Social Media and Healthcare 2.0 How Madison Area Healthcare Organizations are Integrating Social Media Into Their Business Best Practices.  According to John Sharp of IHealthBeat, "Social media has invaded health care from at least three fronts: innovative startups, patient communities and medical centers. The Health 2.0 movement has nurtured dozens of startups with creative concepts... [read more]

Social Media and Healthcare 2.0 How Madison Area Healthcare Organizations are Integrating Social Media Into Their Business Best Practices.  According to John Sharp of IHealthBeat, "Social media has invaded health care from at least three fronts: innovative startups, patient communities and medical centers. The Health 2.0 movement has nurtured dozens of startups with creative concepts to revolutionize health care: tools from vertical search and social networks to health content aggregators and wellness tools. Patient communities are flourishing in an environment rich with social networks, both through mainline social communities and condition-specific communities. Meanwhile, hospitals and academic medical centers are diving into the social media mix with more than 300 YouTube channels and 500 Twitter accounts. Hospitals are moving from experimentation (Twittering from the OR to Flipcam videos) to strategic use of social media to enhance brand loyalty and recruit new patients. They are taking on monitoring and monetization of social media. At the same time, health care organizations find challenges in adopting social media. Hospitals and medical practices are risk adverse and generally cautious about new technology trends without clear value. There are questions about whether social media use by hospital employees is a waste of time, or even worse, presents risks of violating HIPAA or leaking proprietary information. Hospital IT departments are concerned about security risks, such as the use of tinyurl.com, which can mask malicious Web sites. Privacy concerns, particularly the vulnerability of social media accounts, are also cited as a reason to avoid social media."  In other statistics According to a 2009 Pew Internet Research study, 61% of adults look online for healthcare information, while only 25% did so in 2000 Another study has reported that 90% of the individuals already online search the Internet for health information Nearly 40% use social media for health information A recent Harris Interactive poll found similar results: 69% of respondents used search engines 62% of respondents used medical websites 55% of respondents discussed health information found online with their physicians Facility and Breakfast Host is UW Health Our Panelists will discuss their views and share what they have done at their hospital facility to engage with their communities. We shall touch on best practices, tips and advice from the experts from UW Health, SSM Health Care Wisconsin, Mercy Health System, and Fort Health Care. Trish Skram (@TrishSkram and @MercyHealth) is a media and public relations specialist andsocial media strategist for Mercy Health System, a three-hospital nonprofit health system serving Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. She is an award-winning health care communicator for her work in community outreachand social media strategy. Trish regularly blogs about social media and marketing for the professionalcommunity at The Janesville Gazette, a leading regional daily newspaper in Southern Wisconsin, and also for the Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relationsand Marketing Society. Jennifer Walker (@jw4lk and @UWHealth)  splits her time between Social Media & Information Architect at UW Health. Jennifer manages the social media presences for UW Health, UW Carbone Cancer Center, American Family Children’s Hospital and UW Health Transformations. She also acts as social media ambassador throughout UW Health and supports the ever growing family of social media advocates. She is not a morning person. Steve Van Dinter (@svandinter and @stmarysmadison) is the Regional Director of Media Relations & Public Affairs for SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, the parent company of St. Mary’s Hospital.  In addition, Steve can be seen Tuesday mornings and evenings on the CBS affiliate in Madison as the technology reporter, or "Gadget Guy”.  Steve enjoys taking new technology and making it easier for people to understand. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin