I am extremely excited to release this today. As the first project of the Social Health Institute, I have spent the last few months reviewing a 3 month period data from 13 hospital systems across the country. The infographic below is a representation of some data that I collected.
There will be much more to come on this study as this is just step one. I want others to take this graphic and produce their own commentary around it*. I too will be writing other posts and even an eBook with more of my thoughts around what I have seen and taken from this project.
Remember… this is only 13 hospital system's data from a snap shot in time. Don't take this as the gospel but I am curious how your hospital or organization compares.
A special thanks to all the hospitals where gracously allowed me under the hood on their Facebook pages, and of course I could not have done this without Greg Matthews and the team at WCG.
(*I would love to have you share this on your own blog. There is an embed code below the graphic)
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Reed – this is a really fantastic presentation of some important data. Perhaps most striking is the relatively small amount of time it takes to manage a page which can, in turn, have a large impact. As we get serious about reducing costs and improving quality, this is the kind of thing that makes selling the idea of social health easy.
Thanks for connecting! I agree… I plan to post more around many of these data points in the coming weeks.
Love this study. I think you’re really on to something with the Social Health institute, Reed. Keep up the good work! — Dan Hinmon
Thank you sir!
Great presentation of the information! Thanks for including us. It’s very useful information. I agree with Nick, I was impressed by the time vs. engagement. I look forward to seeing future posts.
Thanks! I am very appreciative of your willingness to allow me to work with the data from UC Davis. There will be more to come for sure!
Reed…this is great stuff and I have shared with all my GHS friends. It will be interesting to see what more we can learn from this information. You and I have talked about this a lot…but what can hospitals learn from this data when looking at social as a way to engage instead of just a way to share information.
I think from a basic look hospitals can use this data to start shaping their content strategy – specifically frequency. So many times we just have to guess when to post and what to post about… now you have a starting point. All communities are different but this at least gives you a jumping off point.
[…] Hospitals + Facebook: a Study of 13 Hospital Systems […]
[…] that may connect the broadest social graphs. It would be a great idea to surf over to “[Infographic] Hospitals + Facebook: a Study of 13 Hospital Systems” and join the […]
[…] Read more at Reed Smith. […]
Reed, it’s always a pleasure reading your “stuff” and connecting with you, and I think you’re going to be doing some amazing things with your new venture. Thanks for this inforgraphic — I’m including it in a post I’m working on right now for HospitalImpact.org. Will send the link when it’s posted! Hope you’re well. Talk soon!
Thanks so much for the kind words! Be sure to send me the link! I am doing great and would love to catch up soon.
As a participant in this study I keep coming back to it. What struck me today was how few personal stories we post vs. how much engagement we get from them. Note to self: post more stories.
True, but I think that is the case across the board. Creating personal stories is hard work and takes a lot of time. But that is why people connect to them. I really appreciate your willingness to participate and love the things you guys are doing. Especially from a frequency standpoint.
We’re playing a bit with promoted posts, which is forcing us to think about how often we post to Facebook. We’re a little worried about user fatigue.
Interesting – with FB making it harder for brands to engage it seems that paid solutions is the only way to have your content visible. What has been the response so far?
It’s been great, actually. Big boost in engagement (and big boost in likes, reach, etc). It’s still so cheap, it’s worth it. As a user, however, I know I’m already tired of seeing sponsored page promotions.
[…] So just what are hospitals doing? Recently a well-known member of the healthcare social media community, Reed Smith, did a study on Facebook pages for 13 hospitals. His findings appear in this great infographic. […]
Thanks for this awesome graphic! I work on the Packard Children’s Hospital social media team and we see the most engagement on photos of our patients and their inspiring stories.
Awesome – thanks for connecting. Glad it is of value. Please let me know what other topics you would like to see graphics and research done on.
Interesting post Reed.Hope more doctors will embrace use of facebook in marketing of their medical services.
Erick Kinuthia
Team MDwebpro.com
I was hoping to embed this infographic (which I LOVE and am proud to have been a part of) on my blog, but I don’t see the embed code you referenced in your post. Is it available?
Hey Greg. If you refresh, you should see the code now.