Hospitals are turning to Web 2.0 tools, such as Twitter, YouTube, blogs and Facebook, to attract and educate patients, persuade donors, gain recognition, and recruit and retain physicians, the New York Times reports.
Ed Bennett, Web strategy director for the University of Maryland Medical System, said that more than 250 hospitals now use YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or blogs. He said, "There's a lot of surprise hospitals are even doing this -- hospitals are extremely conservative."
Faced with economic pressures, hospitals see the use of online tools as an inexpensive way to market their facilities. However, some ethicists and physicians say the practice raises questions about patient privacy and could present overly optimistic medical pictures.
Jeffrey Kahn, a University of Minnesota bioethicist, said that he sees the "value in demystifying medical care" but warns that it "creates an aura of sophistication and high-tech ability" that might not represent "quality of care at a hospital" (Belluck, New York Times, 5/25).
Improving Communication?
Christopher Boyer, online marketing specialist at HealthGrades, said that although hospitals that use Twitter to post updates during surgeries might not experience a boost in patient traffic, it does help improve their public perception by removing some of the mystery of the operating room.
Betsy MacKay -- vice president of public affairs at Children's Medical Center Dallas, which recently posted updates on Twitter during a pediatric kidney transplant -- said, "I think that as we in the health care business become more transparent in what we do, and as consumers grab responsibility for their health care decisions more and more, that straight-from-the-OR kind of dialogue is really useful."
Boyer said he believes Twitter will be useful to patients' families but has lower expectations for the long-term popularity of tweeting surgeries among the public (Aiello, HealthLeaders Media, 5/22).