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6 Spectrum | November-December 2012

By anticipating issues and puttingwell-crafted policies in place,communicators can mitigate socialmedia risks.

Reluctant managers andovercautious communicators continueto nd reasons to say no to social media.

Executives in regulated industries fear riskand exposure; nonprot and small-businessleaders fear they dont have the staffinglevels or internal champions to sustain ameaningful presence; and communicatorsfrom organizations of all shapes and sizesspeculate the rewards will never be worththe investment of time.

Perhaps uniquely, hospitals and healthcareproviders across the country can claim all ofthese reasons to stay out of the social mediagame. But, when a crisis strikes, sitting onthe sidelines simply is not an option.

In todays healthcare environment, pa-tients, regulators, and community memberspressure their providers for greater transpar-ency and accessibility and for near-instanta-neous communications. Social media offersideal venues to meet these demands whiledemonstrating the organizations goodwilland underscoring the quality of the care andservice it delivers.

So how can we balance healthcare com-municators ever-present reluctance withconsumers ever-increasing demand foronline engagement? And how can thosealready active in the space ensure they havethe processes in place to respond efficientlyand effectively when an issue or crisis arises?

Specically, how can we assess risk andplan a response when a patient takes to wit-ter to complain about the waiting time inyour emergency room? Or when a patientposts private, HIPAA-protected informationabout a fellow patient? Or when a patient ac-cuses a physician of negligence on her blog?

Planning

for a SocialMedia Crisis

Planningthe greatest tool in the com-municators toolkithelps in many ways. Byanticipating issues and putting well-craftedpolicies in place, communicators can miti-gate social media risks. A secondary benet:Te planning process demonstrates to skep-tics that youve thought through the risksand are now ready to focus on the opportu-nities. Planning is a crucial step in earningbuy-in and cultivating in-house champions.

Now, Lets Start PlanningComplement your organizations crisis com-munications plan by developing a dedicatedsocial media crisis response plan. Some socialmedia issues require immediate action viasocial media; others simply require care-ful monitoring. Take the guesswork out ofthis decision process. In the social mediacrisis response plan:

Articulate policies and proceduresfor your response.

Assign responsibilities. Identify vulnerabilities.

Ten, test those policies with scenario-based exercises (see sidebar). Te scenarioexercises give denition and clarity to so-cial media (a topic that seems intangibleto many who have not embraced socialmedia rsthand) and clarify just how so-cial media ties in to your organizationsoperations. When your internal audiencesunderstand the impact, they are more likelyto champion for you.

To Engage or Not to EngageSocial media crises and issues are multilaered and complex. Unlike incidents thatplay out in traditional media, each socialmedia incident must be evaluated for itsown unique risk to your organizations operations. When determining whether to respond to a social media post, rst considethe following attributes:

Visibility: How visible is the social media activity on which the comments werpublished? Is the channel accessible bsearch? Are comments accessible throuaggregators such as Google News? Ishort, what is the likelihood your bran will be exposed to key audiencesmedcal staff, patients, neighbors, media, oother stakeholders?

Inuence: Can the author be consid-ered inuential? o whom? Do the au-thors audiences appear to overlap withyour stakeholders?

Viral potential: Is the commentgenerating discussion among the usecommunity? Are people commentingReposting? Retweeting?

Longevity: Is this a one-off comment, or the author continually posting criticismof (or rumors about) your organization

Security/confidentiality: Is securitycompromising information being shared What would be the public safety implictions of replying to the comment?

C O M M U N I C A T I O N

Reproduced with permission from the November/December 2012 issue of Spectrum, 2012 by the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.

8/14/2019 Planning for a Social Media Crisis - Spectrum Article

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November-December 2012 | Spectrum 7

Legitimacy: Is there truth behind thecomment(s)? Is the poster support-ing his or her arguments with credibledocumentation? Can you easily clarifyany misinformation?

Planning Your Response After considering the attributes above, dis-cuss with your team the benets and risks ofresponding to each comment. Ten, discussthe most appropriate channel for response.In the most serious scenarios, you may wantto take the conversation off social mediaand orchestrate your response through tra-ditional media channels.

If you decide to act, act promptly. So-cial media are instant, and users respond

well to organizations that display a senseof urgency. Social media have become real-

time sources of information, so promptresponses may help defuse a crisis beforeit builds momentum.

State a point of view or clarify misin- formation, but avoid arguing your pointof view. Unlike traditional reporters, socialmedia users have no obligation to reportobjectively. In fact, many of the mostsuccessful and highly regarded bloggers arevery subjective and opinionated. You cantexpect to change an authors point of view;you can, however, state your point of viewor clarify misinformation.

Be humanexpress sympathy or em- pathy if appropriate. Social media users donot respond well to polished responses thatfeel corporate. Te tone of your responseshould be conversational and personal. Al-though social media users may be factuallyincorrect, their feelings are valid and shouldnot be dismissed. Remember, expressions ofconcern, understanding, or sympathy arenot admissions of wrongdoing.

Provide a solution. When responding toan issue, problem, negative comment, orcrisis, the response should always have anelement of resolution.

Te tenets that guide a traditional me-dia crisis response also hold true in thesocial media sphere.

Be transparent. As with traditional me-dia, when working with social media, itis important to be honest and forthright;avoid speculation. Be transparent in iden-tifying the individual who is delivering theresponse. Social media users prefer to see

Analyzing a Gray Area ScenarioPerhaps one of the most challenging tasks in hosting a scenario-based social mediaexercise is developing scenarios that fall into the gray area between responding andnot responding. These scenarios always carry the most impact; they test your teamsability to evaluate the risk and determine a course of action.

Sample gray scenario: A patient posts on his Facebook page that his familyphysician (employed by your hospital) was location-tagged on the physicianspersonal Facebook page at a California medical marijuana dispensary. The patient jokes, I hope Dr. Smith wasnt high the last time I had a checkup. The commenthas generated a dozen comments from the posters friends, one of whom you knowto be a nurse at the same hospital. What questions do you ask, and what actionsdo you take?

This scenario is rife with complexities, much more so than a simple case ofmisinformation would be. Its possible the physician was there for an illicit purpose, itspossible he was not. Its also possible the physician wasnt even at the dispensary, asany friend can location-tag another friend. It may have been a prank; it may have beenan accident. When you consider the venue, the potential audiences, and the virallikelihood, the scenario becomes more complex.

Digging deeper: As you examine this scenario, consider the roles of the leadershipand communications teams in responding. Without question, your communicators mustbegin a monitoring regimen. Is this accusation building an audience on the patientsFacebook page? Arehis friends sharing the post withtheir friends? Is the physicianspage receiving increased activity or attention? Is the post jumping channels andappearing on Twitter or in the traditional media? If yes to any of these, put into actionthe social media crisis response plan.

Beyond your communicators, consider the roles of others in the organization. Acredible executivepossibly your chief medical ofcer, the medical staff president,or a physician liaisonshould engage the physician to understand the situation.Your human resources and legal teams should be consulted to understand thelegal implications of the physicians actions if the rumors are found to be true. Thestewards of your mission and values should be consulted as well to ensure the

physician is operating in line withthe character your organizationdemands.

In short, while social media maybe a communications function, itsimpact resonates throughout anorganizations management. Usethe gray-area scenario approach tobring home this important point.

the name of the individual who is represent-ing the organization.

Never go off the record. Te mantra ofspokesperson trainers may be even morecrucial in the world of social media. Un-like users of traditional media, socialmedia users are not bound by a writtenor unwritten code of ethics, nor do us-ers necessarily care to protect a relation-ship with your organization. Expect thatall of your correspondenceincluding

e-mail screenshots and phone messagerecordingswill be posted publicly.

Written by:Christopher Lukach , APR Senior Vice President and COOAnne Klein Communications Group, LLCMount Laurel, NJ856.866.0411

chris@annekleincg.comwww.annekleincg.com

Reproduced with permission from the November/December 2012 issue of Spectrum, 2012 by the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.