“I want what I want, when I want it,” is the unofficial theme of our consumer society.

While the expectation of 100 percent customer satisfaction delivered with speed and efficiency is nothing new, certain technology driven advances in our culture have amplified our ability to make this demand. And greater access to these advances has enabled more people to extend these expectations beyond salesclerks and customer service representatives to professionals like you.

There is a way to manage these amped up expectations. It happens through conversation - a dialogue that can be affected through channels such as social media. Optimizing this channel shifts the discussion from a point-of-service experience to a shared personal experience and an ongoing dialogue between patient and provider. No organization is immune to this shift and every organization needs a plan for managing it.

Healthcare organizations make an implied promise to the community to promote good health and the overall well-being of their patients. One way to nurture that promise is to engage patients and caregivers in conversations via social media. Creating conversation allows healthcare organizations to complement their disease treatment solutions with good health promotion and disease prevention.

Why is establishing a dialogue between patients and caregivers so important? Discussions about healthcare and good health dominate many of the dinnertime and coffee shop conversations that take place within our culture. Healthcare providers cannot afford to be absent from that discussion.

Why are many healthcare organizations still absent? Cynics will say it is because there is not a clear method for monetizing social media. Because of this, many organizations may fail to properly utilize social media as a medium, using it solely as a public relations tactic and not optimizing it as a conduit to a shared experience with patients.

An effective social media strategy can help you achieve both of these things, but our suggestion is that social media be used as a means through which trust is established between patient and provider. With a trust relationship and with the knowledge that a particular healthcare organization truly cares about his or her well-being, a patient is more comfortable turning to that provider when he or she needs medical attention. The health event happens in the context of an ongoing dialogue.

Your consumer patients want a dialogue with you and they want it now. Fortunately, through the utility of social media, you can afford to make that happen.

5 Benefits of Social Media for Healthcare Providers:

1. Bridging and Bonding: Social media allows healthcare providers to maintain participative relationships with their patients and communities through a shared experience and similar interests.

2. Patient Satisfaction: Social media provides patients with a quick and easy way to ask questions, share their stories, seek advice and obtain necessary information. An immediate response establishes an instant connection between healthcare providers and their patients, which enhances their knowledge of your other healthcare solutions.

3. Brand Reputation: Communication and a direct connection with patients and communities is essential to demonstrating your value proposition. After all, despite best efforts at positioning, today’s brands are defined by how audiences feel. They want to feel connected.

4. Promoting Wellness through Discussion:  Social media makes it easy to educate patients about health-related issues or inform them of events promoting good health. You reach audiences quickly and they perpetuate your message through their friendship networks.

5. Cost-Effectiveness: Maintaining a social media presence is an inexpensive way to facilitate and maintain a dialogue. New studies cite examples of providers experiencing double digit cost savings. Other firsthand stories shared with us indicate that one new patient can produce a full return on investment.

Want more information,whenever you want it from us?

Website: www.gobigfishgo.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gobigfishgo

Twitter: @gobigfishgo

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