A great blog post: How social media has changed my medical practice

We always hear from the experts how physicians and hospitals should be using social media to be in touch with their patients.  Rarely, however, do we hear from the doctors themselves.  Here is a great blog post from Natasha Burgert, MD on KevinMD.com.  I've only included a bit to tweak your interest, but follow the link below to read the entire piece!

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/08/social-media-changed-medical-practice.html

How social media has changed my medical practice

by Natasha Burgert, MD |

Last summer, I joined millions of others in the deluge of social media. I committed one year of effort to see if social would enhance or distract from my pediatric practice.

That was my goal, just one year.

At that time, I wanted to dip my foot in the pool, and see if it made any ripples. The unexpected consequence was how much social media has changed my medical practice, and me. Ripples have returned as tidal waves.

My practice has seen tangible, real valuable benefits. I have been intellectually challenged, and have professionally grown.

For my practice:

• Increasing new patient traffic is creating revenue for our group.I average 1 new patient family per week who came because of our social media presence. I know this because they tell me, “I am here to see you today because I found you on Facebook,” or “I found your blog.”
  
  • 52 patients a year x $2700 (average pediatric care for 0-24 mon.) = $140,000 of average billable income over two years.

•  Creating information has added to my “search-ability” in search engines. All my work is available publicly and with fully disclosed authorship, so new patients can find me with ease.

• Investing time in relevant and complete posts actually saves me time in the long run. Questions I am repeatedly asked,  like “How do I start solid foods?“, can be answered quickly and completely by directing them to my site. This saves face-to-face clinic time for more specific concerns for their child.

Read the rest at:   http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/08/social-media-changed-medical-practice.html

Natasha Burgert is a pediatrician who blogs at KC Kids Doc.

Note:  The thoughts and opinions on Training Wheels are my own, unless otherwise referenced, and are to be food for thought.  If contemplating business changes, these blog posts are not a substitute for consulting your lawyer or accountant. I"ll bet you already figured that out, didn't you?