Like other industries, Healthcare Industry has also adopted Social Media as one of the key communication channels. With the growing number of people engaging in social media, both health care providers and patients readily benefit from Social Media. Social Media tools in Health Care are available in various forms such as online network platforms, blogs, micro blogs, wikis, media-sharing sites and so on. With more than 1 billion users registered in the Facebook, which accounts to about one seventh of World’s population, it is evident that the impact of social media is high on any industry.
Many of the health care professionals and pharmacists already engage in Social Media for both personal and professional activities. There are a variety of platforms that are available specifically for HealthCare and Pharmacy related areas. A social media site called “Sermo” is a leading online platform that allows only physicians to register and access the content. There are already several thousand physicians that are registered in this network and communicate on a daily basis. There are other newer platforms like “Doximity”, “Medical Directors Forum” etc.,
Benefits of Social Media in Health Care Industry:
Networking: Healthcare professionals can network with others in the same specialty and share their findings about new cases and any useful information with the online community. This improves the healthcare across the globe by learning from others. Pharmacists also benefit from Networking by sharing their clinical trials data and other research information. Facilities can also benefit by sharing the hospital management techniques and other valuable information.
Promotion of services: One of the main uses of social media is to promote the services that are offered by the facilities and health care providers. The hospitals can use social media to promote their best physicians, world-class facilities and clinical data to prove their ability to treat major ailments.
Patient Care: Patient care involves tracking the progress of patients to make sure that they recover. This is a key area where doctors can leverage social media by engaging with the patients online and keep receiving updates from patients and change the treatment course, as necessary.
Patient Education: Physicians can form a network and answer questions for the patients and social media provides a platform for this. This was not possible before the Web came along. Patients can go online and research for specific conditions and obtain trusted information from physicians. Research also suggests that majority of the online users constant search for health topics online.
Reference:
Usha Addala
Julia Huprich
Kimberly Poag
Social Analytics 
March 30, 2016 at 1:47 am
Great post Usha. Social media really has come a long way since MySpace and Facebook. Kids and young adults aren’t the only ones using it anymore! This really is a great way to move the healthcare industry forward for everyone involved, including patients.
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March 30, 2016 at 11:33 pm
Nice post Usha! You made some good points. Social media is a very powerful tool for the healthcare industry. It helps establish a connection between Patients and providers and allows hospitals and healthcare providers to disseminate accurate medical information that answers patient’s questions
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March 31, 2016 at 7:17 pm
Very informative Post Usha!
I think having healthcare in social media is a very helpful concept. I think it would be beneficial to interact with my physician or my daughter’s pediatrician through social media (maybe the messaging part for now). It seems it would also be a cost effective way of checking on and providing certain healthcare services.
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March 31, 2016 at 10:14 pm
Nice post Usha! Social media is a powerful tool that we could use in many ways especially in healthcare industry. I usually find a good doctor/pediatrician by reading reviews. Social media would effect the choice of doctor or healthcare center.
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