New social media guide published to help doctors get online

An online healthcare directory based in the US has published a free online guide aimed at doctors to help them understand how they can use social media, an aspect of web technology that many healthcare organsiations have yet to exploit to the full for healthcare and pharma marketing.

Avvo, which provides listings and ratings for doctors across the States, has just made its guide “Being Influential Online: Social Media Tactics for Physicians” available via its Facebook page.

It says that the social media guide is designed to help doctors and healthcare marketing professionals to establish an online presence that could help them attract new patients, expand their referral networks or better manage their online reputation. Expansion into digital marketing for healthcare is the aim.

The guide looks at issues such as liability and social media and how to use search engine optimisation (SEO) tactics in order to achieve a better search engine ranking.

In addition it helps doctors to establish their core online presence through a series of 15 easy-to-follow steps.

The guide was also released and distributed at the Third Annual Health Care Social Media Summit, which was held in Rochester, Michigan, last week.

One American doctor, Howard Luks MD, was part of a panel speaking at the event. He told a local healthcare news website that there were currently several barriers stopping doctors from engaging with social media. These included a lack of understanding about Twitter and its use; a lack of understanding regarding how social media can help patients and a lack of awareness about social media guidelines.

To download the guide visit https://www.facebook.com/avvodoctors