By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Leading in Social at Cleveland Clinic
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > Leading in Social at Cleveland Clinic
Social Media

Leading in Social at Cleveland Clinic

Robin Carey
Robin Carey
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

There’s a short list of medical centers that are truly global brands: Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Johns-Hopkins, and of course, Cleveland Clinic.  They have reputations and non-U.S. physical presence.  For them as for most global brands, social media and patient experience have become strategic concerns.  For Cleveland’s Paul Matsen, this time it’s personal and he aims for it to be truly inter-active.

There’s a short list of medical centers that are truly global brands: Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Johns-Hopkins, and of course, Cleveland Clinic.  They have reputations and non-U.S. physical presence.  For them as for most global brands, social media and patient experience have become strategic concerns.  For Cleveland’s Paul Matsen, this time it’s personal and he aims for it to be truly inter-active.

On Sunday I was privileged to speak at Cleveland’s Patient Experience Summit, and more importantly, could learn more about Cleveland’s ambitions to become a credible source of information and engagement for patients, as well as it’s commitment to making digital communications and marketing a sustained focus that will reinforce its medical leadership.

Paul Matsen came from Delta Airlines, where he was CMO, so he’s not born and bred in healthcare, but brings a fresh perspective from an outside industry. Although health providers in general have been slow to embrace twitter, facebook and syndicated blogging, Matsen has ignored industry convention and started in 2009 on a clear strategic plan that is showing results.  He created a clear social media policy right away.  He has created a cross-departmental team with significant responsibilities and a company-wide steering committee to foster continual alignment with company brand and goals.  Its twitter following (50K) is one of the largest for a hospital, and its Facebook page numbers 75,000 people who “like” the page.  But as impressive as these numbers are, particularly for healthcare, the more innovative leadership is in its newest venture: Health Hub, a patient-friendly platform is intended to be a first of its kind. 

More Read

Create Engaging Content For Your Hospital
Why the “Mad Men” Approach to Marketing Might Not Be Best for Your Medical Practice
A Quick Resource Kit for ‘Hospitals and Social Media’
Is Social Media a Fit for Doctors?
Cancer Patient’s Compassionate Use Conundrum Leads to Social Media Ambush on BioMarin

The problem with healthcare and social is silos.  Sites like Sermo and others, funded by the pharmaceutical industry, are great for physicians but are closed to the public, and because of their sponsorship, are necessarily driven by concerns with drugs.  Academic institutions, like the National Institutes of Health, have gone far to create “open access” to peer-reviewed research, but although accessible it is not for the lay-reader and sites like PubMed only provide a synopsis.  Newer initiatives like the Polis (tk) site are promising but not well-known.  Into the breach, not surprisingly, you see renowned medical/academic centers like Cleveland and others who can provide the “missing link” between authoritative information and patients (or increasingly, “customers.”)

“We see Health Hub Health as breaking down the walls between digital content and off-line content,” Matsen explained.  “For a world-class academic medical center, we have the resources to create our own content,” and rightly, Matsen recognized that very same content as the kind of “pull marketing” strategy that will continue to attract a global audience.  Seventy-five percent of the home site come from outside Ohio, and with Cleveland Clinics located in Florida, Canada, and elsewhere,  and now coming to Abu Dhabi, it’s important that the site engage with those customers in the ways and times that they wish.

Unlike other institutions and in spite of numbers which show that physicians as a whole are resistant to using social media for professional purposes, Cleveland has trained its physicians in media and encourages inter-action on the site.  As Cleveland has seen its global web traffic in four years grow from 15M to 36M annually, its role as a leader in social media, and more importantly, as a leader in healthcare, can only increase. For “what we’re trying to do, we’ve gotten tremendous organizational support for our strategy and since we have to draw patients from all over, content is very important to us.  Healthcare  is the ultimate ‘pull’ marketing strategy.”  Indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAGGED:cleveland clinicgetting started with social media for healthcare marketersHealth HubPaul Matsen
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

Image
Social Media

How To Use SmartStream For HealthCare Tweet Chats

May 13, 2013
Social Media

How Social Media is “Consumerizing” Healthcare

April 2, 2013

Why Wellness Clinic Blogs Need Bylines and Bios

April 15, 2016

The Benefits of Having an E-newsletter for Your Hospital

February 22, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?