Okay. I am on Facebook. What now?

By Kate Crosby, SCMA Director of Communications

Yesterday, prior to walking into a meeting, I was talking with a physician about my role at the SCMA, including my knowledge of social media. He enthusiastically told me, “Guess what? I made my first comment on Facebook! What now?” After describing his personal hesitancy in joining it to begin with, I realized I’ve met many other physicians from his generation who share the same sentiment. Not a lot of original intent in using the power of social media to promote the business of medicine, but instead, first signing on to keep up with family, grandchildren—both of which are practical and worthy uses of social media tools.

However, as a social media enthusiast, and as someone who has first-handedly seen how the power of social media can transform a practice, I am here to tell you, the power of social media in medicine is amazing!

I always love using this example from a Grey’s Anatomy episode on Twitter. Although the show is make-believe, it provides an eye-opening example of how someone can become a ‘believer’ in the power of social media!

Particularly in this episode, Dr. Weber, Chief of Surgery and technology dinosaur, is perturbed by his young residents’ persistence in “Tweeting” in the operating room. It’s not until a patient in desperate need of an organ transplant, whose life could be potentially saved by the ability to communicate with a mass audience in near seconds, that he sees the value of such a tool in the operating room.

But, because we all know hospital-themed television shows do not nearly represent the true life inside a real hospital, here’s a real example.

This past winter, Providence Hospital of Columbia’s Heart & Vascular Institute, used the power of social media to educate the public on open heart surgery. Social media specialists were invited into the operating room to live tweet and showcase what it means to have open heart surgery. This free tool enabled Providence to educate the public on a common procedure and also promote treatments the hospital offered.

So, you’ve created a profile. You’ve friended some buddies, you’ve even made a few comments. So, as the doctor I met yesterday asked me, what now?

Continue using social media to keep up with the grandkids, your long-lost medical school colleagues, but also use it to promote your practice, your livelihood, and your life as a physician. It’s marketing, advertising and promotion at its finest, and best yet, it’s all free. So, how do you do it? Just keep up with The Voice. I’ll be writing often with resources and tools, and in due time, you’ll be a social media guru.