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November 12, 2024: What if the most powerful tool in healthcare was already in your pocket? Sarah Richardson and Kate Gamble dive into TikTok's surprising role in health information and its potential for both groundbreaking outreach and damaging misinformation. Hear insights on how healthcare professionals are using this platform to educate, connect, and, in some cases, risk reputational backlash.

00:31 The Influence and Risks of TikTok in Healthcare

04:15 Public Health Initiatives and Humanizing Healthcarw

06:13 Strategic Use of Social Media in Healthcare

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Transcript

Today in Health IT, we are discussing TikTok's role in healthcare, safeguarding to misinformation.

My name is Sarah Richardson and I'm a former CIO for Silver Healthcare Systems, most notably within HCA and Optum, and now president of this week Health 229 Executive Development Community, where we host a set of channels and events dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection, one solution. at a time.

And I am joined by Kate Gamble, Managing Editor here at This Week Health. Kate, welcome to the show. Thanks, Sarah. All right. So today we are talking about TikTok's role in healthcare and safeguarding to misinformation. So TikTok plays an influential role in healthcare, both as a platform for information and a potential source of misinformation.

And while partners within organizations like the World Health Organization aim to counter health misinformation, Issues with harmful content do remain, and studies suggest more healthcare professionals on the platform could help mitigate misinformation, but inappropriate use by healthcare workers poses Reputational risks.

Kate, your thoughts on this one? So I had to do a little digging because I'm not on TikTok. I have seen it, but we know it's really popular. I looked at a study that said one in three Gen Zers use TikTok as their main source of health information, which is a little bit mind boggling, but that's the society that we're in now.

And it also found that one in 11 experienced health issues after following advice on TikTok, which is really concerning. Both for individuals and for healthcare professionals. So when we look into it, we see that there are doctors on TikTok, but then there are also hospitals that have accounts. So it's really interesting.

The doctors are using it to share information, raise awareness about things like vaccines and debunk common myths, and also show a little side of themselves. And I think that's really interesting. But , where it gets a little dicey is that there are some risks as far as reputation with anything that comes out that's either found to be false or as we said before wasn't great information.

So it's a really an interesting situation. Completely agree, especially when you think about that reputation management. Most organizations have you go through media training or they don't have you post on their behalf independently. So as I was, as a CIO, I would make sure that if our physicians are posting, they're either posting under the channel that is managed and operated by the health system or if that physician is posting independently, maybe ask them to make sure that This information is their views and not necessarily that of the organization because that can also protect them from information accuracy or misinformation in that case and also create a space where patients can feel safe because false information can directly affect their behaviors and their outcomes.

Yeah, and there is that distinction, as you said, between those who are using it independently and those who are using it as part of a hospital or health systems account. And there's a lot of great opportunity there., I saw that it's more common with children's hospitals, which is really great because you're reaching out to the people who are your patients, their families.

But the risks are still there, and it's really important that CXOs have an open line of communication with HR, with marketing, to get out in front of it and, like you said, have those policies and be able to step in when something does happen. Completely agree because, despite controversy, TikTok can serve as a powerful tool in healthcare.

I think of spreading health awareness. So if you have engaging videos that allow healthcare professionals to educate wide audiences on topics like mental health, preventative care, and disease management, that's going to be a win. We talked about how to combat misinformation. Verify the accounts and partnerships with organizations like the World Health Organization to counteract misinformation.

What are some other ways that could make sense for TikTok to be used as a positive, powerful tool in healthcare?

So we saw a lot of this during COVID, which was a focus on public health initiatives. And there's one physician, Kat Wallace from University of Illinois, Chicago, who built a really big following and has used it to educate people and to, combat the misinformation, show that vaccines are safe, and it's really important from a public health standpoint.

And the other thing I really is the humanizing aspect. We see doctors, nurses, and staff, they share those behind the scenes looks. They've done dance numbers in some occasions, they put on costumes, but really just shows the other side of them, which can help build trust and foster patient engagement.

Absolutely. And yet there can be social media mishaps that involve staff. And as you think about taking a measured, transparent, and even corrective approach to it, I think about addressing the incident privately. If you're meeting with staff members involved to understand the situation and discuss the implications of their actions, it can actually reinforce the type of behavior that you want to see versus necessarily making it punitive.

And it's always an opportunity to enforce the social media policies in an organization, understanding that professional behavior and organizational values come through if you're representing yourself as a part of that organization. And if it is necessary, you do have to be ready to issue a public statement.

If the video has gained attention expressing the commitment to professional standards, any corrective actions, but to really get out in front of these things. And as we said, this is where those partnerships come in handy with marketing, with HR and offering additional training because we're seeing so much use of things like TikTok.

It's going to be part of. The way people are, it's going to be part of our behavior for a while. So I think it's really important to provide or reinforce training on social media, best practices to try to prevent some of those future issues and maintain that positive online presence. 100%, and what I love about us even talking about this today is social media is a component of the organization.

It is something that while marketing may have a primary role in managing it, inevitably it will come down the pipeline to the CISO, the CIO, et cetera, and important for them to understand how they can use it for good and how to combat anything that may show up that was not as intended.

It's a way to spread good information to deflect some of the misinformation that's out there and to really engage with your patients.

But as with anything, it has to be approached very thoughtfully. Yep. Have a strategic plan for social media in your organization. Kate, thanks as always for sharing your thoughts with me on this one. And also remember to share this podcast with a friend or a colleague. Use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry.

You can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. That's all for 📍 now. Thanks for listening.

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