Conversation lags on hospital Facebook pages

During the past couple of years, many hospitals took the advice of marketing experts and created Facebook pages. But a recent study concluded that many are failing at the social part of social networking.

A study by Verasoni, a marketing consulting group based in New York, found that many hospitals that have a presence on the popular social networking site have created pages only to let them sit idle. And experts say the inactivity is keeping hospitals from recognizing the benefits of social media -- a lesson for physicians, as well.

Verasoni chose 120 hospitals at random and found all had, at some point, a Facebook page. Of those, fewer than 40% posted content to the site on a daily basis, 25% posted twice a week and 25% posted once a month. Of the rest, three posted less than once a month and six had a presence but no activity (link).

The numbers led researchers to conclude that hospitals are not using Facebook to its potential and are missing out on Facebook's opportunities to "develop deeper partnerships with patients, families and communities."

Abe Kasbo, CEO of Verasoni, said many hospitals create a presence on Facebook because "they think social media is sexy. But in the case of Facebook, to be successful you have to look at it as a tool. But you have to use that tool."

If hospitals simply want to have a presence, "they can do that with a brochure," he said.

The study found that children's hospitals are more likely than others to maintain an effective Facebook presence. Ryan Paul, social media manager for Children's Hospital Boston, said it's not the information but the presentation that makes a difference with patient engagement.

"Facebook is all about the user," Paul said. "And people love to talk about themselves. So we should just give them an opportunity to talk about themselves."

But you may have to be a little creative to get the conversation started. A recent discussion on the Children's Hospital Facebook page was prompted by this post: "Lice? Gross! The AAP just released a new study about lice. You can read more, but what we really want to know is have your kids had lice? How did you deal with it? What was it like for you?" Paul said just posting a link to the study would have been "boring," and probably wouldn't have garnered much response.

The Verasoni study found 83% of hospitals don't solicit feedback from people who follow their Facebook feeds. And 97% don't use Facebook's discussion board.

Andrea Simon, PhD, president of Simon and Associates Management Consultants in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., said physicians should take away lessons from the survey, as well.

"What we are finding is that patients are looking for physicians that accommodate them on Facebook," she said.

Physicians should be on Facebook for the primary purpose of sustaining a conversation with patients, said Cynthia Graves, public relations manager for Palo Alto (Calif.) Medical Foundation, a 1,000-physician multispecialty practice. She said the public relations team encourages physicians to read and contribute to the practice's page.

Paul said physicians also contribute a great deal to Children's Hospital's Facebook presence, which includes 20 pages specific to conditions and hospital departments. The public relations team oversees all the pages, but physicians and staff provide the content and interaction with patients.

"The number of referrals that come from this is amazing," he said. "It's that direct interaction. You're getting the people asking these questions, and a doctor will respond." Patients appreciate that, he said.