As broadcast in a November 16 NPR story, a recent report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows 61% of American adults go online to check out healthcare information. Of this number, 20% look to social-networking sites for guidance from other patients or medical practitioners.
Do you represent one of the few healthcare institutions still afraid to step in the social-media waters? Well, you can sit comfortably on the beach, but know that your rivals may already be there. Not possible, you say? Check Ed Bennet’s hospital social network list to be sure, which accounted for 441 hospitals as of November 15.
Susannah Fox, with Pew, says,
“They [e-patients] are part of the conversation. And that, I think, is an indicator of where we could be going in terms of the future of participatory medicine.”
Are you a part of the conversation? See my prescriptions for how to boost your hospital’s online presence or Phil Bauman’s list of 140 healthcare uses for Twitter.
Interested in full-service healthcare online marketing? See more reasons why you should be and case studies from Fathom’s healthcare portfolio.
Photo courtesy of M. Keefe via Flickr
