This document provides guidance for hospitals on how to engage patients through a Facebook community. It recommends establishing a Facebook page to connect with patients, who increasingly use social media for health information. The document outlines best practices for setting up and managing an effective Facebook strategy, including choosing a strong profile picture, establishing a clear comment policy, preparing for negative comments, discovering optimal posting times and frequency, and keeping fans engaged through various tactics like sharing photos, hosting discussions, and responding to comments. The overall goal is to use Facebook to benefit the hospital by connecting with patients in an online community.

1. how to engage
patients in a
facebook community
a guide for hospitals
Hive strategies Helps Hospitals engage patients
tHrougH social media.

2. how can facebook
benefit your hospital?
600 million users spend more time on facebook than on google,
Yahoo, Youtube, Microsoft, Wikipedia and amazon combined.
Most facebook users are women, and they spend on average more
than an hour a day.
a recent survey found that 41 percent of patients search social
media sites for medical content and that 94 percent of them
turn to facebook.
it’s time for you to join your patients!

3. getting started
a fan page allows you to post photos, links,
and general content, but is reserved for
brands, businesses or companies. define
your fan page purpose by answering
three key questions.

4. why do you want a fan page?
Clearly identify what you hope
to achieve through your fan
page that you can’t accomplish
in other platforms, such as your
blog, e-newsletter, twitter or
Youtube channel.

5. who will manage
your facebook page?
assess your staff and decide who
will be in charge of managing your
hospital’s Facebook page.

6. What is Your
“it factor?”
decide what you can provide on your
fan page that will keep fans coming
back for more.
Caution: one of the worst things you
can do is start your facebook page and
then neglect it.

7. hoW to build an
eFFective Facebook
strategy

8. choose a strong
profile picture
use your logo or
a picture of your
hospital. Make sure
it’s easy to tell what
it is at a small size.

9. establish a Clear
comment policy
• locate it in an easy-to-find place, such
as your “information” tab.
• Make sure your fans know that this is
not the place to seek medical advice
for themselves or others.
• for health emergencies, call 911.
• prominent disclaimers and warnings help
protect you from hipaa violations.

10. prepare yourself for
negative comments
there will come a time when you receive
negative comments. Know how to respond so
you can minimize the impact.

11. discover
when and how
to post
develop the right post frequency to keep fans
engaged. experiment with different times and
frequency.

12. always identify
the author of Your posts
be sure your readers
know who is posting.
Communication can
take place without
confusion.

13. remember
quality over quantity

14. 10 WaYs to Keep
Fans engaged on
facebook

15. keep fans engaged by
1. alloWing MeMbers
to share their oWn
photographs.

16. keep fans engaged by
2. posting your
upcoming events.

17. keep fans engaged by
3. aCting as a
valuable resource.

18. keep fans engaged by
4. telling stories.

19. keep fans engaged by
5. integrating
your web videos.

20. keep fans engaged by
6. posting photos.

21. keep fans engaged by
7. enCouraging
discussion topics.

22. keep fans engaged by
8. having fun!

23. keep fans engaged by
9. offering a
poll or contest.

24. keep fans engaged by
10. responding to
fan postings.

25. final thoughts
success takes time
be consistent
think about patients First
and your hospital second

26. Visit www.hivestrategies.com
to download a detailed e-book on this subject

27. We help hospitals engage patients through social media.
www.hivestrategies.com hello@hivestrategies.com 503-472-5512