Why You Need Social Media To Build Trust Between Practitioners and Patients

By Maggie Bergeron, HealthSwapp

Social media is embedded in the fabric of our everyday lives – it is the 21^st Century version of word of mouth. Almost 20 million Canadians are on Facebook – more than the number of us who voted in our last federal election.

The basics of any social network are to start a page, connect to people, build your network and engage with that network to share, exchange and engage.

The social media revolution has changed the way that we connect and access information. Social media gives everyone the ability to broadcast to their network whatever they want. Consumers of media are now creators of media and we can all communicate whatever we want, to whomever we want, whenever we want.

Since lots of physiotherapy and chiropractic clinics are doing this, the bottom line is that if you don’t, you’re missing out. So today, I want to share with you why you need social media to build trust between practitioners and patients.

Every industry has been transformed, and while healthcare may be one of the last to jump on board, we will be transformed too. Many of us have already started to see this transformation when patients show up with a Dr. Google diagnosis. The frequency of patients doing online research will continue to increase, as well as the number of patients who are apart of online communities, whether in a Facebook group – for example a group for Survivors of Chronic Pain or a specific social site for healthcare like Patients Like Me.

In the not-so-far-off future the majority of our patients won’t show up to the clinic alone – they will bring their networks with them.

This can make our jobs more challenging or we can help build and contribute to valuable online content that will help shape us as leaders in rehabilitation. It’s also important that we have a sizeable online presence to ensure that our patients and potential patients aren’t misled by faulty information.

One organization that has embraced social media wholeheartedly is the Mayo Clinic, whose center for social media’s mission is “to lead the social media revolution in healthcare, contributing to health and well being for people everywhere.”

Social media is a 2-way street that gives patients a voice and allows them to look behind the curtain and see what their healthcare practitioner thinks, and then respond.

In turn, it helps healthcare practitioners, organizations and clinics make important news and content available directly to patients in order to encourage feedback, dialog and sharing of information, and thus create excitement and raise pubic awareness for you and our profession.

The rise in social networking has sparked a movement to set standards and guidelines. The Canadian Physiotherapy Association has released social media guidelines, which include an outline of privacy, confidentiality and professional conduct on social media.

The challenge with social media is to take advantage of the opportunity without crossing any important professional and legal boundaries.

Social media has become an undeniable force, and its rapid, informal communication style represents both possibility and liability for healthcare practitioners. Social media, if designed and regulated well, could optimize both patient and practitioner experiences and allow us as practitioners to establish ourselves as thought leaders and experts in our field. This in turn helps us build and develop trust with our followers, including patients and potential patients.

Social media provides a platform to communicate with your audience and to establish thought leadership. Simply telling your audience about you or your clinic doesn’t provide any significant value. However, sharing information that is designed to teach, entertain, ignite discussions and gain feedback, will earn the trust of your followers.