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BUSINESS ADVISOR
reads your articles for months? She might not need your services now.
However, if she tears her ACL in the future, her familiarity with your
tone and quality of information might lead her to choosing you to perform her surgery. Or she might recommend you to her injured teammates. Or your local newspaper might hear about an injury prevention
talk you gave to her team and decide to run a story about your facility.
The benefits of social media from a healthcare marketing perspective are real, but they take time and effort. If you don't get started,
you'll never see them.
Time well spent
Those of you on the fence about whether you should dip your toes
in the social media water might feel that all of it has no real bearing
on your practice. Admittedly, the time I spend doing it doesn't help
me perform ACL reconstructions or shoulder stabilizations any better. But it is important. Yes, it is important to our desires to grow our
practices and develop our personal brands. But much more importantly, it matters to the public, which is increasingly turning to new
channels for health information. As physicians and healthcare
providers, we have the opportunity — and, I would argue, the duty
— to educate people of all ages and backgrounds. We can promote
new ways to prevent injuries, better treat illnesses and improve
health and well-being to a much broader audience than we can in
our offices alone. That opportunity to improve people's lives is easily worth the time and effort. OSM
Dr. Geier (contact@drdavidg eier.com) is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports
medicine specialist helping athletes of all ages and skill levels with injury,
treatment, prevention, health and wellness information — locally through his
sports medicine practice in Charleston, S.C., and globally through any and all
media (www.drdavidgeier.com).
S E P T E M B E R 2013 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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