By Vin Clancy

Envy,

That’s what a lot of you feel when you look at brands and influencers who generate huge amounts of traffic and sales from social media.

Don’t worry, I get it too. Now a lot of these people are either: extremely talented, have a lot of money for ads, or have grinded their way to the top of the newsfeed.
And I have the utmost respect for the vast majority of them. But saying that, there is another reason why these people/brands reached the summit of their game.

It’s because they got there first. Speed is the most valuable asset to have in this game and striking fast and hard is ideally  the way to go about things. Over the past year, a lot of people have asked me what the next big social platform is going to be.

Here are 7 of my predictions in regards to the future of social media. [Read more…]

By Kurt Long, CEO and founder, FairWarning, Inc.

According to CNBC, Facebook sent a doctor on a secret mission to ask hospitals to share patient data. Facebook was also in talks with top hospitals and other medical groups regarding a proposal to match patient data with their user data.

The stated intention was to “help the hospitals figure out which patients might need special care or treatment.” Facebook stated that the project is on hiatus so it can focus on “doing a better job of protecting people’s data.”

But that clearly hasn’t been a priority for the data giant. For Facebook’s 2 billion users, many of whom are now outraged, the real issue isn’t just how Facebook plans to protect its users but how data is used in the United States – and who the data actually belongs to.

In this climate of heightened awareness, healthcare organizations need to put customers first by making privacy and security of data actionable priorities. In the digital age, the new currency is trust. It’s hard to come by these days, so any organization that can distinguish itself as a source of trust will have no trouble attracting business. [Read more…]

By Kim Bassett

Use of social media is a part of our everyday lives and is a widely accepted form of communication for the average American. With familiarity and frequency of use brings more opportunities for misuse. According to a study done by On Device Research, a market analyst firm, 1 in 10 young job seekers have lost a job opportunity because of their social media profiles.

The greatest faux pas or errors will happen when people grow too comfortable and/or confident in the social media environment. I’m seeing this happen more and more on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. We are letting our guards down and have a false sense of security when posting.

Much of the time our posts are harmless, but occasionally something major can go awry if and when the one-off post is seen by the wrong person. Particularly if that post is not inline with your employer or prospective employer’s social media rules and guidelines.



[Read more…]

By Alla Bogdan

You work hard on your blog content. You try to provide value, write in an engaging voice, and include killer images so people will enjoy every minute of reading your posts. Social Triggers tells us that most of the 164 million blogs on the internet, most get less than 1,000 visitors every month. The problem is, it’s not an “if you build it they will come” type of situation. In order to get traffic to your blog, you have to drive it there. Social media is a great way to do that. Let’s look at how.

By Nick Hernandez

By now every physician should be aware of the benefits that can be bestowed upon their practice as a result of social media. Indeed many practices are engaging in one or more social media platforms on a regular basis. Moreover, staff members are most definitely active in social media, and probably use it while at work.

Physicians and practice managers must be smart about training employees on what they should and should not share online. Staff in your practice could incur liability on behalf of your practice as a result of their comments on social media. Because of the confidentiality rules in HIPAA, staff training is important. You should constantly remind employees that they are representatives of the practice.

You should also have some sort of social media policy in place. Here are a few key items your policy should include:

1. Guidelines and expectations. Your policy should set clear expectations for how team members (as representatives of your practice) must conduct themselves online.

Your policy should clearly state that there will be no posting of protected health information (PHI) and that employees are not allowed to use social media in work areas near patients. Be specific in training your employees and inform them to avoid identifying patients in any way on social media — this includes names, unique characteristics, etc.

Some practices do not allow employees use social media for personal reasons on work time. While that is fine as a policy, it does not circumvent the need to appropriately train your staff. Moreover, it can be hard to police. [Read more…]