April 5th was the first day we posted about a patient who was in the ICU awaiting a heart transplant. We had learned of her blog from a news story on that day. The television station had learned of the patient's story from the blog that her father was managing to help keep friends and family in the loop.
The patient's father had never run a blog before. The sole reason he started blogging was to get the word out about his daughter's situation, and to keep friends and family updated. He wasn't a social media strategist, nor did he have any aspirations for fame or accolades - he simply wanted to write about his daughter's fight to survive. And the writing was and continues to be heartfelt, passionate, and informative.
The passing-on of the patient's story took on an organic flow - it went from blog to the news media, to being posted through our various social media channels, back to the news media, and so forth. The community took notice - they started to send her personal emails through the hospital website. They sent well wishes through our Facebook page and her blog. The telling of her story happened through natural evolution - as natural as it can get when you combine traditional media, social media, and a father's infinite love for his daughter.
Her story was heard by many, and a surprise was planned and organized through posts on Facebook and her blog. On April 24th, over 100 of the patient's friends, family and strangers who had followed her story wore the shirts being sold on her blog and gathered in the park across from her hospital window, where they formed a "heart" and sang songs to her, encouraging her to get well soon. The St. Louis Fire Department showed up unexpectedly, and lifted a firefighter via the ladder five flights into the air to show her a t-shirt and tell her they were rooting for her. A local news station covered it, and it was great to see.
This is a great example of how a partnership of different mediums can form naturally, and produce incredible results. Sure, we received more traffic than usual to our blog, and our Facebook fanbase increased during this time. But that's not why we told her story, and continue to tell it. We do it because our audience told us to. And we do it because it's a part of the exceptional care we try to provide to our patients.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Different Hats
I don't know of anyone lately who isn't wearing more than one hat in their job. Part of growth in an organization is to take on new challenges, so that you can become a more integral part of the overall team.
One good thing about wearing different hats is that you may get to be someone's back-up, and you yourself might get a back-up should you be out of the office or just too swamped to get to everything. Safety in numbers, so to speak.
Another good thing about being diverse is that you get to experience a bit of someone else's job, and that can either make you thankful for what you get to do or make you rethink why you chose the position you did.
Since social media is new to many organizations, it's typical to have other duties aside from the day-to-day social media strategy tasks. This can work to a social media strategist's advantage in that social media touches, and is touched by, so many other areas within an organization. Traditional and online marketing, intranet, publications and the website are just of few.
So, I embrace the many-hat approach. No reason to fight it - first, it's inevitable, and second, it's an opportunity. And with opportunity brings growth, learning, and newfound insight.
One good thing about wearing different hats is that you may get to be someone's back-up, and you yourself might get a back-up should you be out of the office or just too swamped to get to everything. Safety in numbers, so to speak.
Another good thing about being diverse is that you get to experience a bit of someone else's job, and that can either make you thankful for what you get to do or make you rethink why you chose the position you did.
Since social media is new to many organizations, it's typical to have other duties aside from the day-to-day social media strategy tasks. This can work to a social media strategist's advantage in that social media touches, and is touched by, so many other areas within an organization. Traditional and online marketing, intranet, publications and the website are just of few.
So, I embrace the many-hat approach. No reason to fight it - first, it's inevitable, and second, it's an opportunity. And with opportunity brings growth, learning, and newfound insight.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Disclosure
One thing that I'm still learning about in terms of social media in health care is disclosure.
When running a Facebook account for a for-profit business, you're usually dealing with things and not people - coupons, deals, promotions and the like. With health care, you must always keep in mind the patient's right to privacy, and HIPAA enforces that.
Recently, we were updating our community as to the progress of a patient who's father had been blogging about their status almost hourly. Local news channels were following the patient's situation also, and when it came to posting an update on our Facebook, one would think it okay to repeat (reworded, of course) what the patient's father had just reported on his blog.
This is, in fact, not okay. Just because the patient's family reports it, and they've signed a release to us to use their image and interviews on our social media channels and website doesn't give us the right to discuss what procedure the patient will have next, or what the doctors will be doing later on in the day in relation to the patient's recovery. That personal information is for the patient to disclose.
What we can do is let our community know that the patient is doing well, and for a more detailed update, direct them to the latest news video or the blog the patient's father runs. This is part of the privacy that we owe to our patients. If they want to explain in their own words or on tape what's going on and give us permission, we can post that using our various social media channels. But we cannot speak for them.
As always, our main concern as a hospital is to provide our patients and their families with the best care possible. This includes protecting their privacy.
When running a Facebook account for a for-profit business, you're usually dealing with things and not people - coupons, deals, promotions and the like. With health care, you must always keep in mind the patient's right to privacy, and HIPAA enforces that.
Recently, we were updating our community as to the progress of a patient who's father had been blogging about their status almost hourly. Local news channels were following the patient's situation also, and when it came to posting an update on our Facebook, one would think it okay to repeat (reworded, of course) what the patient's father had just reported on his blog.
This is, in fact, not okay. Just because the patient's family reports it, and they've signed a release to us to use their image and interviews on our social media channels and website doesn't give us the right to discuss what procedure the patient will have next, or what the doctors will be doing later on in the day in relation to the patient's recovery. That personal information is for the patient to disclose.
What we can do is let our community know that the patient is doing well, and for a more detailed update, direct them to the latest news video or the blog the patient's father runs. This is part of the privacy that we owe to our patients. If they want to explain in their own words or on tape what's going on and give us permission, we can post that using our various social media channels. But we cannot speak for them.
As always, our main concern as a hospital is to provide our patients and their families with the best care possible. This includes protecting their privacy.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Seminar Recap
I attended the Social Fresh seminar yesterday, hence no blog post. I had been looking forward to it, and it didn't disappoint.
Amber Naslund from Radian6 was a commanding keynote speaker, and she cleverly "chopped up" her topic, “Zombie Fighting, Handling the Social Media Questions That Just Won’t Die." into bits that were understandable to a newbie and entertaining to someone who's been in the social media business for a few years. What I liked most is that even though she's leading a team, she admits that she's still learning like the rest of us are. Other memorable speakers include Jason Gertzen from Sprint, Jason Falls from SocialMediaExplorer.com and Jenna Petroff from Hardees.
A common thread throughout the conference was that you have to find the right fit or mix of social media tools/strategy for your company. What fits Hardee's might not fit a healthcare organization. It's really a trial-and-error situation, and you have to be able to really understand your audience, listen to them, analyze the data, and switch things up when they're not working. And what I mean by not working is, you aren't having conversations with your customers/community. You're not giving them what they want, what speaks to them.
Another common thread was ROI - specifically, upper management asking for ROI prior to campaign's completion. ROI and analytics are important, but building and maintaining the community ranks higher.
Something I learned long ago when I helped companies build websites was to start off with a basic set of questions - what is your purpose for the website? Who do you want to reach? With social media, the question is, what are your success metrics? My answer won't match Kellogs - there answer might be a certain number of sales per quarter. Mine, right now, is building a community that activates with us. Activation can be commenting on a facebook post, or attending one of our events, or contacting our appointment line after they've read a blog post about Crohn's Disease and are seeking a physician/diagnosis.
So if anyone is out there listening, the best thing you can do for your company's social media efforts is to ask yourself that question - what are your success metrics?
Amber Naslund from Radian6 was a commanding keynote speaker, and she cleverly "chopped up" her topic, “Zombie Fighting, Handling the Social Media Questions That Just Won’t Die." into bits that were understandable to a newbie and entertaining to someone who's been in the social media business for a few years. What I liked most is that even though she's leading a team, she admits that she's still learning like the rest of us are. Other memorable speakers include Jason Gertzen from Sprint, Jason Falls from SocialMediaExplorer.com and Jenna Petroff from Hardees.
A common thread throughout the conference was that you have to find the right fit or mix of social media tools/strategy for your company. What fits Hardee's might not fit a healthcare organization. It's really a trial-and-error situation, and you have to be able to really understand your audience, listen to them, analyze the data, and switch things up when they're not working. And what I mean by not working is, you aren't having conversations with your customers/community. You're not giving them what they want, what speaks to them.
Another common thread was ROI - specifically, upper management asking for ROI prior to campaign's completion. ROI and analytics are important, but building and maintaining the community ranks higher.
Something I learned long ago when I helped companies build websites was to start off with a basic set of questions - what is your purpose for the website? Who do you want to reach? With social media, the question is, what are your success metrics? My answer won't match Kellogs - there answer might be a certain number of sales per quarter. Mine, right now, is building a community that activates with us. Activation can be commenting on a facebook post, or attending one of our events, or contacting our appointment line after they've read a blog post about Crohn's Disease and are seeking a physician/diagnosis.
So if anyone is out there listening, the best thing you can do for your company's social media efforts is to ask yourself that question - what are your success metrics?
Friday, April 16, 2010
Social Media is not a fad...
Found this very interesting video that provides some interesting statistics on social media - food for thought for the weekend. Enjoy!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Have Care
I've been blessed to interview some patients with really incredible stories. Let me tell you - these particular folks have been through the ringer when it comes to health issues, and came out swinging and wanting to share their story.
We sometimes come across a potential story that we'd like to share with the public, and sometimes the patient may not be up for it. Whether they're just not in the right state of mind, or are tired from whatever illness they have or procedures they are going through, they are just unable to share.
In these cases, we do our best to follow up with the patient and their caregivers (charge nurse, coordinators, etc.) to see how they're doing, and try to tell their story through other means. And that's okay. Because we make it a point to remember that they are here to get the best possible care they can so they can go home healthy and happy. Getting to hear their story, told from their perspective, is and always will be a bonus for us. What we really want is for our patients to get better.
So, what you see in videos and articles and photos is just a small portion of the story. It all comes down to this - patient care is the agenda. And in everything we do pertaining to social media, our motto is to "have care".
We sometimes come across a potential story that we'd like to share with the public, and sometimes the patient may not be up for it. Whether they're just not in the right state of mind, or are tired from whatever illness they have or procedures they are going through, they are just unable to share.
In these cases, we do our best to follow up with the patient and their caregivers (charge nurse, coordinators, etc.) to see how they're doing, and try to tell their story through other means. And that's okay. Because we make it a point to remember that they are here to get the best possible care they can so they can go home healthy and happy. Getting to hear their story, told from their perspective, is and always will be a bonus for us. What we really want is for our patients to get better.
So, what you see in videos and articles and photos is just a small portion of the story. It all comes down to this - patient care is the agenda. And in everything we do pertaining to social media, our motto is to "have care".
Friday, April 9, 2010
Content is King?
In my opinion, this is one of the most overused cliches used in social media today. I am very wary when I hear an "expert" drop this phrase in a presentation - their credibility instantly drops and it's about that time I start to tune them out and reach for my iPhone for some real insight.
Content is not king. It's not queen, it's not even royalty. The new king, and rightfully so, is the community, the audience. They tell us what they want by giving us feedback on our pushed-out content. Yes, we push - let's call it what it is. BUT, if your plan is to push out content with the intent to pull someone in for feedback, relationship and collaboration, then you're doing it right.
Again, it all goes back to listening. So make sure you are "serving" the real king - in this case, it's the people. And that, my friends, makes perfect sense.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
A couple of examples
After professing my love for the Flip cam, it occurred to me that I should probably post some examples of videos we've done using the Flip to support my opinions.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Flip It Good
I'm not being paid to promote the Flip. I don't have any back-end deal with the manufacturer, nor do I want one. I just love this ingenious little invention and thought I'd tell you why it's a sure investment for any organization doing social media.
If you work in social media, you should have a Flip with you at all times, or at the very least at your immediate disposal. I compare it to a reporter having their notepad or mini-recorder with them - you never know when a story or situation will present itself and you need to be ready to document it.
The Flip camera is, in my opinion, an almost perfect video camera for social media. I say almost because it's missing one thing - an external mic option. With the success of YouTube, people are used to lower-quality video, but the audio can always be better.
The Flip is unobtrusive. It doesn't scare people the way a larger HD camera does. It's cute, silent, quick and gets the job done. And, while we attempt to treat our Flips with the utmost dignity, sometimes they get a bit tossed around. So far, they're indestructable.
We have a few video cameras at our disposal - a basic Flip, a Flip Ultra, and a Panasonic HD. Which camera we use to shoot depends on the subject matter and who's doing the filming, but the Flip is great for most anything.
We don't use the Flip editing software - we take the extra time to upload it into Windows Movie Maker so that we can sweeten the audio and utilize the additional transitions and title options. Hardly takes any time at all, and allows for more creativity.
One of the best things about the Flip is that due to it's ease of use most anyone can use it, which means that we can give a patient transporter or ICU nurse or lab tech the Flip for a day and get back some really incredible footage. "A day in the life of...". You get the picture (pun intended).
A couple Flip Tips:
- For those longer shoots, stabilize the flip using a tripod. At $15.00, it's totally worth it.
- Playback. Before you pack it up, review a bit of your footage to make sure the audio is usable. If not, try to find a location (if you can) that lets the interviewee be heard.
- Download and delete. Depending on how much you (or others) are using your Flip, download the footage on a regular basis and delete it from the camera.
- Batteries. Keep some spare batteries with you at all times. You never know when they'll go out, and you don't want to be in the field and have your Flip go dark without a backup.
The Flip is a solid investment. If you don't have one and want to up the ante in your social media strategy, it's a great fit.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Empathy
The healthcare community is unique in that they are searching for and expecting much more than what they might get from a car company or airline when it comes to social media. They are looking for empathy. Compassion. A deeper connection than most from their provider.
I see firsthand the challenges that many members of our community are dealing with. The tremulous wait for a donor heart. A solid diagnosis to a long and heady ailment. More time and resources to do everything and anything for a patient. These challenges affect our patients, our employees, and are felt by those that know them. They seek comfort and answers to one of the hardest questions - why?
In telling a patient's story through the use of social media tools, I find it's more than okay to add a personal message - it's not just okay, it should be done. Regardless of what faith any of us subscribe to, wishing our patients, employees and community well lets them know we're not just in it for the story.
We were recently made aware of a young woman who is in dire need of a heart transplant - she is on the list, awaiting a donor, and received an LVAD to keep her heart beating. Her father has been keeping a blog of her progress, and is candid in what she's going through and how he's feeling. Frequently, prayers are listed and pleas to a higher power are made as they seek an happy resolution to Megan's situation. I posted an interview this morning that her father did with a local station over the weekend. I didn't hesitate to add at the end of the post how we are pulling for her. We pull for all of our patients. When we tell their stories, we should say so.
So whether it's healthcare or another non-profit organization, it's important to give tribute and show our feelings to those who are so selflessly giving of their stories. That's what engagement and relationship-building is about - the caring.
I see firsthand the challenges that many members of our community are dealing with. The tremulous wait for a donor heart. A solid diagnosis to a long and heady ailment. More time and resources to do everything and anything for a patient. These challenges affect our patients, our employees, and are felt by those that know them. They seek comfort and answers to one of the hardest questions - why?
In telling a patient's story through the use of social media tools, I find it's more than okay to add a personal message - it's not just okay, it should be done. Regardless of what faith any of us subscribe to, wishing our patients, employees and community well lets them know we're not just in it for the story.
We were recently made aware of a young woman who is in dire need of a heart transplant - she is on the list, awaiting a donor, and received an LVAD to keep her heart beating. Her father has been keeping a blog of her progress, and is candid in what she's going through and how he's feeling. Frequently, prayers are listed and pleas to a higher power are made as they seek an happy resolution to Megan's situation. I posted an interview this morning that her father did with a local station over the weekend. I didn't hesitate to add at the end of the post how we are pulling for her. We pull for all of our patients. When we tell their stories, we should say so.
So whether it's healthcare or another non-profit organization, it's important to give tribute and show our feelings to those who are so selflessly giving of their stories. That's what engagement and relationship-building is about - the caring.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Tips
This is not an April Fools joke - I'm not feeling very clever or impish today, or else I would attempt some sort of scam like these.
If there's anything I've learned over my many years in the biz, it's that prioritization is essential to keeping your head above water. This goes for social media also.
Because is still an "industry" (I use this term very loosely) that's in it's infancy, you can get sucked into every new tool or idea that's shouted from the rooftop by self-proclaimed gurus. A few tips:
- Stick with the basics that provide you with the most listen and engagement (Facebook, blogging, Twitter) and hone your strategy.
-Listen to the chatter and attempt to discern the true taste from filler - check out trusted follows, bloggers, industry leaders. They'll help you filter the noise.
-Break down your day. The highest percentage of your time should be spent listening (outside and in), then plan, enact, evaluate, respond.
-Stick to your agenda. Others may (will) come at you with their own priorities and either attempt to "push" them off on you or move up the deadline for immediate relief. Investigate just how hot the request is, and prioritize once the truth is known. What you do is important, too.
-Make the rounds. This goes back to listening in - talk to your colleagues, as they may be working on a story or outputting information that would be a great fit for campaigns or strategy your working on. Share the love.
-Be present and have fun. I forget this one often. I get bogged down in my own deadlines, stack of editing, and phone calls/interviews I have yet to tackle. It will all get done - maybe not in the time you want it to, but fussing about it may take you away from a great moment that's happening right in front of you.
If there's anything I've learned over my many years in the biz, it's that prioritization is essential to keeping your head above water. This goes for social media also.
Because is still an "industry" (I use this term very loosely) that's in it's infancy, you can get sucked into every new tool or idea that's shouted from the rooftop by self-proclaimed gurus. A few tips:
- Stick with the basics that provide you with the most listen and engagement (Facebook, blogging, Twitter) and hone your strategy.
-Listen to the chatter and attempt to discern the true taste from filler - check out trusted follows, bloggers, industry leaders. They'll help you filter the noise.
-Break down your day. The highest percentage of your time should be spent listening (outside and in), then plan, enact, evaluate, respond.
-Stick to your agenda. Others may (will) come at you with their own priorities and either attempt to "push" them off on you or move up the deadline for immediate relief. Investigate just how hot the request is, and prioritize once the truth is known. What you do is important, too.
-Make the rounds. This goes back to listening in - talk to your colleagues, as they may be working on a story or outputting information that would be a great fit for campaigns or strategy your working on. Share the love.
-Be present and have fun. I forget this one often. I get bogged down in my own deadlines, stack of editing, and phone calls/interviews I have yet to tackle. It will all get done - maybe not in the time you want it to, but fussing about it may take you away from a great moment that's happening right in front of you.
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