Musings and analysis on marketing, buzz and communications.
By Jenn Riggle
Are the nation’s 2.6 million RNs invisible?
Nurses have always been on the front line providing patient care. However, when hospitals develop their social media policies, they’ve often thought about how they should be customized to meet the needs of physicians- but somehow, they’ve forgotten about nurses.
Maybe it’s not surprising that many of the [...]
Despite all of the advances in medicine, healthcare providers have never been on the cutting edge of new business and marketing practices. However, some hospitals have made great strides is using social media to connect with patients and consumers. Here are some recent examples:
By Jenn Riggle
Or to put it more accurately, hospitals need to consider how their “friends” can benefit from their Facebook pages.
The good news is that people are turning to Facebook for health information, such as videos and diet and exercise tips. However, hospitals aren’t making the most of this connection. Research shows that less than [...]
The medical and healthcare professions have got to get its arms around the serious issue of medical errors. It’s an enormous team effort that requires everyone involved to participate, including the patient. Here’s a checklist I created for myself that you might find helpful.
By Jenn Riggle
Everyone’s talking about Skype – even physicians.
Not only did Microsoft recently purchase the Internet telephone and video calling service for $8.5 billion, but new research reports that 7 percent of physicians are using videoconferencing technology like Skype to chat with their patients.
And while videoconferencing has been around since the 1960s (longer than most [...]
By Lisa Kersey
ACO. HIE. HIT. Meaningful Use. Medical Home. EMR… If there’s one thing that never changes about healthcare, it’s the number of acronyms and the jargon used to describe what is arguably one of the nation’s most complex industries. While industry leaders, policy wonks and elected officials are focused on the WHAT and the [...]
By Jenn Riggle
Saving lives is serious business. But when it comes to social media, it’s true that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
Why? Because people don’t want to hear hospitals just talk about their quality programs or be reminded that they’re getting older and could get sick. Instead, they want to know [...]
By Jenn Riggle
While hospitals haven’t embraced location-based services like Foursquare or Facebook Places, they’re moving forward with their mobile strategies by using QR codes and creating mobile websites.
QR or “Quick Response” codes have been around for a while, but they’ve only recently gained mainstream acceptance and seem to be popping up everywhere – on store [...]
By Jenn Riggle
While some hospitals are embracing social media and posting videos on YouTube and Facebook, others are taking a step backward.
Families have taken photos and videos in the delivery room for decades. But a recent New York Times article revealed that there are a growing number of hospitals that are barring parents from having [...]
Reaching People with Nutrition Messaging:
The Best of Booze Memes – LOLz!:
Blue Ivy - Already a Minority Health Advocate? :
Thought leadership is key to hospital social media success:
With QR Codes, Hospitals Are Finding It’s Hip to Be Square: