My presentation to the Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society of Greater New York on May 18, 2010, at an event hosted by the New York Times.

1. Bringing the Social Media
Revolution to Health Care
Lee Aase (@LeeAase)
Manager, Syndication and Social Media
Mayo Clinic
#HPRMSNY
May 18, 2010

4. Disclaimers
• These results not typical
• Use as directed
• Read and follow label directions
• Side effects may include vertigo, watery
eyes, crackberry thumb and iPhone
application addiction
• Social media tools are an essential part of a
balanced communications diet
• If insufficient media coverage persists,
consult your communications doctor
• Batteries not included
• Some assembly required
• Your mileage may vary

5. Goals for This Morning
• NOT Education (mainly)
• Motivation for Application
• Ammunition for Argumentation
• Inspiration for Innovation

15. Six Magic Words
and
Four Reasons Why
They’re True for You

17. “I’ll bet I
could do
that!”

19. About Lee Aase (@LeeAase)
• B.S. Political Science
• 14 years in politics and government at
local, state, national levels
• Mayo Clinic since April 2000
− Media relations consultant
− Manager since 2004
− Media Relations/Research Comm
− Syndication and Social Media

27. Thesis #1: Air was the
original social medium

32. Mayo Clinic and Word of Mouth
• 91 percent of patients surveyed say
they have said “good things” to an
average of 40 people after a Mayo visit
• 85 percent say they recommended
Mayo to a friend
− Advised an average of 16 to come
− 5 actually came

33. Sources of Information Influencing
Preference for Mayo Clinic
Word of mouth 84
Stories in the media 57
MD recommendation 44
Advertising 27
Internet/Websites 26
Personal experience 24
Mailings to home 18
0 20 40 60 80 100

34. #2: Electronic tools merely
facilitate broader, more
efficient transmission by
overcoming inertia and
friction

36. #7: Hand-wringing about
merits and dangers of social
media is as productive as
debating gravity.

37. What else do patients
know about you?
 Copyright 2009, Health Grades, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

40. #9: Mass media will remain
powerful levers that move --
and are moved by -- social
media buzz.

45. USA Today
Nov 12, 2009
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46. #17: Social media are free in
any ordinary sense of the
word (or at least ridiculously
inexpensive)

49. Total Cost for Mayo Clinic
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
$0.00

50. In the European Union, based on
current exchange rates:
€0,00

51. MSRP for a Standard Definition
Flip Video Camera
$149.99
HD available for an additional $50

52. What’s wrong with this picture?

55. podcasts.mayoclinic.org

56. newsblog.mayoclinic.org

57. sharing.mayoclinic.org

58. Yearly Cost for a
Customized Blog
$75.00

59. Cost for Your Global TV Station
and Publishing Platform
$300.00

60. #18: As I approaches zero,
ROI approaches infinity

63. #19: MacGyver is the model
for social media success

64. The MacGyver Mindset

65. Mayo Clinic Medical Edge
News Media Syndications

66. First Foray in New Media
• Existing Medical Edge radio mp3s
• Launched Sept. ‘05; Downloads up
8,217 percent Oct. vs. Aug.

67. Step 2: More, Longer Podcasts

71. #20: Social media enable
authentic communication if
you don’t purposefully
complicate things

72. Key Tool: Flip Video Camera*
• Affordable
• Recording interviews (with tripod)
improves existing processes
• Authenticity without writer’s cramp
• Provides potential blog resources
− Audio of full interview
− Video excerpts
• Limited group of video editors to ease
adoption, ensure quality

73. Case Study: Simple Storytelling
• 8:45 a.m. Colleague mentions article
coming off embargo at 3 p.m.
• Interviewed M.D. via Flip at 10:20
• Edited video, had password-protected
post on blog by 11:55 for pitching
• Uploaded files to YouTube channel
• WSJ Health Blog used video

75. #24: Compelling content is
much more valuable than
advertising time or space

76. The Octogenarian Idol Story
• Alerted to interesting video of elderly
couple playing piano in Gonda atrium
• Video shot by another patient and
uploaded to YouTube by her daughter
• Video had been seen 1,005 times in six
preceding months since upload
• Embedded in Sharing Mayo Clinic,
posted to Facebook, Tweeted on 4/7/09

77. The next day...

78. Six days later...

79. April 22

80. Sunday, May 3

83. May 4

84. Cinco de Mayo

85. May 10

87. May 11

88. May 12

89. May 15

90. Early Morning May 26

91. May 26, 2009: Live in Studio
Good Morning America

93. Results to Date
• More than 7 million views on YouTube
• >1.4 million views on Sharing Mayo Clinic
• From 200 views/month to 5,000 views/hour
• Validation of Thesis #26

94. #26: Your mileage may vary,
but you’ll go a lot further if
you get a car.

95. #28: Paying for advertising
while not taking advantage
of FREE social media tools
isn’t particularly astute

96. A Story from Facebook...

100. Tamiko says...
“I’ve had lots of people ask me about the
YouTube video and I’ve told at least 30
people they should go to Mayo. ”

103. The most harmful TV show in
U.S History?
• Married with Children?
• Baywatch?
• The Survivor series?
• The A-Team?

106. “Kids will take a chance.
If they don’t know,
they’ll have a go.”
-- Sir Ken Robinson, TED 2006

107. #29: Your kids aren’t smarter
than you are. They’re just
not afraid to look dumb.

108. #33: Social media will
decrease diffusion time for
research and innovations

110. Thesis 9 and 33 Combined!

111. Last Friday
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112. Less than 24 hours after my initial appointment, I not
only had a new diagnosis - a UT split tear - but had
surgery to correct the problem. As I write this, my
right arm is in a festive green, but otherwise
annoying cast. The short-term hassle, however,
should be more than worth the long-term gain - the
potential for a future without chronic wrist pain. A
future, that without Twitter and those in the medical
community willing to experiment with new
communications tools, might not exist for me.
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115. From last week...

116. #34: Challenges of
introducing social media in
your work are not unique

117. Businesses Already Revolutionized
• Music - iTunes vs. Tower Records
• Classified Advertising - eBay, Craigslist
• Bookstores
• Movie rentals - Local, Blockbuster, Netflix
• All mass media
• Video cameras
• See The Innovator’s Dilemma; TI Solution
and TI Prescription - Clayton Christensen

118. #35: Social technologies will
transform healthcare

119. A few ideas for HR applications
• Employee onboarding
• Social networking groups for new
employees to reduce turnover
• Open enrollment blog to answer health
plan questions
• Culture blog like Sharing Mayo Clinic

120. Possible Internal Applications
• Intranet as blog enabling comments,
voting
• Collaboration platforms
• Wikis for collaborative document creation
• Knowledge management/discovery
• Saving time, improving service, reducing
costs

125. The 37th Thesis
Applying social media in health care isn’t
just inevitable: it’s the right thing to do in
the interest of patients.