Posted by Brian Geyser on Fri, Jul 23, 2010 @ 01:12 PM
This post is part of our Social Media Success Series, which features interviews with innovative and fearless socially networked senior living, home care, and LTC companies that are achieving positive business results using social technologies. If you would like to have your organization included in this series, contact us.
For this interview, Jennifer Hill connected with Erin Schmidt, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for one of our favorite socially savvy companies, BrightStar Care. BrightStar was just featured in our new Social Media Video, which you can view here.
Interview
Q: What is your company's primary goal of using social media?
A: Our primary goal for social media is two-pronged: we seek to “get found” by and add value for individuals, families and organizations who/that may need us (providing helpful content, serving as a resource), and then earn the trust of qualified leads that will convert into client business for our 150+ locations nationwide.
Q: What types of social media tools do you use and why did you choose them?
A: We maintain an active presence in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and publish our videos to YouTube.
Twitter: Twitter serves as a great engagement platform as well as a river of information to stay on the pulse of what is being talked about in our industry.
Facebook: For starters, one of our target audiences (women aged 55+) is the fastest growing demographic on Facebook, but beyond that the platform allows for a lot more interactivity, better means of identifying where key audiences may be engaging and the ability to share multiple forms of content.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn has been important to our staffing and recruiting efforts, in both identifying qualified candidates to fill more skilled positions as well as key referral sources. But overall, the ability to serve as a resource in the Q & A forums is a value not to be ignored, as we view this type of activity as spreading seeds throughout the Web to help those in need to find us.
Q: Are you planning to expand your social media reach?
A: Yes, everything we do, both online and offline, is geared toward increasing our overall reach. In fact, we have seen significant incremental growth over the past six months and, with new features and functionality rolling out over the next six months, we predict that this will continue to grow.
Q: How much time do you invest in social media per week?
A: At the Corporate level, we invest no more than five to ten hours each week, but this does not include the time we’ve taken to create a series of “Inbound Marketing” webinars we’ve created to train our franchisees on how to leverage social media, online listening, link building, etc. to ramp up their online presence.
Q: Have you seen a return on your investment?
A: While it’s difficult to monetize the value of “reach,” having a captive audience of qualified leads with which to create multiple touch points has had a significant value in and of itself. In addition, a growing portion of our Website traffic comes from the various social media platforms and we’ve recently added some additional means to track these visits through the sales funnel on the back-end to calculate ROI from a dollar standpoint. Here are some interesting statistics:
Worth noting: we endured a Website re-design in February, so these numbers may be the result of a number of factors and not just social media.
- Reach. Our current reach is over four times what it was six months ago – equating to an average of just over 500 contacts per month.
- Website traffic. Site traffic is up by just over 20% in the past six months (potentially due in part to our other new Website changes), but the number of social media referrals to our site has quadrupled in the past year.
- Lead base. We’re still evaluating the impact of social media on our lead generation.
- Marketing costs. Aside from our time, social media is free, so the improved Web traffic and significant growth of our reach has cost us very little compared to other marketing initiatives.
Q: How do you measure the success of your social media strategy?
A: Primarily, the number of Website visits (and, soon, the number and quality of leads) and reach (number of blog subscribers, Twitter followers, LinkdeIn connections, Facebook fans, YouTube subscribers).
Q: What are your biggest challenges?
A: One of the biggest challenges has been conveying the benefits of leveraging social media to our franchisees and, again, the issue of “monetizing” reach.
Q: Who manages your social media initiatives?
A: At the Corporate level, our social media strategy is devised and executed upon by the marketing department.
Q: In regards to content, what do you think is a good strategy?
A: We’ve experimented with a few different things, but we love the idea of recruiting guest authors and tapping other industry experts to contribute. We’ve also set up an online listening station to gather content ideas in addition to taking common questions individuals, families and organizations have to inspire our content.
Q: Do you think that companies are apprehensive about using social media because of HIPAA restrictions?
A: Yes, absolutely.
Q: Does HIPAA effect the way that you use social media?
A: The privacy of the individuals, families and organizations we care for is of the utmost importance to us. We are certain never to provide any information that may be remotely sensitive and/or confidential. This methodology is woven into the fabric of all that we do at BrightStar, both online and offline.
Q: What new features do you see your company using to help expand you social media outreach in the coming months?
A: We’ll be rolling out the ability for our franchisees to add up to five pages to their local Websites in addition to the ability to blog, which will undoubtedly ramp up their local social media efforts and, thus, contribute to our national strategy.
Q: do you view social media as a PR tool in addition to a marketing tool?
A: Absolutely! In addition to being able to publish content and interact with our target audiences, social media is a great means of highlighting key happenings via a public facing platform.
Q: Do you have any PR examples?
A: From time to time, our franchisees will get some media coverage and we’ll use our blog to feature these stories and publish them to our social media profiles as a means of giving them some additional “push” (and, of course, kudos).
Q: Finally, Do any of your C-level executives use social media? Why or why not?
A: Many of our executive team members maintain an active presence on LinkedIn and some on Facebook and our CEO is on Twitter. But LinkedIn makes the most sense from a networking and business perspective. In fact, our executive team’s collective presence on LinkedIn has generated just over 1,000 Website visits in the past six months.
Like this post? Read more like it here:
For more insights into emerging media and social technologies, subcribe to our blog, follow me on Twitter, visit us on Facebook, or contact us here on our site.
Ready to hire the folks behind this blog? Learn more >>
Posted by Brian Geyser on Fri, Jan 15, 2010 @ 01:04 PM
My good friends at Social Fish, Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer, recently published a fantastic white paper titled "Social Media, Risk, and Policies for Associations" - along with Croydon Consulting. While the publication is directed at associations and non-profits, there are many parallels in the senior living, retirement community, and long-term care worlds. If you've been trying to put together a social media policy for your company, this is a go-to document that will be a big help.
Many of the biggest concerns for companies in the senior living and long-term care space about adopting social media are related to privacy, HIPAA, and risk management issues. While the definitive guide book for social media policy in our industry has yet to be written, this white paper provides us with a good place to start, and will surely be used as a reference when it is written.
Congrats to Maddie and Lindy at Social Fish for a great piece of work! Here it is for your viewing pleasure: Social Media, Risk, and Policies for Associations
Posted by Brian Geyser on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 @ 10:30 AM
This was the year that senior living, long-term care, homecare, and hospice providers began experimenting with social media. Social tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn; blogging/publishing platforms like WordPress; and white-label social/group networking platforms like Ning and Groupsite have started to penetrate these industry segments and are slowly beginning to change the way these companies are doing business. Even ALFA, the Assisted Living Federation of America, launched a social media initiative this year and is active on multiple social sites.
Since August when I launched this blog, I have posted many articles about companies in our industry, both small and large, that are beginning to use social technologies to derive business benefits. Some posts feature interviews with industry insiders who share their experiences and offer great insights into what's working, and what's not. Other articles provide information, tips, and resources designed to help your company navigate the social media landscape. In case you missed any, here is a list of my Top 10 Most Popular Posts for 2009:
- California's Largest Retirement Community Kicks Butt Using Social Media [Interview]
- Home Care Company Uses Twitter To Build Brand Awareness And More [Interview]
- 7 Best Social Media Tools For Senior Living And Long-Term Care
- Social Media And HIPAA: What You Need To Know
- Nation's Largest Senior Living Company Embraces Social Media [Interview]
- How Senior Living And Eldercare Companies Can Build A Winning Social Media Team
- Senior Living Companies: You Must Blog Now!
- Beacon Hill Retirement Community Launches Resident Blog - Smart Move
- Blog, Twitter, And Facebook = Big ROI At SeniorsForLiving.com [Interview]
- Web-Savvy Senior Living Companies Are Making The Move To Social Media. Are You?
What We Have Learned: A Year In Review [Part 1 of 2]
Below is a summary of important lessons from the world of social media as they apply to the senior living and long-term care industries, along with links to more detailed content if you want more juice:
- Social technologies are transformative and are here to stay. The statistics are mind blowing. This video drives that point home.
- The static, brochure-style website is going the way of the dinosaurs. Dynamic, interactive websites that encourage dialog and participation and help you build relationships with customers and prospects is where it's at. If you don't have social and community-building elements built into your website, it's time to rethink your online strategy.
- Your customers are online, in a big way, and they love social networking and social media. This video from MSNBC is one example. The fact that seniors are Facebook's fastest growing demographic, by far, is another.
- Many experts, including myself, believe that social media/networking can and will have a profound impact on the quality of life of seniors living at home and in retirement communities - allowing them to stay connected to friends and family like never before. This study from the University of Alabama, and others like it, aim to prove that point with real data.
- Social media can be used for employer branding purposes and to help you recruit top talent. Sites like LinkedIn and Twitter can help you attract and engage both management and care staff. Branded online communities, like the one over at Terrace Communities, can function as a recruiting tool by posting jobs in the discussion forums and asking prospective employees participate in the online community during the interview process.
- Privacy and HIPAA issues, while important in our industry, should not prevent companies from adopting social technologies. With the proper strategies, policies, and guidelines in place, senior living and LTC companies can safely participate on the social web.
- A company blog is a critical tool in the social media tool box. It can drive traffic to your site, position your company as a trusted resource, and help you build community on the web. Whether you have a company blog or have yet to build one, these articles can help with your blogging strategy.
- Keeping up with the fast paced world of social media can be a job in and of itself, and presents as one of the biggest challenges for companies in every industry. New tools and applications enter the market every day. For companies in our industry, these 7 tools are the best place to start.
- Most senior living and LTC companies I've interviewed believe that social media ROI is difficult, if not impossible, to measure. Lucky for us, a couple of smart social media pros have shown that this is not necessarily the case. These articles cover the all-important ROI issue.
In part 2 of this series, which will be published next week, I will summarize what we learned from the interviews I conducted in the Social Media Success Series.
Build Your Social Media Presence In 2010
Thinking about starting a company blog? Interested in getting into social media but don't know where to start? Fascinated by the prospect of online community? Contact us. CareNetworks is the only company dedicated soley to providing social media strategy and solutions to senior living and LTC providers.
Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician, consultant, educator, blogger, social media strategist, online community manager and the founder of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs regularly here at Carenetworks.com and would love to connect with you on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.
Posted by Brian Geyser on Sun, Oct 18, 2009 @ 07:24 PM
One question I'm always asked about when it comes to health care or senior care and social media is, "What about HIPAA?" Online privacy and security are important issues, especially on the new social Web. But I have good news for the those folks in health care, senior care, home care, hospice, and dementia care who want to start using social media but fear HIPAA: It's not as complicated as you think. In fact, it's all about common sense. Below I provide a brief overview of the main issues, three examples of health care/senior living organizations effectively using social media without violating HIPAA, and some resources for developing your own social media and online communications policies.
HIPAA & Social Media
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires that a patient's identity and personal health information be protected (also called Protected Health Information, or PHI). Health care providers who violate HIPAA can face stiff penalties, including fines up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 10 years for knowingly misusing individually identifiable health information. As a result, many care-related organizations shy away from deploying social media, blogs, and online communities due to fear of HIPAA violations. This is unfortunate as these organizations are missing out on the many opportunities and benefits that social technologies offer.
Senior living companies, homecare agencies, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals and the like, should feel free to engage in social media - as long as mechanisms to secure PHI are employed. Information posted to blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, or online communities by health care companies should be prepared for public consumption and each organization engaging in social media should have policies and guidelines related to social media and online communications in place prior to deploying these technologies. Here are three examples of health care and senior care organizations using social media, as well as some social media policies and online communications guidelines for your reference:
Innovis Health
Innovis Health is a non-profit hospital and health care organization based out of Fargo North Dakota. Innovis has a blog (shown below) plus Twitter, Facebook (show below), YouTube, and Flikr accounts. On the blog, Innovis publishes hospital news and general health news. This content is then syndicated out to their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The blog also features a Twitter feed - showing Innovis Twitter activity in real-time. The Innovis YouTube channel features hospital commercials and local news coverage. Their Flikr account displays photos of their various facilities, their staff, and marketing images from different marketing campaigns. This complement of social media tools allows Innovis to broadcast their message, engage a following, and drive traffic back to their website.
There's very little patient-specific information on any of their social media properties, however, the blog does feature two stories about babies that were born at the hospital during a March 2009 flood, including parent names and, in one case, a photo of the new parents with their infant. The assumption here is that the parents gave Innovis specific written permission to publish these stories (a must if you plan to publish PHI or patient identity).
Innovis Health Blog
Innovis Health Facebook Page
Children's Hospital L.A.
Children's Hospital L.A. actually encourages patients and families to tell their stories on the hospital website. The way they work within HIPPA rules is by employing a 3-step process where the person submitting the story must:
- Review a "Use and Access" Statement
- Review the hospital HIPAA policy
- Fill out a secure online form where the story, images, and any links are uploaded to and reviewed by hospital staff for approval prior to being posted to the site for public viewing
Children's Hosptial L.A. "Share Your Story" Page
Children's hospital L.A. "Use & Access" Statement
This is a shrewd business move on the hospital's part because it allows them to publish vetted positive stories from actual patients - which clearly has marketing benefits - without violating HIPAA.
Terrace Communities
Terrace Communities is a group of seven assisted living residences located in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Florida. Terrace uses a member-only, public facing branded online community to connect residents, staff, and family members from all seven facilities. Members have unique profile pages and can participate in discussions, post to the group blog, add to the calendar, and upload photos to the galleries. Below you can see the community homepage with a photo of a Terrace resident and her son prominently displayed.
Terrace Communities
Notice that, like Children's Hospital L.A., Terrace Communities encourages their members to interact and post content to the community website. Also, as you can see from the screenshot below, Terrace regularly posts photos of and stories about residents, family members, and staff to their community site. One difference here is that residents of Terrace communities are NOT considered or referred to as "patients." Therefore, while privacy and information security are issues for Terrace, HIPAA is not a major concern. Terrace does have each resident and family sign a generic photo release form allowing them to publish photos on their website and in marketing materials.
Terrace Communities (Cont.)
Conclusion
Blogs, social media, and online communities can be powerful tools for organizations to broadcast news and information, as well as engage prospects and customers. The vast majority of what health care and senior care organizations publish using social technologies has nothing to do with PHI. As long as organizations take proper measures to ensure that Protected Health Information is kept private and secure there's nothing to fear. If you are going to publish patient photos or stories, get a written release. Of course, it's always possible that a rogue employee who doesn't follow the rules can violate HIPAA, but that can happen offline even more easily than online - and should not be a reason to avoid getting into social media. Additionally, proper social media management allows companies to monitor posted content and quickly remove anything inappropriate. The following resources can help you get started developing your own social media policies.
Resources
Related Posts
References
Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician, consultant, educator, blogger, online community manager and the founder of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs regularly here at Carenetworks.com and would love to connect with you on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.