If I understand you, you’re suggesting that “engagement” is inherently valuable based mostly on how you”re engaging while others are buying Yellow Pages ads. This is very similar to how most marketers/brands use social media. It’s unorganized but somehow inherently valuable simply because they’re doing it.

In other words, value is assigned to number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends (quantitative novelties) — not sales or leads (qualitative business outcomes). It’s easy to generate lots of friends or followers. Not so easy to create sales and leads. Similarly, it’s easy to keep patients informed or have conversations with them, not so easy to create measurable outcomes.

Right? Ultimately someone has to pay for investment in social media — IF they want a real return… and what I see here is also worrisome. Most of the time it’s a part-time hobby of someone in the office and has, hence, very low expectations assigned to it. The results are typically mediocre in my opinion (I respect that we each have different definition of “valuable result”).

I recently consulted with a large pharmaceutical company that wants to invest in social media for docs — helping them “create improved patient outcomes.” (their words) They told me much of the same — that docs and staff are pressed for time. My take was that they are looking for a silver bullet SM technology that somehow requires no real organization and no real time investment to create stronger relationships with patients.

My response was the same: Quantitative novelties are easy to create. Qualitative outcomes are not and require time. Candidly, I think they were disappointed with my answers. Wouldn’t be the first time!

My only real point (counter-point) here is that investing time in organizing is not, I argue, unrealistic or theoretical. Organizing is the only way to create meaningful outcomes beyond “this office is ‘engaging’ and the other isn’t” — because I just don’t think that kind of effect on a patient is *as* valuable as having a qualitative effect on their relationship.

I don’t think a patient’s qualitative assessment of a practice is effected by ‘how engaged they appear to be with patients using social media.’ I think it has to be an actual outcome (‘I received this from my doctor / therapist / doctor’s office and it helped me cope, become well faster’ etc.)

Yes, that can ‘just happen’ based on information that was, essentially, broadcast on the Web using a form of social media technology. But more realistically it happens based on an organized effort. At least in my experience this is what separates the great companies (practices??) from the average — their ability to create consistently remarkable experiences for customers.

Yes, I’m also subscribed to your feed! Your blog is extremely useful for my research. I’ve already learned a thing or two and will keep in touch. Much to learn!

Most, if not all medical practices are burden with an immense amount of work and are staffed as thin as can be. And when you have a waiting room full of patients, stacks and stacks of labs to review, letters to sign, statements to send out, insurance claims to process, and 100’s of phone calls to answer (with patients that need more info on their condition, prescription refills, prior-auth request, insurance forms to fill out etc.), organizing cross functional meetings and getting a doc’s perspective and meeting specifically the needs (even with something like Fanminder) of patients is just not practical for many medical offices, particularly those in primary care. You mention that the doc can set aside 30 minutes… many doc’s don’t even have that much time to schedule their lunch break.

Now, it terms of appointment reminders, something like Fanminder can be very helpful and it is a nice service to offer. We use a similar system called ReminderPro. It certainly helps us with many administrative type tasks, but to say it helps us improve health (outcomes), that is a bit overreaching. One can potentially argue that less missed appointments improves a patient’s health because they are treated more than they would otherwise, but to say that because of something like Fanminder a patient is more compliant with their medication seems like wishful thinking. Again, theoretically, sounds good. But I’d like to see evidence if that is the case.

With regards to our practice’s social media initiatives… many of the social media initiatives are non-measurable and if not done with a specific intent, can be a huge time waster.

However, I approach it like a hotel concierge. A hotel concierge doesn’t really provide a tangible ROI for their services to the hotel per se, but the benefit the concierge provides is immensely valuable to the guest.

Our social media efforts accomplishes among other things:

Maintain a conversation with our patients

Keep our patients informed

Provides additional insight to potential patients about our practice, our office and more important, our docs.

For example, let’s say a patient is looking for a peds office, comes across our webpage (or is referred to our webpage) and sees the usual stuff a medical office webpage has. Then decides to Google our name or my doc’s name and finds we have a Twitter and Facebook account. She checks out Facebook and sees how we engage with our patients, etc. Compare that to the medical office down the street that just has YellowPage.com listing. Waste of time? I think not.

I love this type of discussion, thus can go on and on. But I’m going leave it up to here so I don’t bore your readers to death.

Thanks for the reply Jeff and keep up the good work. I found your blog today and will be adding it to my RSS reader.

Some applications of this technology work… some fail and some are just plain mediocre.

I share the Air Force’s diagram and approach in a general way. It’s a way for readers to understand the basic framework of managing interactive processes in a productive way. Correct, this is not directly applicable to medical practices but demonstrates a clear means to an end. That is, creating meaningful outcomes rather than just “listening” to what customers, investors, patients, employees, constituents have to say in a vacuum and calling it a day.

Candidly and respectfully, I believe that using SM to open the lines of communications, broaden messages and community building are largely non-measurable and often chronic time-wasters. It’s what most offices seem to be doing. They stop when, as you point out, the real work needs to start.

What I’m lobbying for, and providing basic guidelines around, is how to actually create the outcomes.

I noticed you were not critical of my calls for:
A weekly, cross-functional meeting as a first step.
Resisting the urge to over-automate (de-humanize).
Getting physicians/specialists involved.
Acting on patients’ expectations.

Does this mean you agree? Because this is my “how to” in my article… not the USAF portion.

I think using social media to engage a practice’s patient base and turning into a community is definitely a great idea. However, I disagree with your suggestion that using SM can create qualitative patient outcomes in measurable ways.

You mention that thriving practices are using social media technologies that create qualitative patient outcomes and strengthen patient-physician bonds in measurable ways. I’d like to see or read an example. Specifically of how they’ve been able to create qualitative patient outcomes in measurable ways.

And the Air Force’s is not a good example. The Air Force’s chart is an essence a simple guideline that helps them decide how they ought to respond. It has nothing to do with creating meaningful patient outcomes using Web media.

I think in theory, your suggestion for medical practices to embrace social media in an effort to meet the needs of patients seeking information is great. In our practice, we use social media to open the lines of communication between patients and us, as well as broaden our message about preventive wellness. And as a result, we are building a stronger community.

But practically speaking, it is not nearly as easy and simple as you describe. It requires a lot of time, effort and commitment.

@PediatriInc