Seven Ways Hospitals Can Address Facebook Criticism

By Jenn Riggle

Photo courtesy of Stacy Bass

Honesty may be the best policy – but sometimes it can hurt.

While social media allows organizations to engage in honest conversations with their customers, it can also provide a forum for angry customers to voice their concerns. How you respond to these comments says a lot about you and your organization.

Online comments don’t just impact organizations – newspapers are learning how to handle them as well. The Washington Post recently wrote a story about how people are hesitant to be quoted in articles because they’re afraid of negative online comments. And to be honest, I don’t blame them.

Corporate brands like Gatorade and Dominos have seen first-hand how people can hijack their Facebook pages to air their grievances. But rather than respond, they just turned the other cheek.

Facebook has the potential to be an even bigger issue for hospitals. Some are worried about Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations, while others, like the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, are blocking social media sites like Facebook because they’re concerned their employees spend too much time online.

But isn’t this throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Rather than blocking social media sites, hospitals need to have a social media policy that outlines when it’s appropriate to use social media while also allaying lawyers’ concerns about HIPAA and patient privacy.

And while it’s always good policy to wear the “white hat,” that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to defend yourself. There are some simple things hospitals can do to address Facebook criticism. These include:

Being Transparent: Social media values honesty and transparency, so if you’re going to delete comments from your Facebook page, you should post a disclaimer that says you reserve the right to edit or delete offensive comments. You may also want to explain why you removed a comment, particularly if it violated patient confidentiality. Of course, if someone is talking about their own patient experience, this doesn’t apply.

Posting a Disclaimer Policy: Even though more than 300 hospitals have established Facebook pages, few have a Facebook disclaimer policy. It may seem like overkill, but in the spirit of being open and honest, a disclaimer policy states that the views expressed on the Facebook page are not the views of your hospital and that you reserve the right to edit or delete any inappropriate comments. Both Allina Hospitals & Clinics and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (part of Spectrum Health) have good examples of Facebook disclaimers.

Monitoring What People Are Saying: It’s not enough to just create a Facebook page and update the content, you need to monitor the conversation on a regular basis so you can address negative comments before they become major issues. This is especially important since patients in your Emergency Department are posting updates to their Facebook or Twitter accounts from their smart phones. And according to Not Nurse Ratched, even though the employees at her hospital aren’t allowed to use Facebook at work, it’s become an integral part of their lives. People come into the ED all of the time, asking hospital staff to take photos of their injuries so they can post them on their Facebook pages.   

Being Quick and Concise: By responding quickly to negative comments, you have a chance to rectify the situation before it spins out of control. And remember, if you’re going to answer a comment, don’t respond in anger or frustration. Instead, put on your customer service hat and see what you can do to fix the problem.

Deleting Inappropriate Comments: Once you have posted a disclaimer, you have told your fans you reserve the right to remove offensive comments. SpiderWriters wisely recommends you think carefully before removing comments because you don’t want to look like you’re only allowing comments that paint your hospital in a positive light. Another good resource is Facebook’s Statement of Rights & Responsibilities. But ultimately, you need to follow your heart and do what you think is right.

Making It a Teaching Moment: You can’t just ignore a negative comment, especially if it brings up a valid concern. By addressing the issue publicly, you show fans that you’re listening and willing to engage in a two-way conversation, even if it might be uncomfortable. It also allows you to re-frame the conversation and tell your side of the story.

Not Airing Your Dirty Laundry In Public: If someone continues to post negative comments, try to guide them to an online forum or move the conversation to phone or e-mail. This way both sides can speak more freely and it won’t interfere with other people’s comments.

And while no one likes to read negative things about themselves, it’s important to consider these comments as constructive criticism. If you handle them correctly, you have a chance to turn a negative experience into a positive one.