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Health Care Meets Social
Networking: Mayo Clinic’s
Journey into Web 2.0
Lee Aase
Manager, Syndication and Social Media
Mayo Clinic
February 24, 2009

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Overview
• Deploying a Social Media Strategy:
Assessing the Risks and Benefits in a
Web 2.0 World
• Engaging staff and management in
new age information sharing: The role
of online social networks and word of
mouth/referrals
• Using new media applications to build
relationships and foster communities
between patients, physicians and staff
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3.
Reasons to Care about Social
Media: Risks are Unavoidable
• Anyone (especially determined
detractors) can
• Start a blog
• Launch a YouTube channel
• A significant portion of your
employees are in Facebook now (e.g.
>5,000 at Mayo Clinic)
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4.
This Might Not Happen to You, But...
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5.
Risk and Reward Management
• USCG: ROI = Risk of Ignoring
• Develop Employee Policies/Guidelines
- see e.g. http://tinyurl.com/bra56t or
http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_US/social-media.htm
• Seize opportunities for personalized
communication with global reach
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6.
Mayo Clinic’s Web 2.0 Journey
and Applications for You
• Disclaimer: I believe Mayo Clinic is
special, and so do most of our
employees and patients - YMMV
• However, challenges to Web 2.0
adoption were not unique
• We still have immense opportunities
• Patient support groups
• Chronic disease management
• More than just marketing
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7.
Think Like MacGyver
(or Dr. Henry Plummer)
• http://www.mayoclinic.org/tradition-
heritage/dr-henry-plummer.html
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Mayo Clinic’s Origin
http://tinyurl.com/32xbjx

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Brand Preference
• Thinking about healthcare institutions
such as hospitals, medical centers and
clinics -- suppose your health plan or
personal finances permitted you to go
anywhere in the U.S. for treatment of a
serious medical condition which
required highly specialized care such as
neurosurgery, sophisticated heart
surgery or complex cancer treatment...
• To which one institution would you prefer to
go for treatment?

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Top-of-Mind Brand Preference
U.S. Consumers
Mayo Clinic 11.7
Hospital E 3.1
2006 Study
Hospital D 2.3
Hospital C 1.8
Hospital B 1.3
Hospital A 1.0
Don't know 40.9
0 10 20 30 40 50
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Sources of Information Influencing
Preference for Mayo Clinic
Word of mouth 84
Stories in the media 57
MD recommendation 44
Advertising 27
2006 Study
Internet/Websites 26
Personal experience 24
Mailings to home 18
0 20 40 60 80 100
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12.
Mayo Clinic and Word of Mouth
• 91 percent of patients surveyed say
they have said “good things” to an
average of 40 people following a
Mayo visit
• 85 percent say they recommended
Mayo to a friend
• Advised an average of 16 to come
• 5 actually came
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13.
Mayo Clinic Medical Edge
News Media Syndications
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Mayo Clinic Social Media Progression
• Reach people directly
• Started with Medical Edge
• Produce economically to fit medium
• Provide platforms for sharing
• Create outposts on popular sites
• Energize word of mouth
• Leverage social media with mass media
and vice versa
• Sharing Mayo Clinic
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15.
First Foray in New Media
• Existing Medical Edge radio mp3s
• Launched Sept. ‘05; Downloads up
8,217 percent Oct. vs. Aug.

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Step 2: More, Longer Podcasts
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Step 3: podcasts.mayoclinic.org
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YouTube Channel
• Brand study confirmed benefit
• “The world has voted, and we want to
watch videos on YouTube.” - Andy
Sernovitz, President, Blog Council
• Use YouTube to serve videos for blogs
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Key Tool: Flip Video Camera
• Affordable for all campuses (and you)
• Recording interviews (with tripod)
improves existing processes
• Authenticity without writer’s cramp
• Provides potential blog resources
• Audio of full interview
• Video excerpts
• Limited group of video editors to
ease adoption, ensure quality
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Two Case Studies of Mainstream
Media Facilitated by Social Media
• Wall Street Journal Health Blog
• Pitched via Facebook
• Previewed on News Blog
• Embedded from YouTube
• CBS Radio Network
• Flip audio downloaded from news
blog made national network air
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Next Step: Launched Jan. 22
Sharing Mayo Clinic
• Gathering global Mayo community
• Patients telling their stories
• Employee bloggers recruited from
throughout organization
• Video profiles of patients/staff
• Hub to integrate Mayo social media
• Interactive companion to print edition
• sharing.mayoclinic.org
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Where Sharing Mayo Clinic Fits
• News Blog - Breaking research news;
“Hard” news
• Podcast Blog - Evergreen “news you
can use”
• Sharing Mayo Clinic - Features;
behind the scenes at Mayo Clinic,
and stories from patients in their own
words
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Sharing Mayo Clinic
Content Sources
• HR/Recruitment identifying employee
bloggers to write 2X/month
• Enhanced stories from print edition
• Flip video from patients on campus
• Question in MD news Flip interviews
• Transplant Picnic, NICU reunion
• Highlight employee service awards
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29.
Benefits of Sharing Mayo Clinic
Monthly Open Thread
• Patient stories most popular on .org
• Outlet for grateful patients who want
to tell their stories
• Prompts patients to think about
sharing stories
• Alerts us to great stories we may
want to feature in publications,
Medical Edge, media pitches
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Retroactive Roadmap and
Philosophy for Future
• Start with current activity extensions
or high-probability pilot
• External consultants and case
studies help build internal buy-in
• Build on success step-by-step
• Take advantage of cheap technology
• Facilitate with small core team, but
make social media everyone’s job
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Immense Potential
• Marketing we couldn’t afford to buy
• 500,000 annual unique patients,
50,000 employees as ambassadors
• More efficient care delivery
• Patient support groups
• Chronic disease management
• Workplace Collaboration
• Free versions let you prove concept,
gauge readiness
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Immediate Applications for You
• Prevent “domain squatting” by
establishing organization accounts
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Consider a YouTube channel
(especially if nonprofit/not-for-profit)
• Become a SMUGgle and begin
Homework Assignments to get
hands-on personal experience
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Contacting Me
• Google Lee Aase or SMUG University
to find SMUG
• Twitter @LeeAase or @SMUG_U
• Friend me on Facebook
• aase.lee@mayo.edu
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