How HR governs employees internally can dramatically shift how the external world interacts with staff and the company. Here, the UK’s NHS loosening governance of social media use provides a path forward for healthcare providers and more.
By Joseph Warren
National healthcare systems like Canada’s have traditionally had a very reserved relationship with social media usage. For many, the default position was “don’t do it,” but the realities of modern interconnectedness have made that impossible for HR teams to enforce with doctors, staff members and patients. Rather than continuing to waste resources in blocking or restricting the abilities of doctors, nurses, and staff to engage with patients and the public as themselves over social media, the UK’s NHS has recently embraced a more lenient policy with positive results.
Here, three key benefits of this more relaxed social media usage policy will be discussed, with a special eye to how this internal shift is changing external relationships with patients, media and the general public. From an open path to a meaningful dialogue, to the ability to rapidly dispel myths, rumours, and scams, this new social media policy is allowing everyone a deeper level of insights into patients and healthcare teams alike.
One of the biggest benefits of a more relaxed social media policy the NHS UK team noticed was the greater opportunity for ongoing dialogue with patients and the public. In many cases, this dialogue went far beyond what had previously been available through more formalized channels.
For example, prior to the shift in policy, patients or members of the public with a concern needed to fill out specific feedback forms and submit them to designated offices or mailboxes. Most did not, taking their grievances, complaints or fears directly to social media. Unable to respond, doctors and hospital sites were unpleasantly surprised at the resulting impact on their reputations, especially in situations where simple solutions or additional explanations could have resolved things.
Now, while teams are still barred from publicly discussing illness or offering diagnosis in the social space, they can quickly respond with needed information or guide the discussion toward the right resolution resources. This has led to better external perceptions of community support and involvement and stronger support levels from the community for initiatives and staff. In turn, these benefits have boosted healthcare provider satisfaction and lowered turnover and burnout.
Responding Rapidly to Myths and Misperceptions
Another benefit of the relaxed social media policy has been the ability of healthcare providers and teams to respond rapidly to myths and misperceptions. Two fantastic examples, including one building from the UK’s experience and occurring here in Canada, show why this matters.
First, in the UK, a columnist attacked a themed intervention programmeme, #EndPJParalysis, designed to help patients return home faster and in better physical condition. His claim that it was a pushy, cost-cutting measure and inaccurate in terms of the science behind the move. When his commentary picked up viral levels of attention, hospital teams were able to connect with each other on social media to coordinate a thoughtful, respectful response that diffused the situation and dispelled the incorrect assumption.
Later, in Canada, when the H1N1 vaccine had poor uptake rates, medical researchers in Toronto used the UK’s approach and went out into the social media sphere to find out why. There, in various community blogs, forums, and Facebook groups, they discovered a much bigger pool of resistance to vaccination and deep concerns about side effects … concerns and resistance levels that were not showing up in official dialog channels. By engaging with potential patients on social media and shifting their awareness campaigns to the digital world, the health service was able to boost vaccination rates and ensure more patients who needed the vaccine were confident in the care they were receiving.
Such nimble shifts and responses would not be possible through traditional “corporate” communication channels. While corporate teams can move quickly, the final “approved” response statement does not always have the same power as an “in the moment” comment, share, or response from a relevant social media profile. Plus, for patients and healthcare consumers, there is a deep value to the perception that someone from their preferred provider is listening to them as they navigate the healthcare system.
Gaining Deeper Insights into Employees and Patients
This preference for feeling heard, and feeling heard in the social media platforms where most patients are quite active, is just one of the insights that have grown out of the NHS Employers’ more relaxed use of social media. They have also noted that practitioners enjoy feeling as though they can have those relationships with patients and a chance to share their own insights on emerging health stories (within reasonable boundaries).
Further, social media has allowed specialized doctors and patients with certain sets of conditions to form more focused communities than possible within the restrictive, generalized, and typically one-way firehouse of announcements that were the norm on “official” health serve or hospital social media channels. A good example is the way that SickKids has been able to boost parental engagement and raise awareness of key children’s health issues over social media platforms, according to HealthyDebates Canada, providing a safe and differentiated space from the general health service discussions.
All in all, the looser policy of the UK’s NHS Employers HR team means that healthcare providers worldwide and especially here in Canada have the chance to see what a more connected and less regulated social media presence can do. In this way, the internal HR choices have provided ample evidence that external change is possible as a result of smart, realistic and practical HR policies.