For those of you who persist in thinking that Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are simply major time wasters for chatty teenage girls and pimply-faced boys, this is your final wake-up call. Social Media is as serious as a heart attack.
That’s why no less than the esteemed Mayo Clinic has just added a Social Media Center. That’s right, the world famous hospital that has the country’s greatest heart specialists has a YouTube page and a Twitter feed. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Social Media is growing by leaps and bounds. And maybe it’s time that your company did a little triage.
“Health care has lagged behind other industries in applying social media tools,” says Lee Aase, one of the leaders of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media. “Social media interest and activity among hospitals and health care professionals has grown remarkably, though, with the number of hospital Twitter accounts, for example, doubling in the last year.”
Mayo is not only using blogs and YouTube videos to educate people on topics like heart healthy diets, Alzheimer risks and hospice care. They are using Social Media as means for their vast staff to communicate and collaborate.
“We see immense opportunities to use internal social networking tools for collaboration among our employees to improve patient care, education, research and administration,” Aase explains. “As we find new applications, we plan to conduct research into their effects so we can measure any cost savings, efficiency gains and improved effectiveness.“
Of course, all of this makes total sense. After all, if your Social Media plan needs some work why not bring in a specialist? Mayo-style.
