5 fast tips: How healthcare practices should use social media during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has flooded the internet with various kinds of information online.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have a lot of potential for spreading health information and fostering professional camaraderie, among other things.

The doctor-patient relationship is a two-way street, and social media allows both parties to communicate, listen, and understand each other.

Read on the five ways physicians leverage social media in the wake of COVID-19:

Share useful information: More patients are looking for health information online, but they frequently come across unreliable sources. Patients should be able to quickly access relevant information on your social media page. You'll need to come up with new ways to share general but important information like flu shot reminders, cold prevention tips, and so on. 

Sharing health-related news with patients is an effective way to provide them with useful information. You can also consider providing updates on new procedures, and any other news related to your practice.

Encourage participation: Consider ending your posts with a friendly suggestion to comment in order to encourage patients to participate. You can also post thoughtful remarks or ask relevant questions to encourage patient participation. It's best to ask open-ended questions that are relevant to your practice. You can also ask your patients to share their experiences with your practice in the form of stories. 

Allowing patients to share their experiences on social media will almost certainly result in positive feedback. One of the proven benefits of social media is patient engagement. PatientMD offers a unique feature to the physicians and patients that is PatientMD Community. It is an online space where patients can feel more comfortable sharing stories. 

Our community helps you to connect with your patients on many levels. After registering on PatientMD platforms, physicians can share their PatientMD Community posts on their respective social media pages. This will result in more patient engagement. 

Respond to feedback: Any medical practice's success hinges on effective two-way communication between the doctor and the patient. Practices that communicate with patients via social media networks have a higher level of loyalty and a faster recovery time. 

You must monitor social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for mentions of your practice and respond to positive and negative patient feedback. Your concern will make patients feel as if they are being heard and that their input is valued. You must inform patients of the improvements and thank them for providing feedback after you have addressed their concerns.

Building patient satisfaction: Due to improved communication, social media holds a lot of promise in terms of improving patient satisfaction. A medical practitioner's overall presence on a patient's Facebook Newsfeed will go a long way toward making the patient feel cared for and involved in his healthcare. 

Patients will feel empowered to maintain their health by participating in various healthcare campaigns and seeing daily health tips. Social media can also help you build trust with your patients and gain their trust in your medical practice. Because your patients will ask you questions and seek your advice if you are active on social media.

They will look forward to your input if you respond to their concerns in a polite, professional, and timely manner. This is one of the most effective methods for gaining their trust.

Use images and videos: In their campaigns, social media marketers are increasingly using images and videos. Visuals are more appealing, stand out more, and have been shown to increase engagement. The visuals are likely to grab a patient's attention right away. You can publish before-and-after shots of patients while adhering to HIPAA guidelines.

Wrapping up:

It can be difficult to navigate the COVID-19 crisis's fluctuations in patient volume and financial challenges. Following the pandemic, social media can be used to interact with patients, showcase your expertise or community involvement, and even attract new patients. 

PatientMD helps practices achieve their goals with a platform that was built specifically for them, focusing on the most important aspects of practice growth, such as a strong web presence and SEO, as well as social media marketing strategies. All from a single solution. To know more about our social media strategies, contact us at +1-888-448-9495.