Legend has it that a Western Union Company executive in an internal memo in 1876 concluded that "the telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Similarly, if you would have polled business owners or healthcare professionals in the mid-1990s on the value of having a website for their business, most would probably have said "why would I want that?" 

 

Our communication technology has evolved from rotary dial phones to smart phones with Wi-Fi. We've gone from "snail mail" to email and instant messaging. Now, we're bombarded with hybrid communication tools of social media including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Some technology futurists are already predicting the death of email as younger generations appear to be bypassing it for texting and communication through social media. 

 

Is social media hype or the real thing? 

 

The numbers are somewhat staggering. Facebook's recent stats indicate they have more than 400 million users and that people spend over 500 billion minutes per month on the site. Twitter stats reveal there are more than 100 million registered users, and is growing at a rate of 300,000 new users per day. These users are sending out about 50 million tweets daily. LinkedIn has more than 70 million members from 200 countries. YouTube has about 2 billion views a day, which is about double that of the prime time audience for all three major TV networks combined.

 

Clearly, something is going on here. So what are healthcare professionals doing about it?            

 

While moving ahead with some caution, the healthcare community is starting to utilize these social media tools. Today, more than 650 hospitals have an active presence on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. From the patient perspective, there have been a host of new communities centered on diseases and medical conditions. The trend toward actively engaged patients that begin with the Internet is being accelerated through this medium.

 

We're also seeing physician-only social networking on sites like Sermo, Ozmosis, and SocialMD. Big pharma and medical device makers are wading in with physician customer service portals, providing everything from patient education information to live video conferencing. For example, Medtronic has sponsored training videos for surgeons on OrLive.com.

 

Innovative technologies using iPhone apps and similar smart phone platforms are now being leveraged in the daily physician practice of medicine. Some forward-thinking physicians are also providing thought leadership through blog platforms.

 

If social media is indeed the wave of the future, then this is a time of opportunity for the entrepreneurially-minded physician to take action. Social media healthcare strategist Leslie Kimmel, owner of Hazel House Productions, encourages physicians and physician groups to "proactively think about engaging with their patients and potential patients leveraging the social media platforms." According to Kimmel, "you have to think about your social media strategy as a part of your overall marketing strategy and remember that real social media is a two-way, not one-way, communication." This is a very important point! When using social media, you aren't talking "at" your audience but "with" them. 

 

There are some key ways physicians can utilize these tools to enhance their practices. First, like other marketing, use it to communicate about your service offering and particular expertise. Build trust as a provider of valuable information and someone engaged with your patients. Utilize social media to "listen" to your patients and healthcare consumers, and learn more about your competitors. Finally, collaborate with colleagues and cultivate referral relationships.

 

Sophisticated healthcare entrepreneurs always keep a keen eye on the bottom line. When undertaking any investment, they will consider their ROI (return on investment) and/or the ROT (return on time). Social media allows you to track certain statistics like fans, followers, blog posts, and tweets. You should also track your web traffic, attendees at events, and "call in" reports. Even though ROI and ROT are important considerations, you may want to think about your ROC (return on connections). In other words, what types of relationships are you developing with social media connection tools, and what will be the long-term return on those connections? Physicians have always benefited from referrals as a major business driver. "Word of mouth" referrals can now be expanded and extended with a sound social media strategy.

 

To harness the power of these tools, physicians should first and foremost have a plan. What are you trying to accomplish? What tools will you use? Perhaps most importantly, who will help you manage and stay active with your social media strategy? Can you use internal resources or do you need to outsource? Whichever way you go, you must stay engaged. Social media doesn't work if you drift between engagement and disengagement. Consistency is key. Busy physicians have little time to spare, so you need to create leverage with these tools and find creative ways to help your patients. For example, you could provide podcasts (video or audio) for the benefit of patients to inform them about procedures or other common questions.

 

Like the Western Union executive contemplating the business use of the phone, you may have some skeptical concerns about the practical use of social media in your practice; however, now is the time for the entrepreneurially minded physician to differentiate himself or herself in the marketplace through innovative uses of these tools.