Fans of Facebook: Many doctors and hospitals are using social media

Many Southeast Missouri medical practices have launched their own Facebook pages, taking the doctor-patient relationship to a new interactive level.

"You can post information once and literally thousands of eyes can see it within seconds," says Dr. Eric Becking of Becking Chiropractic in Jackson. "It's a great way to communicate event notices and important schedule changes while also using the stage to offer valuable education."

Becking, who started his Facebook page less than a year ago, uses it to post health articles, inspirational quotes, tidbits about himself and his staff, video testimonials, and even photos of his children. For Becking, Facebook is a way to provide educational value to his followers and better relate to his patients.

"I think it's an amazing innovation to the relationship as it allows such a high pace of involvement as well as really digging into the 'stuff of life' that matters," says Becking. "It allows me to follow people through the ups and downs and really serve my role as an educator and motivator to my community."

Dr. Scott McDougal of Regional Eyecare in Cape Girardeau started a Facebook page in July, after hearing about other optometrists' success with social networking.

"Even though our practice has been planted in the region for over 20 years, social networking allows us to gain exposure in a whole new way," says McDougal. "We can communicate directly to our patients about new developments in eyecare, and better yet, they can communicate back with us."

McDougal says his "fans" are a mix of patients, colleagues, friends and family.

"The average age of a Facebook user is 38 years old, and that is a key demographic in our practice," says McDougal. "Although we see patients that range in age from newborn to over 100 years old, the decision-influencers in the family are often in this age range. The challenge is to write enough about everything but not too much about anything."

McDougal gathers Facebook ideas from his business partner Dr. Christy Fowler, staff members, online and print journals, and his colleagues. He and his staff have begun encouraging patients to check out their Facebook page and have since seen an increase in activity.

"We have a professional office, but we also get to know many of our patients beyond their eyes," says McDougal. "We like to hear what their kids or grandkids are doing and where they spent their vacation. The new reality of health care doesn't often leave much time for chatting about these things but we try to make room to know our patients. Facebook seems like a logical extension of this relationship."

Both Cape Girardeau hospitals use Facebook, as well as other Internet resources, to connect with their "fans," most of whom are patients and employees. Saint Francis started its Facebook page in 2007 and has also added a Twitter page and YouTube channel.

"Sometimes we post upcoming events, news or links to articles or videos on new treatments or procedures. Other posts may be health and fitness tips, recipes or screening tools," says Emily Sikes, account services coordinator in the hospital's Marketing and Referral Services Department. Saint Francis also uses social media to share marketing tactics already in use, such as billboards, the "Medical Minute" TV spots, and the "Weekly Health Page" in local newspapers. On the Internet, patients can provide feedback via comments, suggestions, "likes" and more.

"This trend is definitely growing in the medical world. Health care is known to be a slow adopter, but the benefits of social media are becoming more and more recognized," says Sikes. "With the encouragement of respected organizations, such as Mayo Clinic, and increased emphasis on implementation from state marketing organizations, such as the Missouri Association for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing, hospitals are joining the trend."

Sherry Westbrook, web supervisor at Southeast, recently attended a social media summit for hospitals and health care organizations, and is using what she learned to improve Southeast's social media plan.

"We see social media as a way to directly engage the public and provide them with information about the hospital and health topics," says Westbrook.

Southeast uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to post events, health information, commercials, hospital videos, and video interviews with physicians.

"The goal is to give the patient as much information as possible," says Westbrook. "This will hopefully not only help alleviate some of the fears that the patient may have, but also provide better outcomes for the patient."

However, the use of social media by medical professionals does raise the concern that the doctor-patient relationship might become too friendly. Westbrook doesn't know of many doctors who have patients as Facebook friends, but says there are two ways to look at the issue.

"One side believes that it's OK to have patients as Facebook friends as long as your posts stay professional, and the other side thinks that it violates HIPAA and doctors should never 'friend' their patients," she says. "However, everyone seems to agree that doctors should never provide health care information or advice through Facebook."