Following on from last week’s blog about good tweeting, VIVA! Communications thought we’d continue the discussion about healthcare and social media.

We stumbled on an article from online publication, thesocialmediahat.com in which they cited some research undertaken by editors at a US health administration education institution into healthcare and social media.

What they found was a valuable breakdown of statistics revealing what types of health-related topics patients are talking about online, whose posts they most want to read among health professionals, who they most trust to share their information with via social media.

The editors concluded from the research that social media is providing a successful vehicle for healthcare providers and patients to come together, something pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organisations and health professionals would benefit from knowing.

Here are some of the research findings:

What patients are talking about online

• Supporting a health-related cause – 28%
• Commenting about health experiences or updates – 27%
• Posting about health experiences or updates – 24%
• Joining a health-related cause – 20%
• Tracking and sharing health symptoms or behavior – 18%
• Posting reviews of medications, treatments, doctors or insurers – 16%
• Sharing health-related videos or images – 16%

Doctor’s posts are most popular & trusted

• Doctor – 60%
• Nurse – 56%
• Hospital – 55%
• Patient advocacy organization – 54%
• Retail pharmacy – 48%
• Other patients you know – 46%
• Government organization – 45%
• Health insurance company – 42%
• Drug company – 36%
• Alternative healthcare setting – 36%
• Gym or fitness center – 34%
• Other patients you don’t know – 25%

Patients most want to share information about their health with doctors, followed by hospitals

• Doctor – 47%
• Hospital – 43%
• Pharmacy – 40%
• Health insurance company – 38%
• Retail health clinic – 33%
• Alternative healthcare setting – 33%
• Drug company – 32%
• Worksite health clinic – 31%
• Other patients – 30%