Since the news broke about patients being treated for Ebola in the U.S., the American public has turned to social media to get answers about the crisis. During this time good content has been shared by reliable sources, but myths, urban legends and conspiracies have continued to surface.
It is important that we learn from cases like the Ebola virus to prepare healthcare practitioners and facilities in the event of a medical crisis.
Many healthcare facilities have a social media presence, but there is a common fear that professionals will divulge too much information or be ineffective. Social media is not a communication tool to be afraid of. Some doctors are currently using social media to thwart the fear of Ebola. In an article by the Huffington Post, Dr. Richard Besser, ABC news chief and medical editor, spoke out about the virus. "So many people are scared and have questions they want answered. Social media is a great way to connect with our audience and the general public. During the Ebola scare, I have been responding to several hundred tweets every day as well as posting articles on both Twitter and Facebook."
Social media is a platform available to open up dialogue between healthcare professionals and patients. A medical crisis like the Ebola virus was an opportunity to ensure that patients got accurate information and were not led astray by destructive propaganda. Here are five tactics that will help you to educate your patients through social media in the event of a medical crisis.
1. Engage Patients in a Positive Manner. Patients are already getting saturated with negative media feed and scams on social media about Ebola. Through social media, healthcare professionals have an opportunity to be patients' informants on healthcare issues, rather than Joe Blow, who is spouting propaganda that there is an outbreak in the next town. This is an opportunity to positively engage patients and be advocates for the work and treatment to find an end to this devastating virus.
2. Reuse Industry Trusted Resources. In most social media posts space is of the essence. Adding links and additional resources adds assurance and support to demonstrate healthcare professionals are on the same page.
3. Make Content Unique to Local Area. Listen globally, but communicate locally. Information is ever flowing, but in order to be relevant to patients, you need to speak to what is on the top of their minds. Patients have been asking questions in the exam room or in passing. Explain what the strategic plan for a particular facility is, in the event of admitting a patient with a severally contagious virus or faced with a crisis that puts patients at risk. What strategies are being constructed to protect that geographic area? It will put patients at ease to know what the plan is in the event of such a crisis.
4. Do a Q&A Session With Patients. Twitter is a good tool to collaborate with patients via social media to answer any questions about a particular crisis or patient concerns. Simply designate a hash tag to filter out questions. An example would be: #724Ebolaquestions or #724crisismanagement. This would allow for a practitioner to host a Q&A session at their pace and have an engaging dialogue with patients that would correct the misinformation being circulated.
5. Use Graphics and Photos to Demonstrate your Facility's Strategic Plan. Creating visually stimulating infographics or photos invite patients to engage more, rather than straight content, particularly when you are talking about the strategic plan of a facility. How will the facility execute a strategic plan to protect its patients? Mapping out the new procedures to protect patients from Ebola, for example, will put patients at ease. Check out this infographic from the CDC that shows how to trace Ebola patients.
In the end, it is about protecting patients. Social media is the most direct way to speak to patients outside of the facility. Ensuring that patients understand what healthcare facilities are doing to prevent any possible crisis and demonstrating their strategic plan to contain and correct the issue. The Ebola virus has patients worried about their safety. Patients trust their healthcare providers to keep them up-to-date on healthcare issues. Healthcare professionals should take this opportunity to learn from the Ebola virus to develop a strategic plan that will prepare their facility in the event that they should be faced with a similar crisis.
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