04 February 2010
The future of promoting healthcare
Seven years ago, Channel 4 caused a public outcry
by broadcasting a live autopsy of a 72-year-old man. However, less
than a decade later the desensitised public avidly view TV
programmes such as Embarrassing Bodies, 10 Years Younger and The
Fat Doctor, enjoying the consultations, operations and personal
accounts of a patient’s recovery.
The popularity of healthcare as a form of edutainment
(education/entertainment) is feeding a social media frenzy. YouTube
is full of actual medical procedures, which are watched by hundreds
of thousands of people every day. So, should healthcare
communications professionals be encouraged to join in?
The NHS has always welcomed innovation and is now affording it
an unprecedented focus while it explores the future treatment of
patients in tough financial circumstances. Healthcare online fits
with this maxim and a recent survey of GPs* stated that one in five
had been actively reviewing online health forums and one in 20 had
written a blog. However, it is the patients who are leading the
social media explosion with more people researching the hospital
experience and consultant expertise via user-driven content online.
The question is, how can the NHS and any other healthcare operator
tap into this invaluable resource?
Consider this, one quick search on YouTube revealed that over
1,000,000 people had watched a video of open heart surgery, 200,000
people had viewed gastric bypass surgery and over 140,000 people
had witnessed a facelift procedure. This is only the tip of the
iceberg and doesn’t even take into consideration the patient-led
content on user forums, blogs, video diaries and personal web
pages.
The instant accessibility and sheer speed of the online
marketplace means that reputations can be made and lost in just a
mouse click. This is why we advise our clients to closely
scrutinise their business plans and regularly monitor the online
space to ensure that they are promoting the right service in front
of the most relevant audience.
Advances in medical technology have led to miniscule cameras, an
increase in laparoscopic procedures and the use of high-definition
scanners, which provide a detailed picture of what’s going on
inside the body rather than the cutting and sawing of old. This has
made it a lot more ‘socially acceptable’ for online viewing, with
the plethora of video clips of cardiac and bariatric surgery
particularly bearing witness to this. Video clips of operations
supported by podcasts of the surgeon’s commentary and regularly
updated entries of a patient diary make highly effective, very
affordable promotional viewing today.
Medical professionals have been using the web for consultations
and remote patient monitoring for many years. Telemonitoring has
proven to be particularly effective for diabetes management, advice
on heart failure disease and with self-help weight loss
groups.
For example, Axon TeleHealthCare promotes its remote diabetic
monitoring service to not only diabetics but also to health
professionals with podcasts and testimonials. Spire Healthcare uses
a Spire Patient Journey Video to demonstrate the service and
facilities a patient can expect from one of its 36 hospitals.
Earlier in the year its home page carried a video of former England
rugby player and Strictly Come Dancing star, Austin Healey talking
about his experiences of using Spire Healthcare’s services.
Tom Hadley, Digital Project Manager at Merchant Healthcare
Marketing comments: “For both public and private healthcare
services it is an inescapable fact that service users are using
social media to talk about their experiences and share opinions.
That isn’t a prediction, it’s happening right now. Healthcare
organisations who engage with the public in this space do
themselves a power of good in being seen as open and
trustworthy.”
Though The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority is
going to have to closely examine exactly how the medical profession
uses the web, it is already happening and at an exponential rate.
Are you a contributor or a cynic? Either way, we can ensure you
don’t miss the boat.
* ICM Market Research for the Creston Health group
companies