Time 28:43

Health care is going through some growing pains when it comes to social media. Word of mouth, especially from friends and family, is the leading resource for consumers selecting a primary care physician, according to a study from the Center for Studying Health System Change.(CSHSC) The concept that consumers would aggressively seek out performance information and cost comparisons from sites like HealthGrades and Carol is not taking place as many predicted.

In Minnesota company that bet on their advertising concept in a phrase – if men and women shopped for a ties and purses they would shop for medical care. After a huge PR splash, consumers weren’t buying the concept proving that PR without audience effective buy-in tactics doesn’t drive the bottom line.

The Edelman Health Engagement Barometer echoes the findings of the CSHCS study in that physicians and, friends, family, and peers are the leading trusted sources of information about healthcare. When it comes to consumers selecting a provider.

Where does this put social media in healthcare? Squarely in the middle. Here’s how.

Consumers do not feel confident enough to select a complex purchase without some guidance according to the CSHSC study. This guidance, I believe, comes in two forms, 1) peer to peer, including friends and family as well as patients who share their real-life experience. There are several sites picking up traction that provide anecdotal real-life insights Healthcare scoop and CareSeek are among them. You can even learn about Maruggi’s kidney stone surgery at St. Joe’s Hospital with Dr. Portis. This “someone like you” information gives patients comfort. In the study more than 50% of consumers use information from friends and family in their decision to select a physician. I would aggregate patient experience blogs in a similar category.

2) Professional information from a physician is also a highly valued component in this study. Nearly 40% of healthcare consumers consulted with a physician about from whom they should seek care. I believe this expert-to-patient exchange provides confidence in the selection. It is essentially a check and balance on the consumers leanings based on peer-to-peer information.

We interviewed one of the leading healthcare bloggers, author of Health Populi Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. She highlights how social media is working its way into one of the last holdouts of web 2.0 implementations, the healthcare industry. While it is slow going, Sarasohn-Kahn says there are many aspects of social media in healthcare, only one of which is the “shopping” aspect. For example, healthcare improvement through greater transparency as demonstrated by Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Nick Jacobs, President of Windber Medical Center is an area of social media that is noticed at the highest levels of the profession and media.

Among the community of physicians Sermo is a fast growing social network with more than 70,000 licensed physicians. The web 2.0 community in healthcare is huge, its leading conference produced by Matthew Holt was overflowing this Fall, no economic crisis was keeping members of this community away from the conversation.

Sarasohn-Kahn talks in this podcast about the relationship consumers have with social media in their healthcare decisions. She also touches on how the once antagonist political entities of universal healthcare may well be ready to reach a constructive solution just in time for the Obama Administration. Her advice, read Critical by Tom Daschle

What does this mean for marketers and PR professionals in healthcare? While comparing Doctor Smith and Doctor Jones along with the cost of an MRI may be a way off in the distance, tapping in to communities and conversation are here today. Whether it is driving health plan members to use online services or a hospital using video to highlight their latest surgery procedures, consumers are willing participants in the learning phase of healthcare decision making.

In the area of public relations, podcasts are used to increasing effectiveness as a source for news reporting, and consumer information tools, Johns Hopkins Medicine podcasts are a classic example. Baby steps in social media is just fine for healthcare for now, 2009 we expect to see further growth as patients, physicians and healthcare journalists are plugging into the budding movement of healthcare transparency.

Jane spoke to the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement in Minnesota in late November, highlighting how social media is slowing being implemented in healthcare.

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