As the reach and use of social media continues to expand, healthcare's adoption of such platforms also is growing, according to a study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Many businesses establish their presence on social media as a way to engage consumers, and healthcare is following suit.
Researchers analyzed hospitals' use of social media on four popular platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Yelp. They included all hospitals reporting complete data to CMS' HCAHPS survey and the 2010 American Hospital Association Survey, which included 3,371 hospitals.
The vast majority of hospitals — 99.41 percent — have a Facebook page, though just 50.82 percent have a Twitter. Additionally, 99.41 percent of hospitals had reviews or mentions on Foursquare, and 99.14 percent had a Yelp account.
Researchers found approximately half — 50.40 percent — of hospitals had accounts on all four social media platforms.
Researchers indicate a growth in hospital use of social media. The study cites previous studies which found just 21 percent of hospitals used social media in 2010, with 18 percent operating a Facebook account and 16 percent operating a Twitter account.
Additionally, when looking at the geographic distribution of social media utilization, researchers found larger, urban private nonprofit and teaching hospitals had more social media utilization than their opposite counterparts.
Researchers conclude that the adoption of certain social media platforms is widespread in the United States.
"The tremendous reach of these new media and their ability to harness existing networks with established trust relationships suggests they have the potential to become dominant communication channels for healthcare," researchers conclude.
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