Practical Advice for Clinicians on Interfacing with Social Media

Practical Advice for Clinicians on Interfacing with Social Media

Did you know the average person spends over 2 hours on social media every day?[1] While it’s clear that social media is here to stay, the impacts of social media trends on clinicians and patients alike is probably less apparent to you—but it is undoubtedly the reality we face. Today, 8 in 10 internet users search for health information online,[2] and 74% of these people use social media.[3] Perhaps more surprisingly, in a 2023 survey, …

Read More
Many Gen Z Men Don’t Have a PCP, Rely on Social Media For Health Tips

Many Gen Z Men Don’t Have a PCP, Rely on Social Media For Health Tips

A national survey of 1,000 men conducted by Cleveland Clinic highlighted generational differences regarding men’s health. Nearly 40% of Gen Z men (born between 1997 and 2005) do not have a regular primary care physician. Consequently, many in this group are unsure if they’ve ever had their blood pressure, cholesterol, or weight checked. While 61% Gen X (born 1965-1980) and baby boomer (born before 1965) men say they get a yearly physical, just 32% of …

Read More
Employee Confidentiality Cannot Extend to Employment Terms—Including on Social Media

Employee Confidentiality Cannot Extend to Employment Terms—Including on Social Media

Urgent message: Nondisclosure agreements that are commonly required of management and providers to protect a company’s business strategies, intellectual property and human capital generally cannot prohibit employees from sharing their own pay, benefits, working conditions, or conditions of employment even on social media. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is President of Experity Networks and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Many companies expect and even demand confidentiality of proprietary information. …

Read More
Dangerous Fake News Story Spreads Flu Misinformation on Social Media

Dangerous Fake News Story Spreads Flu Misinformation on Social Media

Fake news has been lamented, scorned, or poked fun at for various reasons and from various political perspectives for the past year, but right now a fake news story circulating on social media could put lives in danger. First appearing on Facebook, the “article” falsely claims that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that influenza vaccine has been responsible for many deaths attributed to flu this year. The myth-busting website Snopes debunked the …

Read More
Wronged on Social Media? Maybe There’s Recourse

Wronged on Social Media? Maybe There’s Recourse

The case of Texas newlyweds whom a court ordered to pay a photographer $1 million after engaging in a social media smear campaign has gotten a lot of attention. The headlines will fade, but the decision could give all businesses—including urgent care centers—cause to take another look at their options if they feel they’ve been wrongfully defamed online. In the Texas case, a newly married couple claimed the photographer was holding their wedding album “hostage” …

Read More
Let Patients Know How You’re Weathering in Winter

Let Patients Know How You’re Weathering in Winter

Inclement winter weather doesn’t stop people from needing fast access to good medical care—if anything, the perils of walking or driving on icy surfaces may lead some to seek an urgent care center for the first time. Even if their complaints are the garden variety sore throat or UTI, some may think twice about venturing out to a crowded emergency room. And primary care offices do close suddenly on occasion. It would be wise to …

Read More
Don’t Post That! Protecting Patient Privacy in the Age of Social Media

Don’t Post That! Protecting Patient Privacy in the Age of Social Media

Urgent message: Using social media platforms helps your community get to know your urgent care center. But be sure that you protect your patients’ privacy when doing so. Introduction Social media has great utility for urgent care centers, providing invaluable opportunities to connect with the local community and offering a host of educational tools for providers and patients. The explosion of myriad social media platforms, however, has created a variety of new channels for exposure …

Read More
Use Digital Marketing and Social Media to Attract and Engage New Urgent Care Patients

Use Digital Marketing and Social Media to Attract and Engage New Urgent Care Patients

URGENT MESSAGE: A seismic shift away from traditional marketing toward digital media and popular consumer social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube has led most medical practices to focus on attracting and engaging both current and new patients via the internet. Urgent care practices, often the best-kept secrets in their communities, now have an unprecedented opportunity for growth using digital marketing and social media to their advantage. Parham Javaherian, MBA, is Chief Executive …

Read More
Make Your Social Media Platform a Pro-Social Media Voice

Make Your Social Media Platform a Pro-Social Media Voice

There’s no softening the blow when a community faces a devastating loss, as Dallas did recently when five police officers were murdered and nine others injured. As seen in New York City after 9/11, though, devastation can also be the catalyst for banding together and inspire ordinary citizens to support each other like never before. In the aftermath of the Dallas tragedy, the staff at Legacy ER and Urgent Care, which serves North Texas, expressed …

Read More