The Business Side of Developing a Social Media Presence into Your Medical Practice

Abstract

At the turn of this century doctors started to pay attention to the internet, albeit in a limited fashion. They recognized that the internet wasn’t just a fad and perhaps they should get on board. Some, not all, doctors began to develop a website for their practices by taking their three-colored, tri-fold brochures and converted it electronically into a templated website. Doctors often used teen-agers who had done a website as part of an assignment in computer class or obtained the assistance of a college student who was a major in computer science but never designed a medical website. Now if anyone asked, the doctor could brag that he/she had a web presence.

Once that little Internet project was complete, they could go back to their medical practice and treat their patients without another thought being given to their internet presence.

The early implementers were comfortable that they could cruise into the twenty-first century with this new technology. Little did they know that this was only the beginning of their Internet experience.

That was adequate in 2000. But today, that mere creating a website by having your tri-colored brochure converted into an electronic format, and then calling it a website and letting it remain without modification is not going to be adequate. This chapter will discuss how to create an interactive presence using social media to connect with your existing patients and to attract new patients to your practice.