Twitter as an Information and News Tool: I have nearly moved to the point where I get ALL of my initial news on Twitter. Sure, sometimes I go to a major news site to do further research on a news story, but for breaking healthcare related and other news there is nothing better right now than Twitter. After logging into Twitter, go up to the search barand do a simple search for EHR. You will notice that all of the tweets mentioning EHR in the last several minutes come up on your screen. Some of these industry leaders discussing EHR you may even choose to follow. You will find incredible bits of information and can choose to sort through which of this information deserves further research or comment and which is irrelevant. As you organize which thought leaders you follow, you’ll be able to quickly browse a few times a week and discover interesting and breaking information that is pertinent to your practice specialty. Try it. Do searches for “meaningful use,” “HHS,” and for fun “medical jokes.”
Twitter as a Broadcasting and Marketing Tool: Technology savvy doctors and organizations have begun to realize that Twitter used as a broadcasting tool allows individuals and groups to elevate themselves as thought leaders within healthcare. The Mayo Clinic, for example, has nearly 280,000 followers on Twitter. That’s 280,000 individuals that value information coming from Mayo as a provider of valuable healthcare information. As people begin to look to an individual’s tweets for regular and accurate health-related information, Twitter increases their visibility to patients, other physicians, and industry experts. Done correctly, and you will undoubtedly increase your patient load, potential speaking engagements, and other financial opportunities. Doing it correctly starts with simply coming up with information within your specialty that may help other patients and physicians and simply “tweeting” it. As you begin using Twitter, you will find all kinds of ways to tie it in with your existing website, blog, and other marketing tools to make your practice even more visible.
Social Networking Policies: The difference between an office that uses Twitter for good or for harm is simply training. Office staff members should be trained on important social networking etiquette, especially if they are going to be broadcasting information. Tweeting any information about patients, even general information, may be seen as a HIPAA violation. Even a staff member sharing too much information on their personal page can result in problems, so regardless of whether you allow Twitter to be used from your office or not, your staff still has access from their smart phones and their home computers. Ensuring that you have instituted a proper set of social networking policies with your staff will help protect you against liability and ensure that Twitter can function a beneficial tool for your practice.
Kevin Burdick
Healthcare IT Consultant and Medical Software Reseller Advocate
EMRAnswers.com
You may choose to follow Kevin Burdick at: www.twitter.com/kbtips
Other healthcare related feeds mentioned in this article include:
www.twitter.com/mayoclinic
www.twitter.com/abouthipaa
www.twitter.com/hhsgov
www.twitter.com/ehrscope
www.twitter.com/omnimd
