Last week, we had the opportunity to talk social media at The National Council's conference. For those not familiar with The National Council, it's the national group representing behavioral, mental and public health. Serious stuff. Serious topics. Serious business. Somewhere around 2,000 professionals gathered for this event, and guess what the hot topic was?
Health care dollars from the stimulus package? Medicaid? Medicare? Electronic health records?
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And wrong.
Social media.
Really.
Craig Newmark, founder of Craig's List, was one of the featured presenters. The social media lab we staffed was standing room only from opening bell till they rolled up the carpet. The National Council's CEO spent the first ten minutes of her keynote talking about social media.
We talked to substance abuse professionals who use Twitter to connect alcohol recovery support groups. We talked to executive directors who use social media to communicate with policy makers. We talked to mental health professionals who tweet with their local media when crisis communication situations arise.
And it seems from the moment our plane touched down back in Columbus, the topic of the day is social media in health care. We're helping hospitals Tweet about new births, heath tips, flu vaccinations availability and new physicians. We're helping surgeons connect with patients and prospective patients on Facebook to answer questions. We're helping health care advocates collaborate online to discuss policy. Yesterday, Good Morning America even did a piece on the role of social media in health care.
Comments