I was recently at a social media conference in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee.  It was a half day affair with various panel discussions pertaining to several different industries.  The one I found fascinating was a panel discussion involving social media and healthcare.  Social media seems to be the big topic these days but there is much reluctance being there are no true ROI tracking tools in place yet.  Numerous organizations use it for many different functions, but the two biggest are pushing out announcements (new products, specials, coupons, contests, etc.) and using it as an addition to internal recruitment processes.  Among the panel of speakers were key influencers working for leading healthcare systems.  The discussion took me by great surprise as it seemed social media is more of a detriment rather than a useful ingredient for healthcare facilities.  The majority of the discussion consisted of the number of legal issues between doctors, patients, employees and potential hires.  Comparing this panel to the other panels that are using social media on a daily basis made me ask one question…is social media a fit for the healthcare industry?

Granted, there could be potential issues between doctor/patient confidentiality and doctors providing information to the general public, but are there key facets that it should be used for?  What about from a recruitment standpoint?  This was a short lived topic with only a few people stating they use it for this reason, but don’t see a great return.  Hospitals have so much turnover and job openings that having to oversee Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter and the 10+ Job Boards they use, seems to simply add more work for HR employees.  For example, try tweeting 100 job openings and let me know how it goes.  Granted many job boards are now implementing social media with their sites to blast out openings to the main social media sites as a one stop shop.  Recruitment, when it comes to multiple openings to fill, is a hard process which requires a great deal of time and effort.  Adding social media to the mix of HR functions seems too time consuming.

From the other standpoint, the problem with social media and healthcare is it is BORING!  No one wants to read about a new wing being built for the local hospital in their area or the latest cardiac advancements at ABC Hospital.  People use social media to talk to friends, win a contest or connect with others to better their businesses.  Healthcare, although one of the most important aspects of our lives, is typically not a stimulant for great conversation.  So how will this marketing instrument shape this industry?  I guess time will tell.  Healthcare is usually the last industry to adopt new technologies, so maybe the niche has yet to be found.