Healthcare organizations are so busy already. It’s hard to stay on top of everything between taking care of patients, clunky electronic health record systems, and ever-changing industry.
But patients demand that these organizations keep up with social trends, and that includes having a social media presence. Adding this to your plate probably doesn’t sound like a priority, especially if you’re having trouble keeping your practice above water.
Except using social media can help spread the word about your organization and bring more patients through your doors. While it may be overwhelming trying to keep up with yet another task, this marketing technique can benefit your organization in so many ways.
Of course, before you get started you’ll want to weigh in on the advantages and disadvantages.
We’ve done that for you. Here are the pros and cons of using social media in healthcare.
Conclusion
There are both pros and cons associated with using social media as a healthcare organization. But there’s always good and bad things associated with anything you do.
Sure there are risks involved and it may be time-consuming but as long as you stick with it and develop protective policies you’ll see positive results.
You’re an expert in your field and the internet badly needs your wisdom. Once they know you have active accounts on the social web your organization’s popularity will grow. Thus increasing your revenue across the board.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media in Healthcare Stats and Sources
2.65 billion people worldwide were using social media in 2018. This number is on track to increase to 3.1 billion by 2021 - Statista
80% of surveyed patients use the internet to make a healthcare-related search in the past year - Doctor.com
63% choose one provider over another because of a strong online presence - Doctor.com
42% of all adults would like to follow or be friends with their healthcare professional on social media - AAFP
90% of physicians use social media, and 65% are using it for professional reasons - NCB
92% of customers will hesitate to use a service if it lacks reviews entirely - Spectoos
42% of those viewing health information on social media look at health-related consumer reviews - ReferralMD
In the first half of 2018, over 56% of the 4.5 billion compromised data records were from social media incidents - IT Web
If employees don’t have proper training, there’s a greater risk for compliance violations - Etactics
It takes the truth six times as long as falsehood to reach 1,500 people - NBC News
Three-quarters of the top 10 shared health stories from 2018 were misleading or contained false information - Fast Company
False news is 70% more likely to be retweeted than the truth - MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy
You can’t control what everyone says, so there will be criticism or unrelated responses - Etactics
More channels demand more time, but healthcare professionals already have limited time - Etactics
People spend an average of 153 minutes per day on social media as of 2019. This average continues to increase - Broadband Search
65% of Americans try to self-diagnose health conditions using the internet, rather than just visiting a health professional - PhillyVoice
The results of their searches caused stress for 74% of these people - PhillyVoice
