CASE:

Patients "Like" Social Media

(Course Objective # 3)

A long-term care facility (50 beds) in the Midwestern U.S. has just been acquired by a larger acute care hospital/health care system in the nearby city because they want to offer more services across the continuum

of care. Last year, they also acquired a provider of hospice services (25 beds). The hospital has relied mainly on television advertising and a strong web presence (landing pages, banner ads), whereas the two smaller

organizations used word-of-mouth, physician referrals, networking, and print materials to recruit new patients.

Marketers know that social media is changing the way consumers and health organizations interact. The strategic plan indicates that priorities for the new combined health system include:

enhancing patient safety and the patient experience,

expanding into the growing senior market,

minimizing the total cost of care,

improving outcomes,

expanding geographic reach,

extending partnerships with employers, and

maintaining or improving the profit margin of 5.28%.

You are the newly appointed director of marketing for this combined new health system and must lead your team into creating a marketing strategy using social media.

QUESTIONS:

1. What information is needed to create the marketing strategy? What will you do to start the strategic plan?

2. What marketing tactics will you use - Will you create a new web site? Will you use social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) to create a sense of community?

3. Will you eliminate all print publications? What about billboard, radio, or television ads - will you eliminate these as well?

4. What are the HIPAA-related issues surrounding the use of social media?

course: Healthcare management