If you think health care consumers haven’t widely embraced social media to research health care providers, gather information on treatments and diseases, and support one another, think again.

This health care social media video, created by the organizers of the HealthCare New Media Marketing Conference, offers a host of interesting statistics that prove the use of online media outlets for gaining access to health care information.

Did you know?

• 60 million consumers now use new media to share their health experiences online
• 216 US hospitals use social media
• 142 US hospitals have You Tube channels

Last week we discussed how a new PhRMA proposal would pharma social media a big boost. But how about medical device manufacturers? It turns out, some medical device companies have begun to participate in social media. But similar to pharma, social media participation from medical device companies has been slowed due to a lack of clarity in FDA regulations.

In a recent Finance & Commerce article, Arundhati Parmar discusses a recent survey BB Marketing Plus and MediComm Consultants. Survey results reveal that a small group of FDA-regulated companies are participating in social media to engage customers and prospects.

These days, it’s common for consumers to discuss drugs and treatments on health care social networks like WebMD, as well as on general social networks like Twitter.

Yet the pharmaceutical industry has thus far been unable to participate in social media — not because they are prohibited by law, but because there is a lack of clear regulatory guidelines for marketing on social networks and other web sites.

Still, in April, the FDA sent warning letters to 14 companies, claiming they violated regulations regarding presentation of fair balance in search engine ads, according to AdvertisingAge.

It’s clear that social media has gained widespread popularity amongst the consumer-oriented Fortune 500 crowd. But how about pharmaceutical, biotechnology and devices/diagnostic companies? By and large, they have been reluctant to participate in the social web, instead sticking closely to a Web 1.0 model. That’s the point made in a recent Life Science Leader article by Cliff Mintz:

Indeed, only a handful of life sciences companies have decided to take the social media plunge, claims Jonathan Richman, director of business development at Bridge Worldwide Inc. and author of the popular “Dose of Digital” blog, which tracks social media usage by life sciences and healthcare companies.

It was the perfect storm: As social media sites were gaining in popularity, health care was becoming more expensive and doctors’ time was becoming more finite and valuable.

It was only a matter of time before patients and their families began turning to health care social networks for medical information and even emotional support.

The Wall Street Journal discusses the trend in an insight article:

Online health sites have been booming in the past five years … Many of the sites have recently experienced heavy traffic from users seeking information on the H1N1 virus. Officials of the Health 2.0 Conference, which tracks the industry, estimate that the number of such sites climbed to nearly 500 from about 35 four years ago.

Social networking for doctors is quickly gaining popularity. Doctors across the country are using social networking tools to give patients’ families, as well as the public, an eye into operating rooms, according to a recent Miami Herald article.

In an effort to educate the public on medical procedures and calm the fears of patients’ families, doctors are providing real-time updates and videos illustrating step-by-step medical procedures.

The article shares an example of social networking for doctors:

In the waiting room, the patient’s family members circled a Blackberry. About every 15 minutes, Dr. Carlos Wolf of Miami Plastic Surgery gave them a few keystrokes of information about how the patient was doing.

Too many Americans find themselves too busy to be healthy. Parents, more concerned with providing care for their children and elderly parents, fail to see a doctor when they’re feeling under the weather. Others put in extra hours at the office instead of the gym. A recent article in Fast Company predicts that, going forward, health care needs will be better met through increased use of networked devices and social networking platforms.

To illustrate, the article tells the story of a typical working mother, overwhelmingly busy and often unable to address her own health:

It’s clear that business leaders in a range of industries have come to embrace social media channels, including Twitter, to communicate with customers, manage brand reputation and increase brand visibility. But are healthcare executives lagging?

That’s a question Pharma 2.0 bloggers Bunny Ellerin and Eileen O’Brien ask in a recent post:

Tweeting is fast becoming a must-do vs. a what-are-you-doing for business generally and CEO’s in particular. Just last week Twitter published Twitter 101, a guide to help businesses leverage the service. Last month, BusinessWeek ran an article about business leaders who use Twitter and profiled 50 CEO’s from a range of industries. There was definitely an over-representation of tech CEO’s, but BW also talked to those from advertising/pr, construction, research, media, retail. But none in healthcare.

A recent report from the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies found that social media and Internet usage have the potential to reduce depression levels in senior citizens by 20%–and hence trim the nation’s health care costs.

“Maintaining relationships with friends and family at a time in life when mobility becomes increasingly limited is challenging for the elderly,” says Dr. Sherry G. Ford, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of communication studies at University of Montevallo in Alabama. “Increased Internet access and use by senior citizens enables them to connect with sources of social support when face-to-face interaction becomes more difficult.”

Despite some regulatory uncertainty regarding how the pharmaceutical industry interacts with the public, there are many standout pharma marketing and social media initiatives from which to learn, Socialmedia.biz blogger JD Lasica offers in a recent post.

Lasica identifies the top 10 social media efforts and patient community micro-sites in the pharmaceutical and health care industry:

1. Johnson & Johnson
2. Glaxo-Smith-Kline
3. Bayer
4. Sanofi-Aventis
5. Novartis
6. AstraZenecaUS
7. Bristol-Myers Squibb
8. Roche
9. Pfizer
10. Boehringer Ingelheim

In a slideshow presentation, “Top 10 Pharma Efforts in Social Media,” Lasica offers details of each social media effort, as well as grades each company on their Twitter activity.