It took you, your partners and your C-suite a long time to decide that you should have a healthcare website full of original content. Kudos to you.
Sadly … the web went and changed on you.
Enter the Intersection of Healthcare and Social Media
Education is still paramount .. content… in context just might be king.
but
- Patients now want to know who you are… the end of the Diva Paradox is upon us. Take this opportunity to humanize your organization, your practice and your staff.
- People are using social platforms to talk with one another…. a lot!
- Online interactions are turning into meaningful relationships
- Text based learning is starting to yield to video based learning.
- Google loathes farmed content purchased from your “medical” web company
- People are turning to the web to help clear the windshield of doubt.
- Patients are using the web to learn about you before their visit, and after their visit.
- Patients want to communicate with you after their visit
- Patients are looking to Google to learn more about their diagnosis and they are seeking an online second opinion …
and guess what…
This is not a small minority of patients.
So… continue working on that website. Put out great, evidence based (if possible) meaningful content. Skip the part about you being the most advanced, best thing to happen to medicine since Penicillin. Embed within your site a web 2.0 social infrastructure to enable your readers to comment, ask questions, and share the information you have placed on your site. RESPOND to comments and questions in a reasonable time frame.
If the information is worthy… and the interaction inviting — they will come. If they’re happy, they’ll come back … and share it with others.
It’s all good… you just need to re-tool, before the semantic web hits us :-)
Disclaimer: this information is for your education and should not be considered medical advice regarding diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Some links on this page may be affiliate links. Read the full disclaimer.
