Building on Online presence from Scratch: Its not just about followers or Facebook Kenan Omurtag, MD...

Building on Online presence from Scratch: Its not just about followers or

Facebook

Kenan Omurtag, MDAssistant Professor, Reproductive Endocrinology and infertility

Washington University St Louis School of MEdicine

Obstetrics & GynecologyReproductive Endocrinology and Infertility

Financial Disclosure – Regularraterhythm Sooftware Consultant


Financial Disclosure


Grassroots Perspective• Peer• Not a marketing person• Academic• Sharing experience


What is Social Media• Who uses social media

• Personally?• Professionally?

• Who thinks social media can help build a practice?



I use social media to…• To interact with friends • Increase collaboration at work • Interact with corporations I buy products from


Objectives• Describe the use of social media among Fertility clinics in

the United States• IT’S A “BRANDING” EXERCISE

• Understand what are the primary social media tools available to the reproductive specialist• Describe “high yield” social media tools

• Learn how to incorporate social media into your daily routine

• Learn what precautions/pitfalls one should take when venturing into social media

• Give examples of social media use in practice



Why should I care• Nearly half of adults polled report they or someone they

know gets medical advice online• >75% would favor secure online communication with their

physician’s office• Younger patients (teens to young 30s) prefer physicians who are

online

• Men no longer dominate the Internet – WOMEN DO• Rise of social media is thought to be responsible

• Our target population lives online

PMID: 23722919


YOUR DEMO LIVES ONLINE!• WOMEN > 18 yr

• spend the most time online• are more likely to use social media

• WOMEN seek medical advice online more than men• More among WOMEN 35-44 yr

• Target audience for many providers of womens health• Particularly in the fertility community in the US• The majority of IVF cycles are performed on women in this age group.

PMID: 22088209


Why should I care• Internet research is highly influential in selecting a fertility

practice• Social media is an extension of “word of mouth”• ALBEIT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

• Web 2.0• A more dynamic internet• 10 years ago 65% of fertility clinics in the US had a webpage; now

99% of them do• Websites are no longer static• Social Media is driving this change

• Helping to drive traffic to the website

PMID: 22088209


PMID: 23722919


A technology update• In 2005

• Update on the state of websites in fertility practices in the US• Effectively 10 years after the web had matured (Web 1.0)

• In 2014• Update on how fertility practices are using the web ~10 years after

social media applications were introduced (Web 2.0)• Specifically…

• How are fertility clinics in the US are engaging patients online?



Describing the ART of Social Networking - Methods• Examined 384 society of Assisted reproductive Technology

(SART) websites• Using SART.org website and Google• Qualified their use of social media defined as Twitter, Facebook,

YouTube or blog• Further qualified the content of their social media pages• Cycle data was collected for each clinic• Association between social networking website and cycle volume were

analyzed


Results – General


Results - General• 1/3 of clinics in the US used social media• Clinics that were actively using social media had

tended to be higher volume clinics• *unlikely thought that that social media was responsible for

the high volume


Results – How we are using Social Media • 103 clinics that used social media

• 1,382 individual posts were catalogued• Categorized as Academic vs Non academic

• Advertising• Providing information• Requesting Information• Providing support• Irrelevant (i.e spam, posts unrelated to fertility)



Results – How we are using Social Media • Most of the activity comes from non academic centers

(~90%)• “one way” communication

• Clinics are using these venues to provide information (~31%) and advertise (~28%)

• Not much dialogue over social media

• As a clinic’s audience increases so does the frequency of posting• Emphasizes the importance of content on the website

• Higher volume centers are more active


Summary• Reproductive Age Women are using social media to seek

health information online• Fertility Clinics are using it to broadcast information to their

audiences• Adjunct to their web presence

• Do I need to incorporate social media into my practice?




Do I need Social media in my practice• Yes• Social media is an online branding exercise

• Adjunct to your website to create a more vibrant online presence

• May help grow a young practice• Differentiate from others

• Promotional incentives unlikely to be helpful


Which Applications to Use


Which applications should I use• WEB-Log (blog)

• 300-400 words on various topics• Invite comments in effort to engage readers

• May be able to replace paper content• Content that can be promoted on social media




Which applications should I use• Twitter, Twitter, Twitter (microblog)

• Easy to use• Use to make announcements re: practice

• closings• New hires• New services (PGD)• Local accolades• Drive traffic to content on website

• Links to articles about new updates in treatment


Examples of Active Twitter Accounts in REI• Individuals• Clinics• Fertility Advocates






Which applications should I use• Facebook

• Offers insight into the clinic’s “personality”• Videos and photos• Duplicate content posting from twitter• Examples:

• NWU• FCI• RMA San Antonio

• Can be a “hub” for Collaboration• SREI Associates• REI Class of 2013






Do I need to hire someone?• Social media requires some effort and time commitment• 6 hours/week devoting time to blogs for example• Many of the SART members clinics that hosted active social

media accounts are managed by a healthcare service company• 0.5 FTE commonly dedicated to social media

• Content should be updated and posts should be daily



Tools to Help

• Tweet Deck• Twitter only• Easier to use• Free• Personal

• Hootsuite• More versatile• Pro version better• Less user friendly• Commericial/

enterprise oriented


What Precautions are needed• Depends on what setting you are in

• Larger corporations will be more bureaucratic

• Policy • Written document governing the administration of the practice’s

online presence

• Privacy• HIPAA compliant• Most large institutions, Federation of State Medical Boards have

frameworks for guidance

• Medical Advice• Avoid any one-on-one engagement in social media

• Pre-emptive Action• Encourage patients to follow you/clinic but let them know it is limited



What Precautions are needed• Professionalism

• A survey of state medical Boards in the United States• 70% had taken disciplinary action involving unprofessional

physician behavior online• Inappropriate communication with patient• Inappropriate practice• Misrepresentation of medical credentials



What Precautions are needed• Conflict of Interest

• Standard disclosure language• For example: personal blog post should probably list “Personal views

do not represent those of the institution” when relevant• Other industry relationships

• FDA and FTC are examining COI issues related to social media


Wrote paper, 2011

Fellowship Starts, 2010

@STLINFERTILITY, 2012

@WUSTLFERTILITY, 2014



Summary• Social media is necessary for updating web

presence/branding• Determine how the practice/individual should utilize it and

which tools are relevant• Dedicate time/personnel• Written policy recommended• Professionalism goes without saying


Final Comments• Not a Fad• Challenges still exist:

• Can this technology improve patient care? Do we need it to?• Perhaps via better communication/transparency/education• Still experimenting with best use

• Discerning what is credible



Date post:	24-Dec-2015
Category:	Documents
Upload:	charlotte-blankenship
View:	218 times
Download:	2 times

Building on Online presence from Scratch: Its not just about followers or Facebook Kenan Omurtag, MD...

Documents