Surgeons Send ‘Tweets’ From Operating Room, Research Paper Example

In the present day, where technology has become a formative part of every aspect of people’s everyday lives, it is critical that healthcare providers and hospitals graft in social media for marketing purposes. Organizations marketing a service face far different challenges than those that actively promote a product. While product are tangible to the consumer, because the consumer can see and touch it prior to purchasing it, services are not, which renders services far more difficult to promote (Thomas & Calhoun, 2007, p. 27). As a result, consumers must be able to perceive the value of the service, which is often difficult to get across, especially in healthcare organizations. Social media has facilitated efforts to promote healthcare services in a manner in which all consumers are inundated with the benefits of an organization (Zuckerman, 2010). A handful of consumers often turn to social media in order to ascertain healthcare information about certain organizations and/or product. Recently, social media outlets have been allowed into the operating room, which has functioned as a cogent way to market a particular healthcare organization. A slew of articles on the internet discuss the potential of such a marketing strategy by sending tweets sent from the operating room by chief resident in Henry Ford Hospital. They removed a man’s cancerous tumor on February 9, 2009. Curious and fascinated, non-medical populations, medical students, and doctors followed the procedure in real-time as surgeons tweeted terse updates as they performed the kidney surgery to remove the malignant tumor.

According to the lead surgeon, the purpose of live tweeting the surgery was to prove to people that a cancerous tumor could be removed without having to extract the entire kidney (Cohen, 2009). Thus, twitter offered the organization an opportunity to disseminate medical information to broad audience, thereby touting its status as a cutting-edge and innovative, staffed with the best medical minds in the country. Moreover, it marketed Henry Ford Hospital as an enticing and proven place for patients interested in getting the same surgery to go to for it. Such a marketing tactic by Henry Ford Hospital fomented excitement while also raising public awareness of Henry Ford Hospital as a healthcare organization. Throughout the month of February during which the procedure was carried out, Twitter followers continued to re-tweet messages sent by the surgeons while also contributing their own thoughts and opinions on the event. Such buzz generated by social media can help the healthcare organization not only attract well-qualified medical personnel to join their staff but also recruit new patients.

References

Cohen, E. (2009). Surgeons send ‘tweets’ from operating room. Cnn. Retrieved August 17, 2015 from http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/17/twitter.surgery/

Thomas, R.K., & Calhoun, M. (2007). Marketing matters: A guide for healthcare executives. Chicago, IL: ACHE Management Press. ISBN-13: 978-1567932768

Zuckerman, A.M. (2012). Healthcare strategic planning (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press. ISBN-13: 978-1567934342