, people are accessing Social Media.
People want access to stories and they are connecting with stories via social media’s!
Well it is a two days after the South Carolina Hospital Association’s Social Media Revolution and day two of synthesizing a ton of good conversations. One thing that has been re-affirmed…it is still Social Media and it needs to stay social. Seriously, they are media’s and they are controlled by the social masses.
Reed Smith finished with this parting question,” Who Owns Social Media?” My opinion, the masses. The people that are using these media’s to socialize, share information, connecting with others are the ones that own social media. Organizations are just one of the many people in this vast paradigm interacting with other colleagues, constituency bases just like my mother sharing pictures of her Vegas trip. She has an audience, she engages with her audience, shares information, receives a level of response, and continues to engage in conversations. If people were not responding, commenting, engaging, sharing, and generating conversation…then Facebook would not be the Number One website jumping over Google (Via Ed Bennett)
We as marketers, hospitals, organizations should understand and respect the paradigm, or we will find one more way to shape a vastly growing medium into a form of one-way conversation…one more time! So, it comes back to audience…knowing our audience and finding ways to join the convesation instead of creating one more marketing stream, hoping that some mom from the age 25-34 is going to by into our poorly created message as we cram it into a medium with a sledge hammer. We have big sledge hammers!
Social Media is no longer an after thought when it comes to hospitals marketing strategies. VP’s and Marketing Directors are quickly trying to evaluate staff resources and figure out how to staff the shift. The shift is not just Social Media, but New Media and Rich Media. We are asking questions to those large organizations how they are staffing a marketing/pr and comparing it the numbers of the web/media staff. Some do not have a web/media staff, outsourcing to a vendor in the hopes it will create a band aid until the next fiscal conversation.
Ed Bennett told the crowd of 125 at SCHA’s Conference Center that his staff at the University of Maryland Medical Center is 8 web/new media professionals servicing all social media and web outlets compared to the marketing/pr staff has 8 members as well. They are making the shift and taking control of creation and distribution of the their message. Amen brother…preach it to us, we will follow. Trust me, every decision maker in that room was jotting down that number and thinking about integrating those stats into their strategic capital requests! Bottom-line, that is where the ROI discussion should be located.
Social Media efforts are now being integrated into every aspect of a hospital’s and physician’s marketing efforts. They are learning that Social Media has another ROI point of interest, it is generating direct hits to their web portals, directing audiences to the message, reducing bounce rates, and creating strategic linkage systems that bolster rankings in the search engines. It is a search engine war as hospitals in the same geographic areas are competing for the search engine space. Not only with Google but with YouTube…why, because YouTube is the Number 2 search engine right now, today! (Via Ed Bennett) Hospitals are creating rich media that gives audiences palatable information that helps potential clients make decisions from service lines to which ER (ED) to choose.
Social Media efforts are being integrated daily into all campaigns. It is no longer the game of just creating a billboard and “brochure” and then create a totally different message for web/social media/new media outlets. Now, these efforts are being combined, where there is a conversation of consistency in design across the whole board. You no longer see the Facebook and Twitter logo as an after thought at the bottom of a print piece, it is taking over as a major position in the design and including the exact URL to find this social media outlet. Oh yeah…we are in a mode of securing our domains before someone takes over our message. Look at what happened to BP, someone created a Twitter account (@BPGlobalPR) to post off color messages about the oil spill in the gulf. Is it really a pr nightmare?
And…OH…AND…TWITTER AND FACEBOOK ARE NOT THE ONLY SOCIAL MEDIA’s! Conversations are being created on Flickr and YouTube. People like to share pictures and video. They like to be creative and find others that share their vision. So campaigns are being created so that audiences can take part in the media creation. Organizations are creating campaigns allowing audience to submit videos and pictures that lead to idea generation and community building. We all have a way to express ourselves so why not capitalize on user generated media. Plus, marketing departments know they are biased based on strategic messaging (that waters down the social conversation), it makes more sense to let the audience lead the way. Once again, the masses own Social Media.
Policies and Procedures…oh yeah, that too. It is time to dust off that HR generated web policy that we have employees signed, the one that was created in the 1980’s. It is time to realize that we cannot close the pipes much longer inside hospitals and organizations. There is this new little nifty thing called a mobile device. Yes, those phones that are now media generators and media distributors. We can now walk around hospitals until we find that service bar on the phone, take a picture, and upload it to Facebook. Do not mind the fact that I cannot log onto Facebook from my company issued computer…we will show them. Do not mind that the hospital’s Wifi is in and out, we can get close to a window, get service, and send a picture of Uncle Harry that just got out of surgery and is ok now! Oh, there is this new thing called an iPad and a Netbook that does not need Wifi anymore and it has a the ability to do more than the mobile phone. So we need to generate a policy that is more than just a social media policy, it is Media Communication Policy for not only employees but patients as well. Signs need to be put up around hospitals to remind of best practices when taking pictures and sharing information.
IT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION!
So where are we now and where are we going? Heck if I know, but I know this…location based technologies like FourSquare and Gowalla are hear and gaining traction. They are the real Social Media ROI generators, when people check into a location, it provides an exact location for all the masses to see. We now can start targeting information and strategies based on where the masses (or audiences) are checking in. We should, because Starbucks is doing it, providing incentives for those who check in the most…DISCOUNTS! Hmm, this could work well for hospitals that have wellness programs integrated with work-out facilities.
I tell you what, that Reed Smith and Ed Bennett are smart peeps…and Micheal Shetterly of Ogletree Deakins Law Firm got me thinking about this Social Media Revolution. It is about audience, purpose, delivery, engagement, and right to privacy. Yes, Right to Privacy…and what is your expectation to privacy. These new policies and procedures need to include how, when, and where information is created and distributed, especially if the company is footing the bill for that Balckberry, iPhone, or Android you are carrying. If they pay, they might have a right to access the information you generate on that device.
Social Media is here to stay and we cannot avoid it…AT ALL. So it is time to find ways to staff it, generate best practices, follow the audiences that own it, and be prepared for it’s evolution. This Social Media Revolution is going to evolve into the next media revolution that has the acceleration of an “E” ratio…forward and fast!
BTW – The Adams Group had two great recaps of Social Media Revolution: Part One & Part Two