Social Media Use By US Hospitals
From a structured review of websites of 1800 US hospitals focusing on their Facebook, Twitter and Youtube accounts:
- 21% used social media
- More likely to be large, urban hospitals run by nonprofit, nongovernment organisations
- More likely to participate in graduate medical education
- Used social media to target a general audience (97%)
- Provide content about the entire organization (93%)
- Announce news and events (91%)
- Further public relations (89%)
- Promote health (90%).
In short, used social media for unidirectional communication.
Thaker SI, Nowacki AS, Mehta NB, & Edwards AR (2011). How U.S. hospitals use social media. Annals of internal medicine, 154 (10), 707-8 PMID: 21576547