Having a Social Media Crisis? Here's What to Do

As with public relations or PR, social media can enhance your hospital’s reputation — but it also has the potential to damage it. With just one click of the mouse, a snarky status update or tweet from one of your official social media channels can cause “fireworks” to erupt, and that’s the wrong kind of attention, potentially causing loss in revenue for your company.

If your hospital or healthcare facility experiences this type of crisis, here are a few suggestions on how to get spin control moving fast:

Address the situation immediately. Don’t delay your response. The longer the post remains visible with no rebuttal, the more the issue can escalate. Delete it and respond to any associated comments in a timely manner, since the last thing you want is for the post to go viral.

Always provide a sincere apology. Because we all make mistakes, people are by nature forgiving. Instead of dodging blame and pointing fingers, own up to the mistake and let your followers know you are vigorously addressing the situation.

Post Terms and Conditions on your social channels. As you do with your website or blog, adding Terms and Conditions to your social media channels shows your followers that malicious or offensive behavior will not be tolerated. Being up-front at first is always a good thing and your fans will respect you more.

There is a lot of competition when it comes to healthcare and medicine. The last thing your hospital needs is a social media crisis that gives your followers a reason not to use your services. Simply addressing the situation promptly and admitting culpability can go a long way in keeping your followers happy and encouraging new and re-occurring patients to choose you for their medical needs.