Today in the US, there are 367 hospitals that are actively using social media. Collectively they are responsible for 186 YouTube Channels which include over 5,000 videos. They have created 267 Twitter accounts and published more than 10,000 tweets. Does these efforts actually influence consumers?

According to a recent survey by Ad-ology, social media impacts nearly 40% of recent hospital or urgent-care center patients, with more than half of 25-to-34 year olds reporting they are influenced by it. One of the main reasons why this age group was so heavily influenced is because nearly 30% of their hospital visits are maternity-related. Of social media types, forums and discussion boards had a significant influence on 20% of 25-to-34 year olds who recently made a visit for maternity reasons.

This suggests hospitals should target this group with an online space where these parents-to-be can interact. Health providers should continue to target the 25-34 year olds with the types of health services this group seeks such as urgent care, OB/GYN and wellness programs.

Additional survey findings:

At the other end of the age spectrum, respondents ages 55+ had the highest percentage of recent hospital or urgent care center visits and reported significant influence from direct mail and newspaper advertising. The most important factors for this age group were quality of care, availability of specialized services, and out-of-pocket costs. Other key survey findings:

• Women accounted for approximately 60% of those who researched family doctors online.
• Quality of care ranks the highest among patients as the most important factor when choosing a hospital or urgent care center.
• Hospital/urgent care websites had the most influence on 18-to-24-year old patients (53.8%).
• Of traditional media, TV had the most influence on all respondents (22.3%), followed by newspapers (21.9%).

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