Social Media for Radiology Practice
Management
Garry Choy, MD MBA
Staff Radiologist, MGH Radiology
Assistant Chief Medical Information Officer, Mass General Physicians Organization
Case in Point: Social Media
• Drive traffic to screening mammo
scheduling page
– www.massgeneral.org/mymammo
• Drive screening mammo appointment
request form submissions
• Increase screening mammo volume in
Nov, Jan and Feb FY14
Campaign Overview and Timeline
Nov Dec Jan Feb
Start date:
Nov 20
End date:
Feb 28
Facebook Creative
Facebook Creative
Facebook Creative
Desktop
Mobile
Facebook Creative
Desktop
Mobile
Results
• Campaign - Nov 20 to Feb 28
– >2.3M impressions from Google and
Facebook ads geotargeting women >37
• ~6.2K visitors to scheduling page
– ~77% of page’s total traffic
• 50 phone calls to request a
mammogram
• 525 new Facebook fans
Insights: Paid vs Unpaid Traffic
Insights: Digital Traffic
• Of the ~8K visitors to scheduling page while advertising
– 54% of all traffic on a device
» 30% on mobile
» 24% on tablet
– 62% of paid traffic from a device
» 34% on mobile
» 28% on tablet
– 30% of unpaid traffic from a device
» 14% on mobile
» 16% on tablet
Results in the Context of Volume
88% of all visitors to this
page do no submit a
request
93% of mobile visitors
to this page do not
submit a request
~8K visitors who
converted at a rate
of 4%335
submissions
~300 exams
Facebook vs. Google
• Ads on Facebook outperformed those on Google for traffic
– Greater reach
– Increased Facebook fan base (primarily mobile users)
• Ads on Google outperformed those on Facebook for
conversions
– 9% conversion rate during Google-only month (Dec)
– 2 – 5% conversion rate during Facebook-dominant
months (Jan and Feb)
Conclusions of Social Media Campaign for
Mammography Services Awareness at MGH
• Use different digital platforms to reach women at different
stages of readiness to request a mammogram
– Social media platforms can help raise awareness of
mammograms at multiple stages
• High rates of social engagement (e.g., likes,
comments) an mobile users
• Low rates of conversion
• Self-regulated community that encouraged positive
behavior change
Conclusions (cont)
• Use different digital platforms to reach women at different
stages of readiness to request a mammogram
– Mobile plus paid search can engage women who are
ready to make an appointment
• 9% engagement rate during Google-only month
• Mobile users engaged at a higher rate
– Organic search optimized for mobile can engage
women who are ready to make an appointment
• 20% average conversion rate during one-year period
with no advertising
• Mobile users engaged at a higher rate
Why social media for practice management?
MGH Radiology Department Twitter Feed
• Patient education
• News
• Research
• Announcements
• Featured
radiologists
• Retweets
– Hospital
– ACR, RSNA
Social Media – Patients First - Patient
Education
• Use Twitter for Patient Education
Facebook Page
Facebook Page
Marketing
• Drive leads
• Increase brand and practice reputation
• Improve patient loyalty
• Cost-effective
We’re busy – how can we manage all these
social media websites?
• Aggregators and management tools:
– Auto-posts from RSS feeds, designated websites
– Automatic “retweets”
– Scheduled posts
– Multiple users (assign/delegate the task)
– Manage multiple channels (Twitter, Facebook)
• Examples:
– “Multimodality” = HootSuite, VerticalResponse
– Twitter = TweetDeck, TweetBot
Social Media Management Tool: HootSuite
Social Media Management Tool: HootSuite
Social Media Management Tool: HootSuite
Social Media Management Tool: HootSuite
What resonates?
User Sentiment?
Twitter Management Tools
• TweetDeck
• CoTweet
• Buffer
Limitations / Best Practices
• Quality and high value content
• Monitor at regular intervals (daily <-> weekly)
• Ensure patient confidentiality
• Maintain compliance with hospital / legal policies
• Appointment of Social Media Manager, Team Lead, or
Chair/Committee
