There’s a recent article at the Baltimore Sun that describes how Doctors offices are trying services like Facebook, Twitter and even Groupon to attract new patients. In fact, through the use of Groupon, one Optometrist expanded their customer based and connected with other eye doctors across the country.

“Groupon has offered a growing number of deals for eye exams, teeth-cleaning and whitening, electrolysis and chiropractic services. Approximately 15 percent of Groupon deals nationwide are for health care services, says Julie Anne Mossler, a company spokeswoman.”

Obviously, buying drugs online not all healthcare services are practical for promoting through discounts. Who’s going to pick an emergency room or gynecologist because of a coupon?  But there are plenty of competitive healthcare services that can make good use of discounts through services like Groupon and reach an entirely new market.   Read the full story.

Panel experts voiced their support for allowing drug and health care companies to access the power of social networks during the Food and Drug Law Institute’s recent Advertising and Promotion Conference in Washington, D.C.

These experts discussed how to communicate the message of drug and health care product safety and risk to the public as they wait for the Food and Drug Administration to set guidelines online pharmacy without prescription on how health care companies and marketers can proceed into the social-media space — regulation that are expected by the end of the year.

“The right patient, the right medication, at the right time, should be our goal,” said panelist Freda Lewis-Hall, the chief medical officer and a senior vice president at Pfizer. “We have narrowing opportunities to provide the best informed, most accurate information about our products.”

The problem, Lewis-Hall said, is staying within strict marketing rules set forth by the FDA, while advice from patients, practicioners and anonymous bloggers goes unchecked.

“We know people don’t know how to vet information available to them in cyberspace,” she said. “But the fact remains that we’re not the trusted source of information.”

Read the full post at SmartBlog on Social Media

A recent presentation from John Mack, Publisher of Pharma Marketing News and the Pharma Marketing Blog offers an excellent overview of the current state of pharma social media use, how social media can work with other Pharma marketing tactics as well as how to overcome common barriers.

This presentation also includes a handy Social Media Readiness Assessment Tool

There’s a new ebook on social media for the Pharmaceutical industry out from Chris Iafolla, of SHIFT drugs online without prescription Public Relations. Todd Defren, co-founder of SHIFT writes:

“Every Social Media program — regardless of the industry — is tasked with finding the right audience and engaging in a thoughtful and productive manner.  For pharmaceutical companies, other issues have to be considered … such as how to handle adverse event reporting; the need for fair balance; and how to handle off-label discussions.  On top of this, you are dealing with a patient audience that is more knowledgeable than ever and craving a give-and-take relationship with their doctors.  When they have questions that require a personalized response, many are as likely to turn to their online peers as to their physicians, which only further muddies that twisty road!  To help Pharma marketing execs navigate this journey, SHIFT today released an eBook aimed at offering practical advice on successfully implementing Social Media programs in the pharma space.”

To get the free, downloadable book, try one of the following options:

• Visit the SHIFT Communications website, leave your email, and the eBook will be automatically sent.
• Follow @shiftcomm on Twitter and tweet something along the lines of, “Looking forward to reading @shiftcomm’s Pharma Social Media eBook, via @prforpharma” and SHIFT will get in touch with the link.
• Join SHIFT’s Facebook Page and leave a message there.  SHIFT will be in touch with the download link.

Once you download and read the book, feel free to leave a comment back here or on the SHIFT PR blog with your opinion.

If you plan to use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube, you might heed some of the following tips for your own credibility and online pharmacy without a prescription job insurance:

• Learn the platforms: Learn how to use each social media tool to your advantage, which means learning how to use privacy controls and other customizations.
• Keep professional and social relationships separate: By dividing social and business lives, a healthcare professional can maintain a professional demeanor on one hand and socialize with friends and family on the other. It is not appropriate to “friend” patients on Facebook or to follow them on Twitter.
• Watch your associations: You may want to connect with a patient on a blog, but you may not want to connect with that patient on Facebook or LinkedIn. On the other hand, you don’t want a friend with an offensive user name to appear on your list of people you follow on Twitter, unless you Tweet anonymously (possible by not revealing your real name, but a user name when registering).
• Keep politics and religion quiet: Unless you plan to be a journalist or an activist, it is best to keep those two topics in the personal realm, rather than the business realm. Activism, however, is up to you — if you, as a healthcare professional — want to campaign for clean water, then use your professionalism to temper your activism.
• Use social networking to say “Thank you” and to set up meetings in person: This Mashable article explains that social networking provides the perfect medium to extend your hand in business situations appropriately.
• Keep comments civil and don’t use social media while under the influence: The article about medical students explains succinctly how these comments can lead to expulsion from school — and in professional situations may lead to job loss or loss of clients.

Read the full post citing the Jobvite survey and Mayo clinic advice for healthcare professionals and their use of social media at: The Health Express

Presentation from Bridget M. Forney.

At one point or another, 80% of Internet users have looked online for health information.  Social networking sites, blogs and podcasts have opened up two-way communication lines for patients and providers.  The days of patients merely listening to doctors, associations or even print advertisements appear to be diminishing.

But patients aren’t the only users benefiting from social media.  Hospitals and healthcare providers can and should us social media to their benefit, as well.

In this presentation, Ascension Health takes an in-depth look at healthcare social media by looking at examples of successful users on Facebook and Twitter, healthcare social media best practices and provides visuals and statistics to highlight “Smarter Healthcare Using Social Media”.

Hospitals have attempted to monitor employee social media use at work by blocking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  While this prevents employees from using hospital computers to access these sites, it can’t stop employees from using personal computers and smart phones to share information about work, i.e. your hospital.  When you can’t abolish social media usage, you can definitely implement restrictions.  Developing a social media policy for your hospital will outline the right and wrong ways your employees can engage with social media.

HealthLeaders Media shared these 5 tips to guide your hospital social media policy:

1. Keep it short
2. Keep it simple
3. Keep it encouraging
4. Keep it educational
5. Keep it transparent

While the guide can’t prevent employees from engaging in social media entirely, it can hinder the types of messages and information they are sharing.  Using this guide will help to ensure your employees are aware of the information they can and cannot cheap prescription drugs without prescription share and the repercussions they will face if secure information is exposed.

For hospital social media policy examples, enjoy this database provided by Social Media Goverance.

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:

• WebMD has recently lost ground to rival online communities, such as MedHelp.org.  In an effort to fight back, WebMD launched  Health Exchange putting community content on the front lines.  Marketers have been invited to create branded posts and host consumer discussions about health and wellness for the site, but as of April 5, no marketers had signed on.
• Sharecare, a yet to be launched site from WebMD founder, Jeff Arnold, plans to provide users with info from several points of view including celebrity physicians, hospitals, high-profile health authors, local providers and other users.  The site was projected to launch in early 2010 but has now been pushed out until summer.

With over 60 million consumers sharing health experiences online and over 200 hospitals a part of social networking communities, it’s safe buy rx drugs without prescription to say social media is of great importance to the healthcare marketing mix.  Are regulations and compliance issues hindering marketers from taking the plunge?  The importance of growing patient communities to healthcare marketers will continue to increase as a large and highly accessible consumer base.

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:

1. Stay confidential – Don’t mention any information that can identify clients or patients. Don’t write anything where a patient could identify themselves – it could be embarrassing for them or break client trust.
   
2. Share information – Do post the link to a great article.  Do retweet great information that aligns with what you are trying Viagra Without Prescription to achieve.  If someone writes something you don’t agree with, do post your apposing view and provide links to evidence. Respond to mentions as much as you can.
3. Think simple – Don’t use jargon. Don’t use a big word where a small one will do. Don’t use three words where one will do. If you need to clarify a tweet, link to a blog post or article on your website.
4. Know your audience – Do determine who your ideal follower is before getting started. Do aim for your posts to align with what they would like to hear. Your Twitter account may rank high in search engine results, so you want to ensure your messages would be appropriate for clients, workmates and potential employers to see.
5. Be engaging – Do work with those in your profession or industry to get more evidence based positive health messages out there. Do follow them, retweet their posts and engage in conversations by replying to their posts. Social media is not competitive – it makes the pie bigger, it doesn’t eat into your piece.

Follow these tips to create effective, meaningful and goal-oriented posts.  If you keep confidentiality and your goals top-of-mind, you’ll be able to see the benefits of social media services like Twitter.  If you haven’t already, create your Twitter account now and be sure to follow @healthcareos for updates, tips and news.

If your hospital has developed innovative social media marketing methods or strategies, please share your stories with us. We’d love to write about you. Email us at: buy drugs tips at healthcareos dot com