Use of social media across US hospitals: descriptive analysis of adoption and utilization.
J Med Internet Res
; 16(11): e264, 2014 Nov 27.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25431831
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Use of social media has become widespread across the United States. Although businesses have invested in social media to engage consumers and promote products, less is known about the extent to which hospitals are using social media to interact with patients and promote health.OBJECTIVE:
The aim was to investigate the relationship between hospital social media extent of adoption and utilization relative to hospital characteristics.METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional review of hospital-related activity on 4 social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and Foursquare. All US hospitals were included that reported complete data for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. We reviewed hospital social media webpages to determine the extent of adoption relative to hospital characteristics, including geographic region, urban designation, bed size, ownership type, and teaching status. Social media utilization was estimated from user activity specific to each social media platform, including number of Facebook likes, Twitter followers, Foursquare check-ins, and Yelp reviews.RESULTS:
Adoption of social media varied across hospitals with 94.41% (3351/3371) having a Facebook page and 50.82% (1713/3371) having a Twitter account. A majority of hospitals had a Yelp page (99.14%, 3342/3371) and almost all hospitals had check-ins on Foursquare (99.41%, 3351/3371). Large, urban, private nonprofit, and teaching hospitals were more likely to have higher utilization of these accounts.CONCLUSIONS:
Although most hospitals adopted at least one social media platform, utilization of social media varied according to several hospital characteristics. This preliminary investigation of social media adoption and utilization among US hospitals provides the framework for future studies investigating the effect of social media on patient outcomes, including links between social media use and the quality of hospital care and services.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Marketing de Serviços de Saúde
/
Mídias Sociais
/
Hospitais
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Med Internet Res
Assunto da revista:
INFORMATICA MEDICA
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos