I try to keep my eyes open for new healthcare technology to report on, and I have to admit that I have a soft spot for any sort of healthcare IT related to social media. The combination of the two, while certainly adopted by a passionate fan base on the patient and vendor side, has been a bit slower on the provider side (with the exception of a smaller, but similarly devoted set of fans).

It’s an interesting time to report on (or blog about) the two. On the healthcare side, Stage 2 of Meaningful Use has ramped up interest in technologies around digital patient engagement. On the consumer side, new social media sites like Pinterest are giving consumers, i.e. patients, new options with which to create networks.

I came across a company at the Georgia Technology Summit a few weeks ago that seems to combine the two in an effort to help providers in their marketing efforts. Michael Sengbusch, Vice President of Product Development and Strategy at Brightwhistle, was nice enough to take me through a comprehensive demo of Brightwhistle’s social patient acquisition software, which earned the company a “2012 Top 10 Innovative Company in Georgia” honor from the Technology Association of Georgia.

In a nutshell, the folks at Brightwhistle are helping providers realize their patients have moved – they no longer can be marketed to via strictly traditional channels such as print publications, radio spots, television ads or billboards. Patients, especially “empowered patients” as the more technically and engaged among us have come to be known, can be found on social media sites, taking part in meaningful conversations about our healthcare. Brightwhistle offers four service lines in this vein: online directory management; review and social media management; local, search and social targeting; and inbound patient management.

Sengbusch put it to me this way: “Doctors are scared of social media, but if you can engage patients on these platforms, you can establish better trust than you can with traditional media – better trust than with a billboard or newspaper ad.

“The ‘empowered patient’ responds to this type of marketing – they don’t even pay attention to traditional media. They are the influencers. As Stage 2 of Meaningful Use comes out and providers are required to activate patients online, they’ll need to grab the empowered patients they already have and turn those folks into evangelists.”

It’s a marketing concept not unlike that used in traditional consumer areas. Connect with consumers online, establish trust and credibility with those fans/followers, and then make them an evangelist for your product. Eventually, their fans, followers and family members will also become your customers. That’s the simplified version, anyway.

Sengbusch and his team realize that providers will often jump out of their comfort zone to engage with patients in these more social areas. He stresses that it’s important docs realize “they don’t personally need to be on social media, but they need to be open to their brand being on social media so they can capture positive reviews and become aware of patient advocates.”

Because as anyone in business knows, people are talking about your product or service, whether you know it or not. It’s up to the business to decide to listen and act upon those conversations – online or off.
 

Jennifer Dennard is Social Marketing Director for Atlanta-based Billian's HealthDATA, Porter Research and HITR.com. Connect with her on Twitter @SmyrnaGirl.