With a boom in health related blogs, information sites are now gravitating toward social media.  Patients are increasingly sharing medical experiences and seeking advice from other patients who share similar health concerns.   Online communities are giving patients support, personal experiences, and direct answers – something they cannot always get from experts.

While patients are gravitating toward social media, a recent ClickZ article shares that some healthcare marketers seem to be hesitant:

Healthcare professionals can’t afford to ignore social media.  With patients and families on the social web, it provides a landscape for healthcare professionals to improve customer service and reach younger consumers.  Twitter is a great social media service for healthcare professionals to utilize, reaching an audience of business leaders, patients, colleagues and clients.

If you’re new to Twitter, it’s hard to know what tactics to implement.  And even harder to know what effective tactics to implement.

Here’s a list of 5 Twitter Tips for Healthcare Professionals to ensure you’re utilizing the service to its full potential:

When it comes to hospitals engaging with patients and their families on the social web, too many are concerned with justifying the efforts. But a recent blog post from Ragan Communications suggests that’s the wrong strategy completely:

How do hospitals measure their social media ROI? Are they simply tilting at windmills like Don Quixote? Too often, we find ourselves counting the number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers or the number of people who viewed You Tube videos, trying to justify engagement in social media.

However, the bigger question is whether hospitals can afford not to engage.

By now, the challenges faced by health care and pharmaceutical organizations when it comes to government regulations on social media are well know.

But a recent blog post from SmartBlog on Social Media’s Merritt Colaizzi suggests there may be some hope on the horizon. Despite the added layer of complexity resulting from government regulation, several standout health care and pharmaceutical companies are helping to get the social media ball rolling, including:

• ZocDoc puts patients in touch with physicians, allowing them to book appointments online, as well as provide ratings.

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Gone are the days when health care marketers were full-time professional storytellers — focused on how best to package stories and engaged in one-way conversations.

Today, storytelling is just a part of the job of health care marketers. With the rise of social media, health care marketers must be focused on facilitating conversations and sharing information.

Clearly, 2009 was a year of new beginnings for the health care industry — particularly in regards to the acceptance of social media channels like Twitter. But as we move into 2010, will that acceptance shrink, remain stagnant or skyrocket?

We don’t have a health care Twitter crystal ball. But we do have an interview with Phil Baumann, registered nurse and author, by HCPLive. Baumann shared with HCPLive his predictions for the future of Twitter for health care marketing:

For health care organizations first embarking on a social media strategy, there’s no definitive formula for what works and what doesn’t work. Perhaps the greatest tool health care organizations have for developing a social media strategy are others’ success stories.

The Significant Science blog recently interviewed John Sharp of Cleveland Clinic, which has successfully rolled out a social media strategy that includes blogging, microblogging and participation on other social networking sites.

Here’s what Sharp had to say about the stakeholders within healthcare organizations that should be involved in launching social media efforts:

2009 marked the year social media as a platform and news topic exploded. Not only for mainstream topics like celebrities and technology but for Healthcare as well. Scott Meis presented to the Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society of Greater New York (HPRMS) on current social media trends and tips. Some interesting stats:

• 36% want to see what other consumers say about medication or treatment.
• 34% using social media
• 46% using health portals
• 67% using search engines

From How America Searches: Health & Wellness by iCrossing and Opinion Research Corporation

Here’s the full presentation:

60 million consumers now using social media to share their health experiences online, according to recent health care social media research by the HealthCare New Media Marketing Conference. it’s no wonder that more and more hospitals are trying to determine ways to effectively leverage social media channels.

And with Twitter being one of the fastest growing social media tools of recent years, it’s a good place for hospitals to start.

For hospitals unsure of how to use Twitter to reach health consumers, SMUG (Social Media University, Global) blogger Lee Aase provides some examples of how hospitals have been using Twitter.

The pharmaceutical industry is slowly venturing into the world of social media. And like with any advance into uncharted territory, there are obstacles to overcome before the ultimate goal is reached.

The Shed blogger Daniel Siddle takes this all into consideration in a recent post discussing the merits of social media in the pharmaceutical industry and the ways in which it can benefit from interaction with customers.

The post initially mentions the obstacles the pharmaceutical industries faces in terms of marketing products:

Cost: Marketing pharmaceuticals is expensive, especially because it can’t be done until after the drug receives New Drug Approval (NDA).