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Published by: David Nordella 12-20-2012  |  POSTED IN: Twitter Thursdays

Twitter Guidelines for Independent Practice Associations

 
The Provider Finance 411 Blog and LA Dezign's "Twitter Thursday" blogs have been steady proponents of doctors using Twitter. Twitter is a free tool that you can use to brand your practice. Twitter is also a tool for maintaining relationship with your patients.
 
Here are some facts for you to ponder from Cara Pring's social media blog, The Social Skinny:
 
   -   Twitter has 225,000,000 users
   -   100 million of these users are logging in at least once a month, 50 million are logging in every day
   -   190,000,000 tweets are sent on average per day
   -   1 billion tweets were sent every five days in 2011
 
You can tweet Cara (@carapring) to learn more about her and her services. She clearly knows her business. Cara has some pretty interesting stats to cite on her own performance.  
 
Twitter is clearly beyond the start-up stage. It is an established part of American life. I have saved the best of Cara’s data for last, which may surprise you and is that 40% of Twitter users don’t tweet, but instead use it to keep up to date!
 
Implications of Twitter Being Used as a Newsfeed
 
Most, if not all, of your favorite news programs have a Twitter handle for a reason. News stories hit Twitter at warp-speed. Of course, these shows use Twitter to brand themselves as well. The immediacy of Twitter makes it a perfect mechanism for finding out quickly about what is stirring people’s passions.
 
The potential for misinformation being passed as fact is a concern of all physicians. The parental campaign against vaccinations has been the bane of general practitioners around the world. The spread of medical misinformation is due in part by the absence of correct information from a trusted resource.
 
Wouldn't you like to be the trusted resource for patients (and prospective patients) in your community?
 
The Care and Feeding of Your Twitter Community
 
Physicians should use the same care in communicating on Twitter as they would any other communications medium. You are projecting a message that can be read by anyone at any time in any place. You wouldn't go on a local TV station to announce what you had for breakfast, would you?
 
Professional image aside, build your community with your strategic goals in mind. Think about:
 
- Who you would like to follow you on Twitter. Developing a persona for the patient that you want for your practice. This will make it easier for you to speak to their concerns and interests.
- Consider who you should be following. All social media thrives on a sense of community. Have trusted resources that you can share. Showing an affinity for knowledge from the Mayo Clinic, as an example, will reflect positively on you. There are a number of excellent resources available on Twitter. You will be astounded what you will find when you search for them.
- Remembering to include your colleagues on Twitter. That courtesy will be appreciated by both your colleagues and your patients. There is no better way to demonstrate a sense of community than to be a part of a community.
- Creating lists segmented by types of contact types, such as Patients, People (for non-patients), Colleagues, Knowledge Resources. This will make interacting and sharing easier.
- Using Twitter as a method of defusing difficult patient personality problems. Some followers will register their problems on Twitter. Never take offense when this happens. Make it an opportunity to improve your public image by showing concern for the patient and what they are experiencing. Offer to solve the problem with them in an equitable manner. Your other patients and prospective patients will appreciate your mature manner in resolving issues.
- Following and using Hashtags. Hashtags are the short-hand of Twitter. A hashtag is a "#" sign with a word or phrase attached. Your familiarity with hashtags will enable you to become aware of popular concern, often before your patients are.
 
Some Final Thoughts
 
Most doctors already have intense time limitations placed on them. It makes sense to delegate Twitter to a responsible person on your staff. I recommend that you review proposed Tweets and responses before the Tweet button is pushed.
 
A schedule of releasing tweets several times a day should be sufficient for even the most Tweeter. Accountability may be more difficult than simply handing-off the responsibility. Your community, however, will remember an inaccurate or caustic tweet long after a problem employee has left your practice.
 
Twitter is never HIPAA compliant. All patient inquiries about specific health concerns must be handled privately. You can always use a password-secured patient portal if you and your patients prefer e-communications about their health problems and histories.
 
Share your thoughts about using Twitter in your own practice. We are interested. Your input could improve us and our community.
 

David Nordella, the Managing Director of Provider Finance Associates, LLC, has found Twitter mixes with his passion for improving the profits of Independent Practice Associations. Learn more about David:

@BeneficentGuild
http://www.providerfinance411.com/
http://www.providerfinance411.com/blog/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnordella
The “Independent Practice Associations Group” on LinkedIn
Thanks for reading. Jason.
P.S. Don't forget to subscribe below to this blog.
 
About Jason Ciment
Formerly an attorney and CPA, Jason has been working online since 1997. His columns on affiliate marketing can still be found on www.Clickz.com and his book on search engine optimization can be found at www.seotimetable.com.

This blog is published 4x per week and covers website design and SEO tips as well as a wide range of tips and advice for working and living online more efficiently and enjoyably.
 

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