Social Networking Essay Paper
HLT 610 Module 1 Social Networking Advantages and Disadvantages
Details:
In a 500-750 words, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of social networking and how it can be used in career development.
Include specific examples of social media in your discussion.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.Social Networking Essay Paper
This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to the beginning of the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
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The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
Social media has become an integral part of many healthcare organizations’ marketing and communications strategies. Across the United States, over 99 percent of hospitals have an active Facebook page – and an increasing number are also establishing a presence on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.Social Networking Essay Paper
Social media is no longer optional. In order to engage with patients on the platforms they use the most, social networking and advertising are critical components of the overarching digital marketing strategy.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits, challenges, and opportunities that social media presents in today’s healthcare landscape.
The Benefits of Social Media in Healthcare
Social media opens up many opportunities for health systems. It allows organizations to build connections, share discoveries, and develop credibility as thought leaders. Through platforms like Twitter and Facebook, physicians and health systems are able to share relevant health alerts, receive patient feedback, and bolster their brand with a focus on creating trust. By communicating with patients online, hospitals and physicians establish the foundation for a positive relationship. In addition to this, precisely targeted ads via social media platforms assist in personalized patient outreach.Social Networking Essay Paper
According to a 2018 study, 80 percent of U.S. Internet users have searched for health information online, and 60 percent of social media users trust social media posts by doctors over any other group. By engaging and interacting on the social platforms that their patients frequent, health systems can revitalize their word-of-mouth referrals, improve communication, and provide better care by ensuring that patients continuously engage with the health system.
Challenges and Risks of Social Media in Healthcare
HIPAA Compliance
HIPAA compliance is a paramount concern for all healthcare organizations, especially when it comes to social media. Specifically, health systems are hesitant that a published social media post may violate a patient’s privacy, or that social media may be another vulnerability for hackers or malware.
Fortunately for health systems, HIPAA has released a comprehensive list of social media guidelines that outline how to post information online without violating patient privacy. This primarily involves de-identifying patients by removing information like their name, date of birth, or insurance information. Keep in mind that hospitals can avoid HIPAA compliance concerns simply by getting the patient’s consent to be shared on social media.
Time Constraints
Physicians are typically fully booked every day – if they do have some free time, then hospitals are often quick to assign them last-minute appointments. Already, physicians are only able to spend about 15 minutes with each of their patients, which leaves them little time in the day for relevant social media posts. Social Networking Essay Paper
Marketing teams can help support physicians by drafting social posts that just need approval. Or, to generate more original content, health systems may want to offer incentives to physicians who post quality content to their social media accounts on a regular basis.
Professionalism
Maintaining an air of professionalism is a concern for the entire healthcare organization, but physicians are exceptionally cognizant of how they are perceived online. Physicians may be concerned that colleagues or patients will lose respect from them if they share inaccurate information, or fear that they may end up at the center of a controversy.
However, if all posts are appropriate and relevant, controversies are unlikely to occur. For additional guidance, healthcare professionals should adhere to The American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Board’s guidelines for healthcare professionals in addition to all legal guidelines. If necessary, health systems should monitor all connected social media pages, and be ready to block or immediately resolve concerns with exceptionally negative users.
Healthcare Social Media Tactics
Promote Healthcare-Specific Networks
In this Internet-driven age, patients have a wealth of health and medical information at their fingertips: A quick Google search for rheumatoid arthritis, for instance, yields millions of results. In some cases, the best way to learn about coping with a health condition is by swapping stories and advice person-to-person on a forum. Social Networking Essay Paper
One example of a patient-powered research network like this is Patients Like Me. Co-founders Jeff Cole and Ben and James Heywood set out to configure a way for patients to manage their own health conditions, changing the way the industry conducts research and improves patient care.
Cole and Heywood founded Patients Like Me based on the trial-and-error experience their brother went through during his fight with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). They wanted to connect with patients coping with ALS and track how they handle their own day-to-day care. Today, with over 600,000 members, their network has grown to include patients with a diverse range of diseases and conditions.
These patient-powered platforms utilize the enormous reach of social media to connect target groups with one another – and with reputable, capable health systems. On these networks and forums, patients can explore care methods, learn from one another, and freely share their experiences with various medical conditions and health systems. Social Networking Essay Paper
A primary reason why healthcare organizations participate in social media is to help educate patients. They want to educate the public about innovative research and tips for staying healthy.
Frequent social media posting, like live-tweeting, provides numerous opportunities for education and engagement, boosts user authority and popularity, and works as a platform to showcase positive aspects of healthcare organizations.
In 2013, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center live-tweeted a total knee replacement surgery, in which over 3,800 people followed on Twitter and 3,000 over live-stream video and their hashtag #stvknee was a trending tag throughout the process. The following year, Sunny brook Hospital in Toronto live-tweeted a procedure for a heart bypass.
Include Hashtags to Engage in Conversations
To get the most out of their social media engagement efforts, we recommend leveraging relevant hashtags. Hashtags first became popular on Twitter, introduced as a way to link conversations and commentary on similar topics for simplified user search and popularity tracking. Today, hashtags are used on numerous social platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others. Social Networking Essay Paper
With the continuous flow and discovery of health information, hashtags offer both patients and physicians the ability to streamline their search across an entire social media platform. The utility of these hashtags is illustrated below by a volunteer organization, the Breast Cancer Social Media (#BSCM) Community. Using the hashtag, users can search #BSCM and access an entire world of support, guidance, and information – not just from fellow patients, but also the professional advice from clinicians and researchers.
To find hashtags that your health system can contribute to in a meaningful way, consult a hashtag database like Symplur. With this resource, healthcare organizations can find trending hashtags on conferences, diseases, research, and other generalized topics. This information can then be used to inspire social posts that reflect what patients are currently searching for. Social Networking Essay Paper