When social media initially started to become popular, a man named Ed Bennet did this amazing job creating a list of hospitals that were doing things on social media (ie. Facebook and Twitter). It was a really incredible look into how hospitals were approaching Twitter and Facebook. At the time, no one knew what they were doing. We were all trying to figure out. It was a dynamic and fun time, but also a bit scary since we were all shooting from the hip.
Over time, most hospitals have adopted a full social media strategy and have professionals that are quite familiar with the options available. Certainly, there are some that execute their hospital social media strategy better than others, but very few hospitals aren’t active in some way on social media.
In typical Ed fashion, he’s moved on from social media and has now created a Physician Transparency List which highlights the ways hospitals are displaying various physician ratings on their hospital website. I love that he calls it a transparency list since so many organizations are afraid of these physician ratings. So, it takes a bit of bravery to be willing to post the ratings on your hospital website.
So far Ed has 35 hospitals on that list, but I believe over the next 3-4 years we’ll see most hospitals doing some form of physician transparency on their hospital website. It very much feels like social media where it started with a few hospitals and then spread to many more.
The reality is that these physician ratings are going to be available to the public. So, why not put them on your hospital website? At least then you control the experience the user has and you can give them the opportunity to engage with you and your organization. In fact, I think that’s where so many hospitals have done a poor job. It’s one thing to display a rating. It’s a whole other thing to create easy opportunities for patients viewing your physicians’ ratings to engage with your organization. It’s such a missed opportunity for most hospitals.
I look forward to seeing Ed’s list continue to grow. Plus, it will be great to see how hospitals are taking advantage of this opportunity to be transparent and engage with patients.
