Social Media in Healthcare: Strengthen Teams and Grow Market Share

If you're like me, you got into healthcare to fix things. Because of that, we’re wired to look critically through the lens of the broken – the broken patients, the broken system, the broken process and even the broken colleague.

But did you ever wonder why it’s so refreshing when someone gives genuine praise? Instead of pointing out what’s not working, someone recognizes what’s right?

Recently, I had the opportunity to witness one hospital that is doing just that – providing genuine praise. And, they’re doing it in the most visible way possible: Facebook.

What? A healthcare organization is using social media? GASP!!

Hospitals often struggle with how to utilize social media. Many times their policies and procedures actually prohibit staff from using Facebook at work, citing a drain on productivity or a “time toilet.” Then, someone behind a closed door posts a “helpful" article on the corporate website that nobody reads. Employees in the trenches are precluded from engaging with the community. Yet, corporate continues to post sterile content that is not relatable. Ironically, the hospital system then wonders why nobody “likes” their posts or comments on their blog.

Let’s look at a simple, free way to build stronger teams within your organization WHILE gaining influential and positive publicity that can directly impact market share using Facebook.

See, Facebook allows us to leverage a simple trait of human nature: We LOVE public praise. By posting what our colleagues are excelling at, we’re telling the world that we believe in each other, our patient care, and our commitment to the team.

Sounds great? It is. So, where do you begin?

What to do

• Start with a single department.

o   The Emergency Department is the front door of your hospital and this controlled – yet chaotic – environment lends itself to multiple opportunities.

• Gather the leaders in your department and ask them to “Friend” as many co-workers as possible. (Yes, I know. Some people are more private than others. That’s ok. This isn’t mandatory.)

o   TRICK: It is particularly powerful if you can get the Emergency Physicians to lead or participate.

• At the end of a shift, get your leaders to Post-A-Praise regarding an individual or a group of individuals on their team.

o   Make sure to tag each person AND your facility.

• See what happens. Yep, it’s that simple.

Post-A-Praise

• What types of content could you post? I suggest you identify behaviors you want to encourage in your staff and publicize to the world:

o   Teamwork / working together

o   Going the extra mile

o   Fast, efficient

o   Compassion

o   Skill

o   Knowledge

o   Community

o   Awesome organization

o   Personal growth

o   Values of your organization

o   Fulfilling the mission of your organization

- The key is to make them personal.

- Occasionally expand the post to a few sentences.

Who sees it? Who “likes” it?

• Everyone you tag and who follows the organization

o   Most importantly, all of their friends

o   Most likely all of their friend’s family since many parents and close members will repost something awesome about their family.

• To expand your reach, occasionally share the more powerful posts yourself and add your comments.

Results

Public praise is a well-established and effective management tool that can be used to strengthen teams and teach and encourage behaviors. Combining this fact with a social media site like Facebook gives the hospital the opportunity to share their mission and story with the world. The Facebook community sees what they want to see and after hearing how awesome your hospital is from real people, who wouldn’t want to go there?

At Pulsara, we understand the importance of building strong teams. Trust us, ours is amazing!

What great ideas are you doing that build loyalty around your brand? How’s your EMS system or hospital used social media to give praise or better connect with the community? Let us know. We want to hear from you.