Are Hospitals In India Harnessing The Power Of Social Media?

Are hospitals in India harnessing the power of social media to grow business and visibility or struggling to understand the medium?

- M Neelam Kachhap

Social media has impact, and is instant. Much like the Internet transformed our lives at the turn of the century, social media is impacting our lives and business today. Networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest are defining the way we reach and interact with clients and customers. One of the most talked about topics on social media is health. Be it information on diseases or queries about hospital services, conversation on healthcare delivery are enticingly high on social media. “Many people use the Internet to get additional healthcare information but most of that knowledge is unstructured, inaccessible or more often, unreliable. Social media adds a layer of social validation to online information that makes it seem credible (there’s another debate around whether more information is better),” says Viren Shetty, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Planning, Narayana Hrudayalaya. In fact social media is an extension of the word-of-mouth culture. “Healthcare as a service category works on word of mouth. People always recommend good doctors and hospitals to their friends and family at the first given opportunity. Nowadays, since social media is being rampantly used, this creates an additional platform for people to talk about healthcare providers,” shares Vivek Shukla, GM and Head of Marketing-GCC, Aster DM Healthcare.