Very few hospital CEOs are currently communicating on social media channels. Many hospitals have their corporate social pages up and running, and many have been successful in this area. However, hospital C-level executives have a lot to communicate and should consider personally joining the social conversation.
Many CEOs across the country seem to think that they just don't have the time that it will take to get involved with social media, and that's unfortunate.
For hospital CEOs and other top executives who currently have blogs or personal Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, I commend you. For those thinking about exploring these communication tools, I urge you to get ahead of your competitors.
What value can a hospital CEO's social network bring?
When the .com explosion hit, many of us started to develop a viewpoint that we didn't want to do business with any company that didn't take the time to build a website. Today, many of us will skip your website and go directly to your hospital's Facebook or Twitter page.
A hospital CEO commenting publically on the hospital's Facebook page shows a tremendous amount of understanding about modern day communication, as well as compassion for one's audience.
Social marketing strategy for the busy hospital CEO
Successful social media is all about honesty and transparency. Let's face it, hospital systems have traditionally been filled with corporate PR professionals whose job has been to play it safe and put out fires. While I agree that caution is important for many things, playing it safe does not work on social media. You have to be quick, responsive and compassionate, while humanizing yourself and your brand.
Make your blog your home base
Our team at Wound Care Advantage has been spending a lot of time developing our social marketing platforms this year. However, our efforts in social media started long before that in 2008 when our CEO Mike Comer started our WCA blog. Many hospital executives gloss over blogging when they are talking about social media, but we have always felt that it is the home base of all social efforts.
"My blogging has always been a powerful way for me to address an issue or question that comes up in daily operations," Mr. Comer said. "I have had weeks where there are several posts, and months when nothing new is written. My goal is only to speak when I have something to say."
Former hospital CEO who went all in with social
Paul Levy is the former CEO and president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. During his leadership there he started a blog called Running a Hospital, which covered real-time clinical outcome data for the hospital. He believed that these efforts would improve transparency and engage the community. His current blog is titled Not Running A Hospital and he has a new book on Amazon called "How a Blog Held Off the Most Powerful Union in America."
Mr. Levy provided us with advice and made sure to specify that his advice be for the CEOs themselves and not for their PR departments.
"If their social media interactions are not in their own voice, they might as well not get engaged," he says.
Mr. Levy said that he started using social media around 2006.
"Why? Because it is the job of a CEO to communicate the mission and strategy of the organization internally and externally," he says. "Why would you not employ some of the most powerful tools in doing so?"
Use your own voice
Mr. Levy is a strong advocate of hospital CEOs putting out content in their own voice.
"Write in your voice," he says. "Don't let the PR department write for you. Don't let the general counsel or press office review what you write before publishing it."
Mr. Levy also suggests only writing a blog if you are going to commit to it.
"Do a blog if you are willing to devote the time and effort and make it real and provocative," he says. "You must write at least three times per week and be prepared to moderate comments and also build relationships with other bloggers to build up traffic volume."
Other friendly social platforms for hospital CEOs
Mr. Levy believes that Twitter is an easy way for hospital CEOs to dip their toes in the social media waters.
"The level of effort required is low," he says. "It acts as a wonderful librarian to keep you informed of what's going on."
He feels that Facebook and Google+ are good social networks to explore, but he himself is still trying to figure out what value Google has in the social space.
"LinkedIn has little real value, but is easy to sign up for and might bring you some interesting contacts," he says.
What about my privacy?
For those hospital CEOs worried about their privacy as a concern for using social media, Levy offers the following advice: "You have no privacy as a CEO, anyway," he says. "Don't put anything on any social media page that you do not want the world to see."
Gary Vaynerchuk focuses on bringing value
Gary Vaynerchuk is co-founder and CEO of VaynerMedia — a social media brand consulting agency, best selling author, early investor in some of the most well known social media sites, and an entrepreneur who used social media to make his businesses stronger.
I asked Mr. Vaynerchuk for specific advice geared toward a hospital CEO thinking about using social media to communicate with their community.
"Bringing value to the world is never the wrong thing," he says. "If you actually have something to say, put it out there. There has never been a better time to share!"
James Calder is director of SOAR (the Social Organic Acquisition Referral Department) at Wound Care Advantage (woundcareadvantage.com) in Sierra Madre, Calif. He has spent the last half-decade using social media to educate people about the importance of quality wound centers in our healthcare system. He can be reached at jcalder@thewca.com or followed on Twitter @jimmycalder.
If you are a hospital CEO looking for some friendly and free advice on starting your own blog or learning more about the blogging tactics that have worked for Wound Care Advantage, contact Mike Comer at (888) 484- 3922 or email him at mike@thewca.com