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
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    HIPPA compliance
    How Medical Office Staff Can Make Your Practice HIPAA Compliant
    October 29, 2021
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    February 10, 2022
    Which Mushroom Capsules Are Good for Your Health?
    May 5, 2022
    Latest News
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Image
    Healthcare Pricing Transparency Gains Momentum
    June 24, 2013
    non-clinical care factors in health outcomes
    Addressing Non-Clinical Care Factors in Health Outcomes
    November 15, 2013
    e interventions
    Healthcare Progress Depends On “E Interventions”
    July 10, 2014
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Beyond the Buzz: Ten Tips for Healthcare Tweeters
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 > Beyond the Buzz: Ten Tips for Healthcare Tweeters
BusinesseHealthSocial Media

Beyond the Buzz: Ten Tips for Healthcare Tweeters

Marie Ennis-O'Connor
Marie Ennis-O'Connor
Share
8 Min Read
healthcare tweeting tips
SHARE

healthcare tweeting tips

healthcare tweeting tips

The beauty of Twitter lies in its simplicity and speed of delivery which facilitates the dynamic sharing of ideas and collaboration in healthcare. Doctors, nurses, health researchers and patients are using the social network to educate and build a global healthcare community. While there is undoubtedly a lot of noise in the constant stream of tweets (every second, on average, a staggering 6,000 tweets are tweeted), Twitter can be better managed by using some tools and techniques to tame it.  In today’s article I will share with you ten tips to engage effectively and get more out of the Twitter healthcare experience.

#1 Optimize Your Twitter Profile

More Read

Growth versus Volume in Medtech
Brain Strengthening iPhone Games for Techie Grandmas and Grandpas
HIPAA Omnibus Rule – Google+ Hangout
Selecting a File Transfer Solution: The Five Most Important Points Healthcare Providers Should Consider
Must-Haves For Driving Meaningful Patient Portal Use

Many healthcare professionals are using Twitter as a means of establishing themselves as authorities in their field. Your Twitter profile is the first place someone will look and it should reflect your credibility.  Take some time to create a professional bio with a suitable profile picture. Use a close-up headshot of yourself or the logo of your business. Twitter has recently changed how your profile image appears so that you now have more options to brand your profile.  Add some relevant keywords to your bio to help people find you.  You may also wish to add a medical disclaimer which states that you do not offer medical advice through social media, and/or the views you express are yours and not that of your employer (as the example below shows).

beyond the buzz

Bonus Tip: Read What The New Twitter Profile Means For Healthcare Marketing for more ideas.

#2  Join The Healthcare Conversation

healthcare social media marketing

Listen, engage and share in the healthcare conversations most relevant to you. You will find a wealth of knowledge and an opportunity to contribute your expertise through following health related hashtags. Some of the best conversations happen through the medium of Twitter chats.  These are pre-arranged chats which include a predefined #hashtag which links the tweets together in a virtual conversation.

Bonus Tip: You will find a full list of health hashtags via Symplur’s Hashtag Project.  Choose the one most relevant to you and join the chat. 

#3 Engage With Your Followers

engaging with followers

Twitter is about conversation; it’s about making it more about your audience than you. Mention other users by their Twitter username (preceded by the @ sign) in your Tweets. Retweet (preceded by RT) interesting updates from your followers.  Help keep your followers up to date by retweeting the latest journal articles and healthcare trends.

Bonus Tip: Use a tool like Commu.it to build and manage your Twitter relationships.

#4 Add Health Related Hashtags To Your Tweets

healthcare hashtags

Hashtags are a tool to make words more searchable; they help you connect with users who have similar interests.  To create a hashtag, place # before a word.  A hashtag on Twitter is a very popular way of creating and monitoring a conversation around a particular health related topic.  

Tip: Don’t use more than 2 hashtags per tweet.  Tweets with more than two hashtags get 32% LESS engagement.

#5 Tweet Responsibly

Social media have blurred the distinction between personal and professional identities, challenging health care professionals to redefine professionalism in the digital age. The professional standards expected of health care professionals do not change because you are communicating through social media. Rather social media presents you with new circumstances to which the established principles still apply. Think before you tweet.  Anything you post online may be seen by an unintended audience, and once it is online, it creates a lasting digital footprint. Be professional at all times; avoid flippancy or irreverence which may be misconstrued. 

Bonus Tip: Click here to learn more about how to maintain your professionalism on social media. 

#6 Be Personable

social media healthcare

While it’s important to maintain ethical and professional standards, don’t be afraid to show a little of the person behind the title.  

#7 Tweet More Images

professional standards

 

Photos and video have become more prominent with the latest Twitter redesign. The Twitter scheduling tool, Buffer, released data which shows that adding photos to tweets results in significantly more engagement than text only tweets. Tweets with photos get 18 percent more clicks and 150 percent more retweets, so start adding more pictures to your tweets.

#8 Tweet Less

You may have 140 characters at your disposal to say what you want, but this doesn’t mean that you must use them all. Twitter science shows that tweets with less characters are retweeted a lot more, with tweets with under 60 characters seeing 1/3 the engagement of longer tweets (Source: Simply Measured).

#9 Create Twitter Lists

Twitter lists allow you to listen to relevant conversations, identify influencers and filter out the noise so that you can focus on the people and topics you care about. Creating a list is easy – simply click the List link on your profile, click Create A List, enter the name of your list, a short description, and select if you want the list to be private (only accessible to you) or public (anyone can subscribe to the list) and finally, click Save List. You can find interesting people to follow by checking out the healthcare lists of others on Twitter.

Bonus Tip: Use List.ly to supercharge your Twitter lists.

#10 Schedule Your Tweets

twitter lists

The internet is global and if you want the spread of your content to reach further than your own backyard, you need to hit multiple time zones. Scheduling your healthcare tweets allows you to reach followers when they are most likely to be online (even if you aren’t there at the same time) and allows you to maintain a regular and consistent online global presence. 

Bonus Tip: Click here to learn more about how best to schedule your tweets.

So there you have it – ten of my best tips to manage Twitter more effectively. There are plenty more tips and tecniques which I will be sharing with you through Beyond the Buzz, so be sure to stay tuned. In the meantime, do you have any tips you can share on how you use Twitter for healthcare? 

TAGGED:Beyond the Buzz
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Technological Breakthrough in Treatment of Sleep Apnea Offered at Leading Hospitals

February 26, 2016
Image
eHealthNewsSpecialties

Hello from Boomer Voice Suzie Mitchell: Boomers and Digital Devices

June 19, 2013
digital health
eHealthTechnology

Is Digital Health Helping or Failing Patients? A Conversation Between a Futurist and ePatient

April 15, 2014

Big Data and Data Sharing – Going Places?

April 6, 2013
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?