Despite larger hospitals' greater resources for social media efforts, smaller hospitals spend more time building Facebook pages and are more likely to use them effectively, suggests research presented at the Medicine 2.0 conference in Boston earlier this month.
The research, conducted by Rick C. Leung, PhD, an assistant professor of health management at the University of Missouri, and Jing Lio of ZS Associates, and profiled in an eWeek article, examined the Facebook pages of 120 Missouri hospitals.
The research found that marketing and reputation-building were two key reasons hospitals of all sizes use Facebook.
According to the research, larger hospitals have more avenues to reach patients than smaller ones, which may lead to Facebook being a more critical outlet for smaller hospitals.
"Larger hospitals have larger channels and more ways to interact with patients, and are not as committed as smaller hospitals," said Mr. Leung in the report.
Federation of Medical Boards Adopts New Social Media Policy for Physicians
The research, conducted by Rick C. Leung, PhD, an assistant professor of health management at the University of Missouri, and Jing Lio of ZS Associates, and profiled in an eWeek article, examined the Facebook pages of 120 Missouri hospitals.
The research found that marketing and reputation-building were two key reasons hospitals of all sizes use Facebook.
According to the research, larger hospitals have more avenues to reach patients than smaller ones, which may lead to Facebook being a more critical outlet for smaller hospitals.
"Larger hospitals have larger channels and more ways to interact with patients, and are not as committed as smaller hospitals," said Mr. Leung in the report.
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Who's Viewing Your Hospital's Social Media Page — And Why?Federation of Medical Boards Adopts New Social Media Policy for Physicians