While those active on social media aren’t shy about sharing details of their lives or expressing their opinions on Facebook, how much do their “likes” reflect the quality of the organizations with which they choose to connect?
Recently the American Journal of Medical Quality featured results of a study that evaluated the relationship between a hospital’s number of “likes” on Facebook and its patient satisfaction scores.
The authors of the study evaluated the Facebook presence of 40 different hospitals in New York, and focused on the relationship between Facebook “likes,” Facebook recommendations and 30-day mortality rates. What they found was that online popularity positively corresponded with real-life sentiment. Essentially, if a patient or caregiver had a positive experience within the hospital, they were more likely to connect with the hospital afterwards via Facebook. The researchers also found that the more Facebook “likes” a hospital had, the lower its mortality rate.
So this presents the question – Can hospital marketing executives begin to see the real potential of social media engagement?
Even with more than one billion Facebook users, some hospitals continue to question the value of social media in their marketing strategy or place little significance on supporting it.
According to one study author the “findings suggest that Facebook offers an additional resource, beyond patient surveys, to gauge the attitudes of patient populations. Public health researchers and hospitals can use Facebook ‘likes’ as a proxy for hospital quality and patient satisfaction evaluation.”
Hence, hospitals should consider each Facebook “like” as a public endorsement for the quality of care it has provided. And, if a hospital is having difficulty acquiring Facebook “likes” and increasing engagement, one might consider that there is a deeper problem that needs to be addressed.