CorpComms Magazine

Three out of four American healthcare professionals use social media for work-related purposes, according to a new study by business research firm Frost & Sullivan and the iHT2.

The study found that 84 per cent use social media solely for personal purposes, and 68 per cent do so for both work and personal purposes. But just one third of those healthcare employees who use social media for professional purposes do so as a work requirement.

Three quarters of those surveyed said LinkedIn and Facebook were the most useful social networks for professional purposes.

One third of all healthcare businesses ban employees from using social media in the workplace, predominantly for security reasons, but just over half have dedicated social media departments.

The iHT2 said: 'Clearly, the strict rules related to patient privacy drive a lot of current policy around the use - or lack of use - of social media among healthcare providers. This differs from social media privacy concerns seen in other industries, which may be driven more by issues around market competition, protecting intellectual property, managing brand identify and awareness, and so on.'

Healthcare professionals said that the main reason for using social media was for marketing campaigns or brand awareness, and 60 per cent said the results of these initiatives exceeded their expectations.

The iHT2 said: 'There are signs in the market of building momentum and excitement around the potential for social media within healthcare institutions, particularly for areas outside of marketing and more specifically related to improving patient care. For example, the Veterans Affairs (VA) [the government run military veterans system] recently announced a new directive that 'highly encourages' employees to use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, chat rooms, and so on to interact with five patients and other members of the public.'

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