January 27, 2010 -- Hospital Impact has been ranked one of the top 50 healthcare blogs by Wikio.
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by Wendy Johnson
We've had a dialogue on Hospital Impact about the pros and cons of using social media to promote your organization and connect with your community. Turns out that although nine in ten hospitals and health systems use Social Media to some degree, few are going about it in an organized way to really harness its power.
Only about one-third of hospitals have some kind of formal social media plan in place, let alone a budget for "social media employees."
These results come, perhaps not surprisingly, from a web marketing firm that specializes in healthcare. Still, those who are interested in using Twitter, Facebook and other avenues as a means of outreach may be interested in the results, including that hospitals have found it difficult to turn their social media efforts into new patient revenue.
How about you? Has your hospital figured out a way to turn your Twitter feed into revenue? How do you measure your return on the time you've invested in it?
Wendy Johnson is the publisher of Hospital Impact and FierceHealthcare, which delivers five healthcare management and IT newsletters for healthcare industry executives.
Safety TipHospital facilities built today do not include asbestos, but many older buildings still have asbestos components in them. Steam pipes, boilers and furnace ducts were often insulated with an asbestos blanket or asbestos paper tape because of their fireproof and insulating properties. Resilient floor tiles were made from vinyl asbestos. Asbestos cement was employed in roofing, shingles and siding materials. The hazard of this carcinogen increases when the fibers become airborne, and untrained contractors can inadvertently increase risks by cutting, tearing, sawing, scraping, or sanding asbestos materials. Elevated asbestos levels can occur in hospitals where old materials are damaged or disturbed. It is best to leave undamaged asbestos material alone if it is not likely to be disturbed. Inhaling asbestos fibers is known to cause mesothelioma and other diseases. Be sure to use an experienced asbestos removal contractor when you need to get rid of old materials that might contain asbestos. |