How hospitals help people through social media

by Nancy Cawley Jean It's no secret that people take to social media when they have a complaint. It's been said many times that brands need to be in social media, because even if the brand isn't out there, people can still mention it, in both good and bad ways. A hospital is certainly no exception to this rule, especially when you think about how important quality of care is to people when their health is threatened and they face a hospital visit. When it comes to healthcare, expectations are high. So when their care isn't up to par, it's a safe bet people will shout it from their Facebook status updates, tweets and more. Social media can make a significant patient satisfaction difference. I witnessed this first-hand during two specific interactions within our hospital accounts that showed the real power of social media to help people. First, I received a tweet from the friend of a patient in the hospital who said that she was disappointed in the care her friend got. I took that opportunity to provide the number for the patient liaison department and encouraged her to talk to them. The patient then contacted the hospital to say that while she called, the nurse came in to see her and not a patient liaison. By having a system in place to share such comments with the patient liaison office, we were able to quickly act and one of the liaisons went up to see the patient, and she was very pleased. Our patient liaison even learned that she was missing her dog while here i...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs