Healthcare Intelligence Network – 2 Common Missteps of Healthcare Social Business Strategies

Just because healthcare is deploying social business tools at an incredible rate – up to 72 percent of companies have launched social or mobile tools, according to a report from McKinsey – doesn’t mean they’re working.

The two most common errors companies make in this area are focusing on the technology before nailing down a complete strategy, and failing to measure results, explains Andrew Dixon, senior vice president of marketing and operations for Igloo Software.

In regards to the first misstep, Dixon has this advice: “It’s tempting to jump in by introducing a Facebook page externally and maybe a microblogging tool internally. This allows a company to feel as though it is making progress,” says Dixon. “However, companies need to first identify the problem they want to address, such as a desire to connect more directly with patients or engage providers.”

He suggests healthcare companies do three things at the outset:

• Examine their technology decisions.
• Review the cultural makeup of its audience.
• Assess the operational aspect by asking whether the tools actually work.

As for the lack of measurement, Dixon encourages healthcare companies to measure the effect of their current solution before deploying any new technology. This creates a benchmark against which to judge future efforts.

In this audio interview, Dixon describes what’s driving the aggressive growth of interactive patient care communities and suggests how responsibility for social strategy – which he defines as both an internal and external communications strategy – should be assigned.

Dixon will discuss the key elements of an effective social strategy, along with and best practice guidance from healthcare social strategies having a bottom line impact during a May 1, 2013 webinar, Healthcare Social Business Strategy: Driving Adoption with Social, Mobile and Cloud Technologies, a 45-minute program sponsored by the Healthcare Intelligence Network.

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