A PROJECT REPORT ON

“IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN MARKETING”

INDEX
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The project report deal’s with the impact of social media for increasing the business of
healthcare industry. Social Marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with
other approaches to influence behaviors that benefit individuals and communities for the
greater social good. Social Marketing practice is guided by ethical principles. It seeks to
integrate research, best practice, theory, audience and partnership insight, to inform the
delivery of competition sensitive and segmented social change programmes that are effective,
efficient, equitable and sustainable

Social media is the process of people using online tools and platforms to share content and
information through conversation and communication. It is drastically changing the way that
we communicate and one should not underestimate its ability to work for or against your
organization. Globally, healthcare organizations are already using social media as an
important tool to connect consumers and providers as well as to inform product development.
The experience of early adopters demonstrates that social media can be used to accomplish
healthcare goals in four broad areas:
• Communications
• Information Sharing
• Clinical Outcomes
• Speed Innovation

In considering what to do with and about social media, healthcare organizations cannot afford
to take a “wait-and-see” approach or you may soon find yourself trying to catch up with
competitors. Even if you do not currently have an active social media presence, your
employees and customers are already using social media and may be sharing information
about you. At minimum, organizations need a “protective” policy and an outreach program to
educate employees and customers about appropriate social media use. More broadly,
organizations should develop an overarching strategy that leverages social media to help
influence customers and accomplish strategic healthcare goals.
 INTRODUCTION

Marketing:

Marketing is a widely used term to describe the means of communication between the
company and the consumer audience. Marketing is the adaptation of the commercial
activities and use of institutions by the organizations with a purpose to induce behavioral
change on a short-term or permanent basis. The American Marketing Association most
recently defined Marketing as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large."

The techniques used in marketing include choosing target markets through market analysis
and market segmentation, as well as understanding methods of influence on the consumer
behavior. From a societal point of view, marketing provides the link between a society's
material requirements and its economic patterns of response. This way marketing satisfies
these needs and wants through the development of exchange processes and the building of
long-term relationships. In the case of nonprofit organization marketing, the aim is to
increase the deliver an ethos message about the organization's services to the applicable
audience. Governments often employ marketing to communicate messages with a social
purpose, such as a public health or safety message, to citizens.

Marketing Mix:

The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketers. The marketing
mix, originally coined by Neil Borden, can be valuable when determining a product or
brand's offer, and is often associated with the four Ps. The four Ps was proposed by
professor E. Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s. The "four P's". Product is the first P
representing the actual product. Price represents the process of determining the value of a
product. Place represents the variables of getting the product to the consumer such as
distribution channels, market coverage, and movement organization. The last P stands
for Promotion which is the process of reaching the target market and convincing them to buy
the product. The four Ps determine how marketing satisfies consumer needs. They are
considered controllable marketing mix factors, meaning that they can change or be altered as
needed. Habits, lifestyle, and diet are all considered to be controllable risk factors.
Factors Influencing Marketing Mix :

In addition to the controllable marketing mix factors, there are uncontrollable factors called
environmental forces. The external influences are the forces that affect the characteristics of
the marketing strategies to which marketers adapt. Amongst others they include: regulatory,
economic, social, political environmental, competitive, and technological.

• Regulatory: This refers to laws and legality (governmental policies) that may affect the
way marketing can be characterized. For example, government restriction on the importation
of a particular product might hinder the marketers playing in that particular field.

• Economic: Various trends in the economic business cycle, including inflation, recessions,
deficit, or income level. Each of these factors can have a direct impact on marketing which
may have to be re-evaluated and overhauled as a result.

• Social: The social forces refer to the structure and dynamics of individuals and groups and
their behaviors, beliefs, thought patterns and lifestyles, friendships, etc. When consumers
change their needs and wants, this directly affects marketing strategies.

• Political: The socio-economic conditions are closely related to the state of the
governmental institutions. Depending on the governmental impact on bureaucracy,
corruption, freedom of speech and other limitations (or opportunities), the marketing
strategies will adapt to the political conditions.

• Competitive: Competition refers to the numbers of similar competitive product brands. A

new competitor entering the market will directly affect the marketing strategies of the
incumbent companies. Firms offering similar services or products often achieve
differentiation through marketing, positioning and branding.

• Technological: The marketing strategies often adapt to the pace of development of the
consumer demand and exponential technological progression.

Importance of Marketing:
1) Marketing Helps in Transfer, Exchange and Movement of Goods:
Marketing is very helpful in transfer, exchange and movement of goods. Goods and services
are made available to customers through various intermediaries’ viz., wholesalers and
retailers etc. Marketing is helpful to both producers and consumers. To the former, it tells
about the specific needs and preferences of consumers and to the latter about the products
that manufacturers can offer. According to Prof. Haney Hansen “Marketing involves the
design of the products acceptable to the consumers and the conduct of those activities which
facilitate the transfer of ownership between seller and buyer.”

2) Marketing Is Helpful In Raising And Maintaining The Standard Of Living Of The

Community:
Marketing is above all the giving of a standard of living to the community. Paul Mazur states,
“Marketing is the delivery of standard of living”. Professor Malcolm McNair has further
added that “Marketing is the creation and delivery of standard of living to the society”. By
making available the uninterrupted supply of goods and services to consumers at a reasonable
price, marketing has played an important role in raising and maintaining living standards of
the community. Community comprises of three classes of people i.e., rich, middle and poor.
Everything which is used by these different classes of people is supplied by marketing. In the
modern times, with the emergence of latest marketing techniques even the poorer sections of
society have attained a reasonable level of living standard. This is basically due to large scale
production and lesser prices of commodities and services. Marketing has in fact,
revolutionized and modernized the living standard of people in modern times.

3) Marketing Creates Employment:

Marketing is complex mechanism involving many people in one form or the other. The major
marketing functions are buying, selling, financing, transport, warehousing, risk bearing and
standardisation, etc. In each such function different activities are performed by a large
number of individuals and bodies.Thus, marketing gives employment to many people. It is
estimated that about 40% of total population is directly or indirectly dependent upon
marketing. In the modern era of large scale production and industrialisation, role of
marketing has widened. This enlarged role of marketing has created many employment
opportunities for people. Converse, Huegy and Mitchell have rightly pointed out that “In
order to have continuous production, there must be continuous marketing, only then
employment can be sustained and high level of business activity can be continued”.

4) Marketing as a Source of Income and Revenue:

The performance of marketing function is all important, because it is the only way through
which the concern could generate revenue or income and bring in profits. Buskirk has pointed
out that, “Any activity connected with obtaining income is a marketing action. It is all too
easy for the accountant, engineer, etc., to operate under the broad assumption that the
Company will realise many dollars in total sales volume. However, someone must actually go
into the market place and obtain dollars from society in order to sustain the activities of the
company, because without these funds the organisation will perish.” Marketing does provide
many opportunities to earn profits in the process of buying and selling the goods, by creating
time, place and possession utilities. This income and profit are reinvested in the concern,
thereby earning more profits in future. Marketing should be given the greatest importance,
since the very survival of the firm depends on the effectiveness of the marketing function.

5) Marketing Acts as a Basis for Making Decisions:

A businessman is confronted with many problems in the form of what, how, when, how much
and for whom to produce? In the past problems was less on account of local markets. There
was a direct link between producer and consumer. In modern times marketing has become a
very complex and tedious task. Marketing has emerged as new specialised activity along with
production. As a result, producers are depending largely on the mechanism of marketing, to
decide what to produce and sell. With the help of marketing techniques a producer can
regulate his production accordingly.

6) Marketing Acts as a Source of New Ideas:

The concept of marketing is a dynamic concept. It has changed altogether with the passage of
time. Such changes have far reaching effects on production and distribution. With the rapid
change in tastes and preference of people, marketing has to come up with the same.
Marketing as an instrument of measurement, gives scope for understanding this new demand
pattern and thereby produce and make available the goods accordingly.

7) Marketing Is Helpful In Development Of An Economy:

Adam Smith has remarked that “nothing happens in our country until somebody sells
something”. Marketing is the kingpin that sets the economy revolving. The marketing
organization, more scientifically organized, makes the economy strong and stable, the lesser
the stress on the marketing function, the weaker will be the economy. The ultimate aim of
marketing is exchange of goods and services from producers to consumers in a way that
maximizes the satisfaction of customer’s needs. Marketing functions start from identifying
the consumer needs and end with satisfying the consumer needs. The universal functions of
marketing involve buying, selling, transporting, storing, standardizing and grading, financing,
risk taking and securing marketing information. However, modern marketing has some other
functions such as gathering the market info and analyzing that info. Market planning and
strategy formation. To assist in product designing and development also comes under the
marketing functions. The marketing functions have been discussed here briefly: Market
Information: To identify the needs, wants and demands of the consumers and then analyzing
the identified information to arrive at various decisions for the successful marketing of a
firm’s products and services is one of the most important functions of marketing. The
analysis involves judging the internal weaknesses and strengths of the organization as well
politico-legal, social and demographic data of the target market. This information is further
used in market segmentations. Market Planning: Market-planning aims at achieving a firm’s
marketing objectives. These objectives may involve increasing market presence, dominate the
market or increase market share. The market planning function covers aspects of production
levels, promotions and other action programmes. Exchange Functions: The buying and
selling are the exchange functions of marketing. They ensure that a firm’s offerings are
available in sufficient quantities to meet customer demands. The exchange functions are
supported by advertising, personal selling and sales promotions. Product Designing and
development: The product design helps in making the prodyct attractive to the target market.
In today’s competitive market environment not only cost matters but also the product design,
suitability, shape, style etc. matter a lot in taking production decisions. Physical Distribution:
The physical distribution functions of marketing involve transporting and storing. The
transporting function involve moving products from their points of production to locations
convenient for purchasers and storing function involve the warehousing products until needed
for sale. Standardization and Grading: Standardization involves producing goods at
predetermined specifications. Standardization ensures that product offerings meet established
quality and quantity. It helps in achieving uniformity and consistency in the output product.
Grading is classification of goods in various groups based upon certain predetermined
characteristics. It involves the control standards of size, weight etc. Grading helps in pricing
decisions also. The higher quality goods and services attract higher prices. Financing : The
financing functions of marketing involve providing credit for channel members or consumers.
Risk Taking: Risk taking is one of the important marketing functions. Risk taking in
marketing refers to uncertainty about consumer purchases resulting from creation and
marketing of goods and services that consumers may purchase in future. Packaging, labeling
and branding: packaging involves designing package for the products, labeling means putting
information required / specified on a product’s covering. Packaging and labeling serve as
promotional tools now a days, Branding distinguishes the generic commodity name to a
brand name. For example, Wheat Flour is a generic name of a commodity while “Ashirvad
Aata” is a brand name. In service industry, also branding matters a lot. Customer Support:
Customer support is a very important function of marketing. It involves pre sales counseling,
after sales service, handling the customer complaints and adjustments, credit services,
maintenance services, technical services and consumer information. For example, water
purifier comes with an onsite service warranty of 7 years helps in marketing and is an
important marketing function as well.

8) Marketing strategy:
Social media may present the most important change in the way we communicate since
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440. We are only just beginning to
understand the impact social media can have on business in general and on healthcare in
particular.In less than a decade, hundreds of millions of people globally have become active
users of social media sites — the most popular of all Internet destinations. Social media is a
radically different way to communicate because it breaks through three barriers that
previously were major limiting factors geography, time and cost. Social media is changing
the way organizations think about communicating with customers and accomplishing their
business objectives.The train has left the station. Few think social media is a passing fad.
Thus, healthcare organizations must now answer two main question .Regarding the first
question, it is critical that all healthcare organizations develop a social media policy. Even if
you do not currently have an active social media presence, your employees and your
customers are actively using social media now. You need both a “protective” social media
policy and an outreach program to educate your employees and customers about appropriate
social media use. A recent global survey of over 4,000 IT security practitioners across
industries revealed that almost two-thirds believe that social media poses a significant
business risk to their organization. Yet, only 29% said they have adequate controls in place to
manage that risk. Regarding the second question, we believe healthcare organizations should
be developing a social media strategy now. What is your organization going to do with social
media now and what are your aspirational goals? What strategic business goals will you
advance using social media? If you take a “wait-and-see” approach now you may soon find
yourself trying to catch-up with others in your market.The recommendations we offer at the
end of this paper apply to all healthcare organizations. Especially in the United States, social
media currently tends to be located in marketing, communication and recruiting departments,
but it is beginning to spread throughout organizations. In European countries where there is
less competition for patients, uses are more diverse. Other departments — particularly those
involved in reimbursement, finance, clinical improvement and product development —
should proactively focus on how social media can help advance organizational goals. To this
end.
 SOCIAL MEDIA

About Social Media:

“Social media is the process of people using online tools and platforms to share content and
information through conversation and communication”. The speed at which social media has
been adopted in one short decade is without parallel. facebook was famously launched in a
Harvard University dormitory in 2004 and at the end of 2011 counted 845 million users
worldwide. Twitter was launched in 2006 and had over 200 million accounts by early 2011.
Every day, the world tweets the equivalent of 8,123 copies of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.4
Social media sites are among the most popular internet websites throughout the world. On
average, global consumers in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom and the United States spent nearly a quarter (22%) of their online time
using social media sites in April 2010.

Importance of Social Media:

1) You can respond to problems immediately :

If there’s a problem with your product or service, you want to know about it
immediately. With the feedback you get in the process of social media marketing,
you’ll be the first to know when there are issues – and you can take steps to resolve
them right away. Study after study has shown that consumers appreciate companies
that respond to customer complaints (and don’t hesitate to rant online to anyone who
will listen when companies don’t take the time to make things right).

2) You get to see your target market, up close and personal :

Part of what makes marketing with Facebook and Twitter so cool is the interaction
you get to have with your customer base – you can read the tweets and status updates
to get insights into their daily lives (and maybe adjust your marketing strategy as a
result.

3) Your competition is Tweeting and Facebooking like crazy :

 The early bird gets the worm, and the sooner you start up Facebook and Twitter
pages, the sooner you can start amassing a ton of fans and followers. This isn’t
something you want to fall behind the competition on, because it’s much harder
(and more expensive) to play catch up than it is to get in on the game early. Truth be
told, your competition is probably already marketing with Facebook, and maybe
even Twitter and LinkedIn, too.

4) People are receptive to messages :

People view Twitter and Facebook as social networks, not marketing machines. As a
result, they’re less likely to see what you post as an advertisement and will be more
likely to hear what you have to say.

5) It will get more sales :

Not surprisingly, when you stay in front of your customer base, they’re more likely
to buy from you when they need the products you sell. Social media marketing
doesn’t just keep your company’s name in front of potential buyers, but it also gives
you the opportunity to constantly give them incentives to buy. Try Tweeting or
posting coupon codes, good only to those who are your Facebook fans or Twitter
followers.

6) You will find customers you didn’t know existed :

If follow specific keywords in Twitter, one can find people who are looking for the
products sold. Using Twitter for marketing is great that way – telling people who
want your products how to get them from your company is just an @ sign away.

7) Customers you didn’t know existed will find (and buy from) you :

In the process of marketing with Facebook, you’ll probably join a ton of groups
related to your products, industry and customer base. By posting links in these
 groups, you’ll help influence customers to check out your site. Post a link today, and
two weeks later you might see a sale from it.

Features of Social Media :

1) Social media are Web 2.0 internet-based applications.

2) User-generated content (UGC) is the lifeblood of the social media organism.

3) Users create service-specific profiles for the site or app that are designed and

maintained by the social media organization.

4) Social media facilitate the development of online social networks by connecting a

user's profile with those of other individuals and/or groups.

5) Social media depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly

interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create,

discuss, and modify user-generated content.

Scope of Social Media :

1. The scope is very wide, but the pace and understanding of the domain is quite low.
2. Digital Marketing managers still need to realize the importance of social media over
traditional media
3. Social media in India is Facebook & Twitter - Brand manager need to understand
the scope for social Media, the social media in beyond Facebook twitter as in its
utility in form of social applications, online communities, social campaigns.
4. Marketing managers need to be comfortable with the social media metrics like
active users, engaged users, evangelists etc.

5. Having said that however, India is a market, which once convinced, adopts newer
technologies and business models very fast. Hence once marketing managers are

convinced about this new media, we will see tremendous change in initiatives and

outlook.

Advantage of Social Media :

1) The biggest advantage of social media is its power to connect people. It has become

a popular way for family and friends who live far away from one another

(sometimes internationally) to keep up with what is going on in each other’s lives,

without the expensive cost of long-distance calling.

2) Quick and easy (simply login on computer/mobile app).

3) Fast access to a large and diverse crown/population.

4) Typically free for most features (which is great for businesses/marketing).

5) Not limited due to geography.

6) Easy and practical way to quickly communicate

7) Reach people fast.

8) Connect with people all across the world.

9) Widen business contacts.

Disadvantages of Social Media :

1) It can serve as a platform for inappropriate actions. People might do

 or say things they wouldn’t in real life because there are minimal

rules for

communication in social media.

2) Less face-to-face communication

3) Decreased privacy
4) Hackers
5) Takes time away from other things
6) Lacks a personal touch; inability to connect in-person.
7) Lack of privacy (once posted, others have access to that information).
8) Open to security issues (hacking, viruses,etc.).
9) Requires constant commitment to maintain social media presence.

Familiar Examples of Social Media Sites

1) Facebook— A social networking website that allows users to create a personal

profile, connect with others, exchange messages, and join common-interest user sites.

2) Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games— Online games connect players

from all over the world and enable interaction and collaboration.

3) YouTube— A media sharing platform that allows users to view and share videos

with a global audience.

4) Twitter— A micro-blogging site that allows users to communicate with each other
and share information through short (140 characters) messages, or “tweets.”
5) Wikipedia— A free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. One of the most

comprehensive sources of knowledge online, but reportedly, also a frequent source of

misinformation.

6) Weblogs/Blogs— Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger and others allow users to generate

their own content, whether it is image based, video based, or the plain old written

word, which they can share with anyone they want.

Social Media Marketing :

Social Media Marketing is the process of gaining website traffic or attention

through social media sites. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to
create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it across their social
networks.

Among social media platforms, user-generated content has acquired a huge interest for
marketers. User-generated content in the form of online consumer reviews have given
birth to electronic word of mouth.

Online consumer reviews (or electronic word of mouth) are conceptualized as any
positive, neutral, or negative information about a product, service or a brand created and
published on a consumer review platform or social commerce website by a potential,
former, or actual customer.[2] When the underlying message spreads from user to user
 and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source,
as opposed to the brand or company itself,[3] this form of marketing results in earned
mediarather than paid media.

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

About Health Care Industry :

The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an
aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and
services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, and palliative care. It
includes the generation and commercialization of goods and services lending themselves
to maintaining and re-establishing health. The modern healthcare industry is divided into
many sectors and depends oninterdisciplinary teams of trained professionals and
paraprofessionals to meet health needs of individuals and populations.The healthcare
industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries. Consuming over 10
percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of most developed nations, health care can form
an enormous part of a country's economy.

A healthcare provider is an institution (such as a hospital or clinic) or person (such as a

physician, nurse, allied health professional or community health worker) that provides
preventive, curative, promotional, rehabilitative or palliative care services in a systematic
way to individuals, families or communities.

The World Health Organization estimates there are 9.2 million physicians, 19.4 million
nurses and midwives, 1.9 million dentists and other dentistry personnel, 2.6 million
pharmacists and other pharmaceutical personnel, and over 1.3 million community health
workers worldwide, making the health care industry one of the largest segments of the
workforce.

The medical industry is also supported by many professions that do not directly provide
health care itself, but are part of the management and support of the health caresystem.
The incomes of managers and administrators, underwriters andmedical
malpractice attorneys, marketers, investors and shareholders of for-profit services, all are
attributable to health care costs.

Health Care System In India :

The private healthcare sector is responsible for the majority of healthcare in India. Most
healthcare expenses are paid out of pocket by patients and their families, rather than
through insurance. This has led many households to incur Catastrophic Health Expenditure
(CHE) which can be defined as health expenditure that threats a household's capacity to
maintain a basic standard of living. As per a study, over 35% of poor Indian households
incur CHE which reflects the detrimental state in which Indian health care system is at the
moment. With government expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP falling over the
years and the rise of private health care sector, the poor are left with fewer options than
before to access health care services.Private insurance is available in India, as are various
through government-sponsored health insurance schemes. According to the World Bank,
about 25% of India's population had some form of health insurance in 2010 A 2014 Indian
government study found this to be an over-estimate, and claimed that only about 17% of
India's population was insured. Public healthcare is free for those below the poverty line.
Plans are currently being formulated for the development of a universal health care system
in India, which would provide universal health coverage throughout India.
Public And Private Healthcare :

According to National Family Health Survey-3, the private medical sector remains the
primary source of health care for 70% of households in urban areas and 63% of households
in rural areas. Reliance on public and private health care sector varies significantly between
states. Several reasons are cited for relying on private rather than public sector; the main
reason at the national level is poor quality of care in the public sector, with more than 57%
of households pointing to this as the reason for a preference for private health care.Most of
the public healthcare caters to the rural areas; and the poor quality arises from the
reluctance of experienced health care providers to visit the rural areas. Consequently the
majority of the public healthcare system catering to the rural and remote areas relies on
inexperienced and unmotivated interns who are mandated to spend time in public
healthcare clinics as part of their curricular requirement. Other major reasons are distance
of the public sector facility, long wait times, and inconvenient hours of operation.The study
conducted by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics in 2013, across 12 states in over
14,000 households indicated a steady increase in the usage of private healthcare facilities
over the last 25 years for both Out Patient and In Patient services, across rural and urban
areas.

Rural Health :
The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in April 2005 by the
Government of India. The goal of the NRHM was to provide effective healthcare to rural
people with a focus on 18 states which have poor public health indicators and/or weak
infrastructure. It has 18,000 ambulances and a workforce of 900,000 community health
volunteers and 178,000 paid staff. Only 2% of doctors are in rural areas - where 68% of the
population live.

Urban Health :
The National Urban Health Mission as a sub-mission of National Health Mission was
approved by the Cabinet on 1 May 2013. It aims to meet health care needs of the urban
population with the focus on urban poor, by making available to them essential primary
health care services and reducing their out of pocket expenses for treatment. In major urban
areas, the quality of medical care is close to and sometimes exceeds first-world standards.
Indian healthcare professionals have the advantage of working in a very biologically active
region exposing them to treatment regimens of various kinds of conditions. The quality and
amount of experience is arguably unmatched in most other countries. Despite limited access
to high end diagnostic tools in rural areas, healthcare professions rely on extensive
experience in rural areas. However non-availability of diagnostic tools and increasing
reluctance of qualified and experienced healthcare professionals to practice in rural, under-
equipped and financially less lucrative rural areas is becoming a big challenge. although
rural medical practitioners are highly sought after by residents of rural areas as they are
more financially affordable and geographically accessible than practitioners working in the
formal public health care sector. In 2015 the British Medical Journal published a report by
Dr Gadre, from Kolkata, exposed the extent of malpractice in the Indian healthcare system.
He interviewed 78 doctors and found that kickbacks for referrals, irrational drug prescribing
and unnecessary interventions were commonplace.

Private Health Care :

With the help of numerous government subsidies in the 1980s the private health providers
entered the market to cater to the middle class which was disillusioned with the public
health sector and sort to exit it wherever possible. Also opening up of the market in the 90s
further gave impetus to the development of the private health sector in India.80% of new
beds built between 2005 and 2015 are in for-profit hospitals. It is also to be noted that
private or public health insurance can save taxes under section 80c. The private chains of
healthcare providers in India are innovating very rapidly, offering high quality treatment at
very low cost. Narayana Health plans to conduct heart operations at a cost of $800 per
patient. Indian organizations use social media much more than the global average and their
counterparts in emerging economies. Our study of social media marketing practices among
various social media-savvy organisations in India has thrown up some good insights. The
study answers key questions that many marketers have in India such as what is the business
objective for using social media, what are some of the best tactics, what is the average
 social media budget, how do you measure social media, and what is the future of social
media.

Importance of Healthcare:

The strategic aim of universal health coverage is to ensure that everyone can use the health
services they need without risk of financial ruin or impoverishment, no matter what their
socio-economic situation. The over-arching concept of universal health coverage takes a
broad view of the services that are needed for good health and well-being.

These services range from clinical care for individual patients to the public services that
protect the health of whole populations. They include services that come from both within
and beyond the health sector. Financial risk protection is one element in the package of
measures that provides overall social protection, as well as the protection against severe
financial difficulties in the event of illness gives the peace of mind that is an integral part of
well-being.

In essence, to support the goal of universal health coverage is also to express concern for
equity and for honouring everyone’s right to health globally. These are personal and moral
choices regarding the kind of society that people wish to live in, taking universal coverage
beyond the technicalities of health financing, public health and clinical care.

With a greater understanding of the scope of universal health coverage, many national
governments around the world now view progress towards that goal as a guiding principle for
the development of health systems, and for human development generally. It is clear that the
al their environments mean healthier people.

In addition, preventive and curative services protect health and protect incomes. Healthy
children are better able to learn, and healthy adults are better able to contribute socially and
economically.

The path to universal health coverage has also been termed “the third global health
transition”, after the demographic and epidemiological transitions.
Universal coverage is now an ambition for all nations at all stages of development. The
timetable and priorities for action clearly differ between countries, but the higher aim of
ensuring that all people can use the health services they need without risk of financial
hardship is the same everywhere.

Under the concept of universal coverage, there would be no out-of pocket payments that
exceed a given threshold of affordability – usually set at zero for the poorest and most
disadvantaged people. All governments should therefore decide what health services are
needed, and how to make sure they are universally available, affordable, efficient, and of
good quality.

The services that are needed differ from one setting to another because the causes of ill-health
also vary. The balance of services inevitably changes over time, as new technologies and
procedures emerge as a result of research and innovation, following the changes in the causes
of ill-health.

In every country, there are people who are unable to pay directly, out-of-pocket, for the
services they need, or who may be seriously disadvantaged by doing so. When people on low
incomes with no financial risk protection fall ill they face a dilemma. Ultimately, if a local
health service exists, they can decide to use the service and suffer further impoverishment in
paying for it, or they can decide not to use the service, remain ill and risk being unable to
work.

The general solution for achieving wide coverage of financial risk protection is through
various forms of prepayment for services. Prepayments allow funds to be pooled so that they
can be redistributed to reduce financial barriers for those who need to use services they could
not otherwise afford. This spreads the financial risks of ill-health across whole populations.
Prepayment can be derived from taxation, other government charges or health insurance, and
usually comes from a mixture of sources.

Financial risk protection of this kind is an instrument of social protection applied to health. It
works alongside other mechanisms of social protection – unemployment and sickness
benefits, pensions, child support, housing assistance, job-creation schemes, agricultural
insurance and so on – many of which have indirect consequences for health.

Governments, especially in low-income countries, cannot usually raise sufficient funds by

prepayment to eliminate excess out-of pocket expenditures for all the health services that
people need. It is therefore a challenge to decide how best to support health within budgetary
limits.

Even with an understanding of the determinants and consequences of service coverage, the
balancing of investments in health services is more than a technical matter. The allocation of
public money to health also has ethical, moral and political implications. Public debate is the
mechanism for obtaining consensus on, for instance, who should be entitled to health care
paid from the public purse, under what conditions, and for what range of services. Decisions
on these issues, which involve a combination of ethical imperatives and political possibilities,
place constraints on the analysis of how to maximize health impact for the money spent.

In summary, the first challenge in moving towards universal health coverage is to define the
services and supporting policies needed in any setting, including financial risk protection, the
population that needs to use these services, and the cost. This requires an understanding of
the causes of ill-health, the possible interventions, who currently has access to these services
and who does not, and the extent of financial hardship incurred by paying out-of-pocket.

Acting on behalf of their populations, governments must decide how to move closer to
universal coverage with limited financial resources.

Scope of Health Care Industry

Healthcare has become one of India’s largest sectors - both in terms of revenue and
employment. Healthcare comprises hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing,
telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance and medical equipment. The Indian
healthcare sector is growing at a brisk pace due to its strengthening coverage, services and
increasing expenditure by public as well private players.
Indian healthcare delivery system is categorised into two major components - public and
private. The Government, i.e. public healthcare system comprises limited secondary and
tertiary care institutions in key cities and focuses on providing basic healthcare facilities in
the form of primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in rural areas. The private sector provides
majority of secondary, tertiary and quaternary care institutions with a major concentration in
metros, tier I and tier II cities.
India's competitive advantage lies in its large pool of well-trained medical professionals.
India is also cost competitive compared to its peers in Asia and Western countries. The cost
of surgery in India is about one-tenth of that in the US or Western Europe.
Market Size
The overall Indian healthcare market today is worth US$ 100 billion and is expected to grow
to US$ 280 billion by 2020, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.9 per cent.
Healthcare delivery, which includes hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostics centres, and
pharmaceuticals, constitutes 65 per cent of the overall market.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India has predicted that with increased digital adoption, the Indian
healthcare market, which is worth US$ 100 billion, will likely to grow at a CAGR of 23 per
cent to US$ 280 billion by 2020. There is a significant scope for enhancing healthcare
services considering that healthcare spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) is rising. Rural India, which accounts for over 70 per cent of the population, is set to
emerge as

a potential demand source. India requires 600,000 to 700,000 additional beds over the next
five to six years, indicative of an investment opportunity of US$ 25-30 billion. Given this
demand for capital, the number of transactions in the healthcare space is expected to witness
an increase in near future. The average investment size by private equity funds in healthcare
chains has already increased to US$ 20-30 million from US$ 5-15 million, as per Price Water
House Coopers. A total of 3,598 hospitals and 25,723 dispensaries across the country offer
AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) treatment, thus
ensuring availability of alternative medicine and treatment to the people. The Indian medical
tourism industry is pegged at US$ 3 billion per annum, with tourist arrivals estimated at
230,000. The Indian medical tourism industry is expected to reach US$ 6 billion by 2018,
with the number of people arriving in the country for medical treatment set to double over the
next four years. With greater number of hospitals getting accredited and receiving
recognition, and greater awareness on the need to develop their quality to meet international
standards, Kerala aims to become India's healthcare hub in five years.

Role of Health Care Industry :

This Issue Brief disc.ses factors that contribute to the growth of health care expenditures and
the reasons that many individuals, employers, and policymakers consider health expenditures
too high. In addition, it describes vario. ind.tries that make up the health care delivery system
and their role in the U.S. economy as employers, producers, exporters, and suppliers of
research and development. The report also disc.ses the economic implications of rising health
care expenditures for individuals, employers, and the federal government and the potential
impact of proposed health care reform on the health care sector and the U.S. economy as a
whole. Health care delivery ind.tries such as pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
suppliers have higher than average research and development levels, in addition to a positive
balance of trade.

Moreover, while the total number of jobs in the private sector declined between 1990 and
1993, the number of jobs in the relatively high paid health services sector continued to grow.
In aggregate, employer spending on health care represents only 6.6 percent of total labor
costs. In comparison, wages and salaries represent 83 percent of total labor costs.
Consequently, the growth rate of health care expenditures has a smaller impact on the growth
rate of total compensation than does the growth rate in wages and salaries. .ing job
multipliers developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is estimated that the 18,600
health care services jobs in Rochester, Minnesota in 1993 created another 32,000 jobs in the
area. Any contraction of the health care sector in cities that have a large concentration of
employment in health services would result in reduced employment in restaurants, retail
stores, janitorial services, and other local b.inesses. EBRI's simulations estimated that
between 200,000 and 1.2 million workers could become unemployed as a direct result of a
mandate that employers provide health benefits to their employees, assuming that wages and
salaries did not adj.t at all. Others find that approximately 50,000 individuals would lost their
jobs, assuming that wages and other labor costs adj.t downward to completely account for
increased costs. As is apparent, the estimates of job loss (and of the total costs of the policy)
are extremely sensitive to the assumptions .ed in the simulation.

Growth of Health Care Industry :

India's healthcare sector is expected to be $280 billion in size by 2020, growing at a

compound annual growth rate of 16 per cent, but it is in "dire need" of right policy
framework and infrastructure push, says a FICCI-KPMG report. With the healthcare
industry seeing a robust growth trajectory, workforce in the sector is expected to be at 7.4
million in 2022, said the report -- 'Healthcare: The NeglectedGDP Driver'. The sector,
which was at $73.92 billion in 2011, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent to $280
billion in 2020, it said.The report added however that it was high time the country

realised the significance of healthcare as an economic development opportunity at national

and state levels."With the increasing disease burden, the healthcare sector in the country is
in dire need to get the right policy framework and infrastructure impetus. Granting
infrastructure status may not only help the sector receive investments, but also bring down
the cost of healthcare delivery," it said.The report further said healthcare is traditionally
seen as a social sector in India, with less government focus and low budget
allocation."India currently spends cumulatively 4.2 per cent of its GDP on healthcare, with
just 1 per cent being contributed by the public sector, amongst the lowest globally," it
added.As per the report the healthcare sector impacts the country's GDP through various
routes. It is also one of the largest sectors in India in terms of employment generation. If
appropriate investments are made in areas, such as healthcare delivery and education, they
are expected to further increase the employment rate and positively impact the country's
GDP.

Commenting on the need to increase investment in the sector, KPMG in India

Government & Healthcare Partner and Head Nilaya Varma said: "...investment in
healthcare propels overall economic growth and is more than just social expenditure in
India. Improvements in the health of citizens contributes to overall economic prosperity
of the nation."The Indian healthcare workforce is expected to double to 7.4 million in
 2022 from 3.6 million in 2013, the report said.The share of healthcare FDI has almost
doubled since 2011, highlighting the growing interest of foreign players in the sector, it
added. "Investment opportunities in the Indian healthcare sector have increased
significantly and the sector is expected to be one of the most attractive investment targets
for private equity (PE) and venturecapital (VC)companies,"thereportsaid.
The FICC-KPMG report said that medical tourism has emerged as a strong segment due
to India's growing strength in healthcare delivery.
People from different parts of the world travel to India to benefit from the comparative
cost advantage and quality services. This market is expected to

triple to $10.6 billion in 2019 from $2.8 billion in 2014, it added. India's telemedicine
market is also growing significantly due to its potential to offer increased access, lower
costs, better patient outcomes, greater patient engagement and improved safety, the report
said.

Though in a nascent stage, it is growing by about 20 per cent a year. It is expected to

more than double to about $19 million by 2017 from $8 million in 2012, it added. "There
is an urgent need for a paradigm shift towards wellbeing that includes both emotional and
physical, instead of just focusing on the physical sick care. We have a unique opportunity
to adopt healthcare models that can deliver superior outcomes at much lesser costs,"
FICCI Health Services Committee Co-Chair Ashok Kakkar said.

Rise in per capita healthcare expenditure in India

1) Per capita healthcare expenditure is estimated at a Compound Annual Growth Rate

CAGR of 5 percent during FY 2008–15 to .$ 68.6 billion by 2015.
2) This is due to rising incomes, easier access to high-quality healthcare facilities and
greater awareness of personal health and hygiene.
3) Greater penetration of health insurance aided the rise in healthcare spending, a trend
likely to intensify in the coming decade.
4) Economic prosperity is driving the improvement in affordability for generic drugs in
the market.
 Why Is Social Media Important In Healthcare

Discusions around personal health, and by extension healthcare, are no longer private
issues. citizens today are taking keen interest in their health and prefer sharing
health related information with their peers. With governments across the world re-
looking at their healthcare systems and taking measures in a bid to extend
healthcare benefits to as many citizens as possible ,public health and associated policy
remains a key topic of discusion.At the same time,the internet has emerged as the main
medium to enable such information sharing,with social media taking the lead.

A recently concluded consumer survey (2015) says:

 60 Million Americans exchanged their medical experiences online with each other
last year .
 Almost 72 % of patients searched for online information before or after a doctor
visit.890 hospitals in the . .ed social media to engage with their patients.

Other key healthcare trends for 2010 include :

 73% of . consumers consider being physically fit impor tant to being 'well', with
74% including 'feeling good about themselves'.
 An estimated 500 million people worldwide are expected to be .ing mobile
healthcare applications by 2015.
 There were nearly 17,000 health apps available in major app stores in
November 2010, with 57% of them being aimed at consumers rather than healthcare
professionals.
 The heaviest .e of health or medical related apps is by young adults: about 15% of
those aged 18 to 29 have such apps, compared to 8% of .ers aged 30 to 49.
 Growth of Social Media In Health Care Industry

Social media is one of the most talked about disruptions to marketing in decades, but how
is it impactful for the health care industry? In a generation that is more likely to go online
to answer general health questions then ask a doctor, what role does social media play in
this process? Let’s dive into some meaningful statistics and figures to clearly illustrate
how social media has impacted health care in the last few years.

1) More than 40% of consumers say that information found via social media affects the
way they deal with their health. (source: Mediabistro)

2) 18 to 24 year olds are more than 2x as likely than 45 to 54 year olds to .e social media
for health-related discusions. (source: Mediabistro)

3) 90% of respondents from 18 to 24 years of age said they would tr.t medical
information shared by others on their social media networks. (source: Search Engine
Watch)

4) 31% of health care organizations have specific social media guidelines in

writing.(source: Institute for Health)

5) 19% of smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone. Exercise, diet,
and weight apps are the most popular types. (source: Demi & Cooper Advertising and
DC Interactive Group)

6) From a recent study, 54% of patients are very comfortable with their providers seeking
advice from online communities to better treat their conditions. (source:Mediabistro)

7) 31% of health care professionals .e social media for professional

networking.(source: MedTechMedia)
8) 41% of people said social media would affect their choice of a specific doctor,
hospital, or medical facility. (source: Demi & Cooper Advertising and DC Interactive
Group)

9) 30% of adults are likely to share information about their health on social media sites
with other patients, 47% with doctors, 43% with hospitals, 38% with a health insurance
company and 32% with a drug company. (source: Fluency Media)

10) 26% of all hospitals in the . participate in social media. (source: Demi & Cooper
Advertising and DC Interactive Group)

11) The most accessed online resources for health related information are: 56% searched
WebMD, 31% on Wikipedia, 29% on health magazine websites, 17% .ed Facebook,
15% .ed YouTube, 13% .ed a blog or multiple blogs, 12% .ed patient communities, 6%
.ed Twitter and 27% .ed none of the above. (source: Mashable)

12) Parents are more likely to seek medical answers online, 22% .e Facebook and 20% .e
YouTube. Of non-parents, 14% .e Facebook and 2% .e YouTube to search for health
care related topic.
13) 60% of doctors say social media improves the quality of care delivered to
patients.(source: Demi & Cooper Advertising and DC Interactive Group)

14) 2/3 of doctors are .e social media for professional purposes, often preferring an open
forum as opposed to a physician-only online community. (source: EMR Thoughts).

15) YouTube traffic to hospital sites has increased 119% year-over-year. (source:Google’s
Think Insights)

16) International Telecommunications Union estimates that global penetration of mobile

devices has reached 87% as of 2011. (source: mHealth Watch)

17) 28% of health-related conversations on Facebook are supporting health-related ca.es,

followed by 27% of people commenting about health experiences or
updates.(source: Infographics Archive)

18) 60% of social media .ers are the most likely to tr.t social media posts and activity by
doctors over any other group. (source: Infographics Archive)

19) 23% of drug companies have not addressed security and privacy in terms of social
media. (source: Mediabistro)

20) The Mayo Clinic’s podcast listeners rose by 76,000 after the clinic started .ing social
media. (source: Infographics Archive)

21) 60% of physicians most popular activities on social are following what colleagues are
sharing and disc.sing. (source: Health Care Communication)

22) 49% of those polled expect to hear from their doctor when requesting an appointment
or follow-up disc.sion via social media within a few hours. (source:HealthCare Finance
News)

23) 40% of people polled said information found on social media affects how someone
coped with a chronic condition, their view of diet and exercise and their selection of a
physician. (source: HealthCare Finance News).
24) Of more than 1,500 hospitals nationwide who have an online presence, Facebook is
most popular. (source: WHPRMS).

Scope of Social Media In Health Care Industry

The Future Implications of Social Media on Healthcare:

While it is important to get feedback from customers, organizations must know how
to incorporate this feedback in a meaningful way in their business and brand
strategies. In keeping with that, one can be expected to see the impact of social
media in the following areas.
1) Brand monitoring and management :

Social Media in healthcare could become the number one source of brand
monitoring. Currently not too many Healthcare firms are doing that. But
organizations outside the healthcare industry, such as Dell, have built their
reputation by monitoring their brand on social media. The company, which has
been on social media since 2006, mines data from all social networking sites
and keeps track of what customers are talking about when it comes to their
brand. Complaints are responded to, new product ideas are encouraged and
orders are booked through Twitter (In 2009 the company generated b.iness of
$3 million through T witter .) The company has also created a platform to
syndicate content and aggregate content so as to monitor the brand. In the
healthcare ind.tr y , the need for brand monitoring is not only to respond to a
problem or complaint but also to measure marketing effectiveness and create
new channels for visibility and eventually sales. For instance , with the
coming up of the health insur ance exchanges, individuals can buy health
insur ance on their own, without depending on their employers. This will
open up a big channel for health plans across the . to effectively leverage social
media and reach out to prospective c.tomers with real time updates on aspects such
as plans with the lowest premium for the day/ month/ quar ter

or lowest co-pays. Fur ther they could also have special schemes for the
holiday season or discounts on specific schemes, th. turning the social media
channel into a revenue generating channel. Hospitals on the other hand should
be able to offer services like online consultation, availability of appointments/
doctors, special discounts on the pharmacy products and booking operation
theatres for minor procedures via social media like twitter . Blogs can be .ed
for fostering research and collaboration across hospitals.

2) Faster Industry Cycles :

In the last few decades, we have seen how the coming of age of
computers helped reduce ind.try cycles and helped products go to market
faster . The internet revolution revived the services b.iness. In a similar way
social media is today influencing ind.try cycles by helping bring out products
faster by enabling co-creation and collaboration C.tomizing products to suit
individuals by providing data on individual preferences The healthcare ind.try
could benefit from both these aspects. In the area of health plans, the
general move is towards offering c.tomized plans to suit individuals and not
offer them group plans. To do so, companies typically invest in third party
research to obtain certain demographics and psychographic trends, which are
then applied to tweak their existing plain vanilla insurance offerings. These
twisted plans are then tested in the market with foc. groups to ascertain the
potential for success. The entire process typically can take about 6-12
months. This time frame can be reduced by half if companies start
monitoring social media and engage in relevant conversations with consumers and
prospects, seek opinions and incorporate these into c.tomized plans. .ing a
content syndication and aggregation tool, not only

would they be able to reduce dependence on research firms, but also get
closer to the consumer and launch more feasible products. In the medical
devices ind.try, a lot of devices prescribed to patients for home .e are not
very .er friendly. At some stage if patients are involved in a greater way in the
manufacturing and design aspects of these devices, then the acceptance for these
devices would be much higher .
 Use of Social Media Marketing in Healthcare

Evolution of Social-Media :
Communication has transformed tremendously over the recent few decades to give birth to

a plethora of virtual communities and networks which facilitate social interaction among

people in an unparalleled manner. No one could have fathomed that social-media would

rise to alter the approach with which companies undertake their business, formulate their

marketing and communication strategies, generate leads, and market their products or

services to expand their business. This is made possible due to digital space which offers a

medium where marketing strategies can be built, irrespective of business size to provide a

smoother customer journey in addition to having a comparative cost advantage above other

channels of marketing as the amount of resources and capital needed drastically reduced

through this medium. Further this enables real time results to be obtained through big data
analytics by cutting down the lag period of waiting for survey or research results to be

deduced thus boosting business activity.

Social-Media and Marketing :

The transformational journey began in 2002 with opening up of first networking site,
Friendster, the professional networking site, LinkedIn in the following year, followed by
the social-media giant Facebook. These stalwarts were soon followed by several other sites
that also started advertising, to cash in on the huge revenues generated. Today, the most
well-known and sought after social-media sites include the likes of Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest and Google+. The main industry impact of social-
media could be in the B2B or B2C domains, however, B2C witnesses higher

reliability and outcomes. This is because social-media sites largely focus on sharing of
news, content, theory, company news or discussions, informative or entertaining videos,
interesting products or websites which are more beneficial for B2C companies who has a
wider user universe. Companies vie with competitors in a bid to go viral and increase
brand exposure through Likes or Comments on their content, news, group discussions.
This social-media advertising market, which did not exist a decade ago, is now projected
to generate $11 billion in revenue by 2017 which is an upsurge from the $6.1 billion in
2013. The current trend is adoption of a multi-channel marketing approach to reach the
customers directly or indirectly wherever they are which has emerged mainly due to
evolution in digital and consumer behaviour to seek information. It has now become a
platform enabling access and exchange of information, paving the way for generation of
innovative communication with unique targeting for different stakeholders.

Indian Healthcare Scenario and Social-Media :

The Indian healthcare industry has seen a remarkable change in the past years; it is

expected to grow at an estimated annual rate of 19 per cent to reach USD 280 billion by
2020. Increased health consumerism, tech savvy consumers, paucity of time, willingness

to explore and experiment, insurance and global mobility has led to this revolution. The

remodelling of information requirements, escalation in consumer engagement has

established an augmented prominence of social-media in the wider healthcare framework.

Social-media can serve as a catalyst for both the processes of health services consumption:

awareness creation, perception building, generating acknowledgement; and consumer

acquisition, engagement and referral.

Companies are thus increasingly using social-media as a mechanism to build relationships

with patients and the general public. The change from a uni-direction informational flow to

an engaging and relationship-building online conversation is being led by medium sized,

specialized consumer care companies, to facilitate marketing communications,

brand/reputation management, customer relationship management, information sharing

with patients, building communities of healthcare professionals, patient/population

monitoring and care management, and the wellness management.

Mobile Social-Media :

India ranks second in the world for mobile phone usage with 89.2 connections per 100

citizens and has the third largest smartphone base. Consequently there is colossal potential

for outreach via this medium. The Prime Minister has emphasised on financial inclusion

through mobile phones and certainly healthcare can also be incorporated in this domain.

The future of healthcare is thus going to be consumer centric and consumer driven in a

cost controlled economy. With health expenditures on the rise and stricter payer norms,

there is now a need for preventive and promotional strategies rather than reactive measures
for a sustainable & healthy society. Several initiatives are being taken in this direction,

such as patient’s apps (exercise/diet/weight management) for improved healthcare which

are gaining immense popularity. Yet this is just the beginning as there is a lot to be

innovated especially in segments like chronic diseases and doctor-patient interaction. It

must be borne in mind that although the elderly spend the most on healthcare, they are

least likely to own smartphones or to have

downloaded apps. Efforts thus need to incorporate all age groups in the form of family

apps, self-diagnosis or medication compliance; bearing in mind that the largest social

media channels have divergent impact and activity levels.

Social-Media Marketing and Healthcare :

Pharmaceutical companies have been considered as laggards for the use of social-media
owing to strict regulatory environments, and insecurity with new technologies and direct-
to-patient interaction. However, now, nearly half the top pharmaceutical companies
worldwide use social media as their important strategic move, the top five being Johnson
& Johnson, GlaxoSmithkline, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Novartis, which are well-known
names throughout the world. These companies are benefitting from social-media for
consumer engagement purposes, and are using it as a means of enhancements in customer
retention and brand perception. Social-media is used to gain market intelligence through
analytical tools, to obtain real time customer feedback, to engage in brand promotion, and
to disseminate disease awareness. Johnson & Johnson is a forerunner in this domain, being
the first to create an activesocial presence, through a blog dedicated for employee stories,
wellness facts, and corporate details, supplemented by YouTube, Facebook/Twitter.
However, Social-media can be better leveraged for Over the Counter(OTC) products
owing to less stringent regulations, where advertising becomes similar to that of Fast
Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) products. Direct- to-Consumer marketing is aptly used,
in keeping with needs of customer and latest trends. Companies are innovating ways to
connect physicians as well via secure social networks to expand information sharing

and have also used other creative ways of advertising like ‘games’ related to their
organization to capture the doctors’ back of mind during leisure time or various apps
which can be useful for their daily life. The pull mechanism can be envisaged to be the
new rend where customers access information as per their will and convenience, and
digital media can act as a facilitator. Webinars and virtual conferences are driving
engagement for the pharmaceutical companies. Ipads and eDetailing are the new status
quo for personal selling but the skill of presenting and moulding the detailing as the
situation demands is crucial. Hence self- e Detailing or ‘Do-It-Yourself’ may be the next
buzz words to grab attention Insurance sector is a high involvement product wherein
garnering trust is of paramount importance.

Usage of social-media by hospitals is on the rise for non-clinical purposes such as for

marketing activities, public relations, communications and brand management with public

hospitals being the early adopters of social media and technology. In the Indian context, it

is noticeable that majority of expenses are out of pocket, consequently the concern among

patients for better treatment will aggravate and so do the search for better providers in the
near future. Therefore, the adaptation of social-media as a channel to marketing and

awareness will give them a competitive edge. International marketing & medical tourism

is perceived to be the next crown jewel with social-media aiding with communication and

awareness to prospective international consumers. It can guide them on treatment

pathways, modalities of care as well as care management during travel and post care for

continuity of care. It also may serve as a platform for access to providers of medicines,
 devices, equipment etc., for continued care and quality of life for the patients. Expert

sessions and counselling through webinar series on disease management could be of

utmost help in spreading awareness and thus reducing the burden. Alerts and new services,

offers, opportunities for consumers can be well communicated through this channel.

Super-specialty hospitals and some of leading brands are the antecedents in using social-

media marketing by means like formulating challenges to aid healthy living such as the

Health Quiz by Apollo Hospitals or Healthy Heart Competition by Max Hospital, etc. The

number of videos uploaded on YouTube, the presence on Facebook/Twitter are

commendable in helping the business flourish to a great extent. Social-media is

increasingly being used for recruitments, peer reviews, background reference scrutiny, etc.

which aid in operational efficiency.

Acceptance and Barriers on Usage of Social-Media by Healthcare

Professionals
Healthcare professionals are still limited on their confidence and trust to the use of social-
media.They often do not like the idea of operating on new technologies and engaging with
patients through social-media. They have concerns of losing patients through social-media
networks and hence they remain limited in their visibility on the social platform. Also lack
of standardization and guidelines on quality of care and issues whether legally approved
relating to online consultations, prescriptions and therapeutics, so there is lacunae
concerning patient information confidentiality and practitioner does not really know how
the consumer is going to use this information in the future. This calls for a relook at the
social-media guidelines and creation of a policy that will address issues such as validity of
comment, and prescription etc. Healthcare professionals can be involved in numerous
modes of social-media, they can use Twitter/LinkedIn to connect, to educate and to learn.
As per 2014 reports, there are 1,52,000 tweets worldwide per day posted by healthcare
professionals. The establishment of well-defined social-media usage can facilitate not only
patient engagement but would also benefit by crowd-sourcing ideas and a proper feedback
mechanism to challenge the existing approaches of functioning.

Integration of Stakeholders – The way ahead :

The leading stakeholders comprise of Government, Healthcare providers, Health insurers,
Academia, Community/Employers, Pharmaceutical companies, IT and Financial
institutions. The key lever for access, efficiency and quality in healthcare is to collaborate
to innovate to act as a launchpad of various significant awaited changes. All stakeholders
are required to synergize onto a single platform to create innovative models of service

delivery. This can be attained by engaging technology, talent, financing and innovation to
formulate sustainable strategies for equitable access, affordable care, increased coverage
and improved health outcomes.

Social-Media Analytics :

The Social-Media Lifecycle begins with discovering through social web, analysing to distil
relevant information, segmenting the data, strategizing, and then finally executing. There
are key performing indicators which helps in evaluation, namely: reach (to ensure that the
number continues and to determine demographics and location of target audience),
engagement (to cater to number of active followers, likes and shares, comments, mentions
or traffic data), convert (in the form of lead or sales volume), act (pages per visit, goal
value per visit or customer satisfaction). Answers can be obtained about online brand
reputation, patient’s and physician’s information need, disease management, reasons
behind switching brands and so on.
 Prevalent Models of Social Media Engagements In The Healthcare
Industry

In healthcare Social Media has been used consistently for recruitment, Sharing Ratings,
Introducing new products & Services and Awareness Creation. Let look at these models
with some current examples

Recruitment :
Since the industry requires specialized skills, organizations have moved beyond placing
advertisements in conventional media to more targeted social media channels such as
focused websites (those of medical schools), blogs (written by industry professionals,
students) and various professional networking sites such as LinkedIn (dedicated pages,
profiles, job postings, announcements). Also, since most of the target audience for
recruitment is mainly under 30 years of age and social media savvy, organizations prefer
reaching out to them on platforms they are most accessible – social media.
Facilitating customer ratings :

Hospitals are increasing using blogs as tool for customer rating and feedback.
Some organizations also allow users to blog about their experiences on the
company blog or link the blogger's personal blog to their company website.
Prospective customers always see more value in peer reviews as compared to
company generated content such as advertisements/brochures.

Introducing new services and patient education :

Many hospitals use blogs to introduce new services and to educate patients,
particularly with increasing focus on preventive care as a method to reduce costs.
The Holy Cross Hospital, part of the Catholic Health East group, has blogs dedicated to
each therapeutic group. Most of the blogs have information on new therapeutic methods,
preventive health and other general health information including recent awareness
campaigns. Each blog group has its own set of patient testimonials and comments on the
benefits that the patient received from the hospital.
 Top 20 Indian Hospitals on Social Media and Digital
Marketing

Digital Marketing agency and training company based out of Chennai is a specialised
healthcare digital marketing firm, we have offered industry reports on how doctors in India
use Social Media and how healthcare industry is using Social Media in India. Some of the
healthcare brands we worked with in the past: Amrutanjan, Santosh Hospitals, Apollo White
Dental Care, Oliva Clinic, Dr. Paul’s Clinic and many more. This report is an attempt to
understand how some of the top hospital brands are using digital platforms for their
communication.Healthcare Industry has been growing at a very fast pace. The need of
doctors and affordable medication is on rise. Most of the hospitals cater to this need. A few of
them are good enough to go online and publish information about the kind of facilities they
provide. This report is about the social media presence of top hospitals in India which are
focused in providing a high level of service to the patients. Out of the hospitals that were
analyzed we found that 20 hospitals’ social media presence and website ratings are
outstanding. A detailed explanation about each hospital’s online presence is explained below.

1. APOLLO HOSPITALS :

Apollo Hospitals is India’s leading hospital with a PAN India presence, they stand out of
the crowd for the accreditations, exceptional service and for providing good quality
healthcare solutions to people. Undoubtedly, they have faired exceptionally on Social
Media and Digital space too.

Apollo’s domain is about 18 years old – this is a tremendous achievement in itself. Oldest
domains have the best visibility equivalent to how older wine has the best taste. Google
considers and respects older domains more. With a page rank of 5/10 and the global
Alexa score of 57938 they have built more than 62000 quality backlinks from 1500
reference domains which is acting as a huge bonus to their search engine rankings.
Apollo’s website is yet not very responsive and we believe that would be one reason for
their search engine ranking failures. However, we currently see Apollo is optimized for
many keywords and stands on top for some of the best healthcare associated words.

Apollo’s Social Media presence is spectacular with about 2 Million Fans on Facebook.
Brand posts about 6 updates per day with an objective to educate people and responds to
all the queries and comments received. On an average they get about 200 people engaging
to their posts. Also on Twitter, the brand has 69800 followers. Its tweets per day is 10
which itself shows that it is very active. Also, the hospital conducts campaigns/contests
regularly. Some of the commonly used campaigns/contests are #Healthquiz #eatsmart etc.
Overall, the posts are pretty much informative and engaging. #healthquiz is one of the
engaging posts wherein people actively participate and come to know about various do’s
and don’ts’ for a healthy living. Another campaign #eatsmart educates people on certain
specific foods that is required for a healthy living.

On LinkedIn, it has 22817 followers. It also stands tall on Google+ with 42000 followers
which makes it the only hospital to have such a strong Google+ presence. The brand has
921 subscribers on YouTube. This can be attributed to the informative videos on its
channel. The hospital is absent on Pinterest.
2. MAX SUPER SPECIALTY HOSPITAL

Max hospital is located in Delhi and attracts millions around the place. This is because of
the level of service and detailing in all aspects of healthcare service. It also makes sure
its service level is of the industry standards. Likewise it has been holding a strong
position across different social media platforms too.

Max’s website has a domain age of 10 years. This is good as it can gain consideration
from Google. With a Google page rank of 6 and global Alexa rank of 82630, the brand
has 9738 backlinks from 236 reference domains. Its large number of backlinks helps in
good search engine rankings. But the less number of reference domains might hamper its
rankings. It doesn’t have a responsive website and its keywords are not optimized for
healthcare related search words and we believe that this could be one of the reasons for a
poor Google page rank.

On social media the hospital is highly active with 7 and 10 updates every week on
Facebook and Twitter respectively. Moreover, its Facebook posts gets an average of 35
likes. The posts and tweets are informative and interactive. It responds to patients queries
within 24 hours. Moreover, it posts about certain commercial details. E.g. the
#didyouknow educates people on general health benefits.
On LinkedIn the brand has 5911 followers and on YouTube the brands has 146
subscribers. This shows that the hospital is moderately active on these platforms. The use
of contest/campaigns like #cancer, #winter etc. makes them a strong member on
Google+. On Pinterest, the brand has 190 pins and 67 followers.

3. FORTIS HEALTHCARE :
With a PAN India presence, it is active on all social media platforms except
Pinterest. Fortis hospital is labelled fastest growing healthcare group. Operating in four
nations, this hospital was ranked 2nd among 30 most technologically advanced hospitals
in the world by ‘topmastersinhealthcare.com’. With such service levels that
commands respect Its website has a domain age of 13 years with its expiry coming in
around 3 years from now. Again, this shows that it has had an online presence for a
very long time. This way it gains Google’s recognition. It has a Google page rank of 5
and global Alexa rank of 60403, which is considered very good. Moreover, Fortis has
364 reference domains spread across 5108 links, which if increased can boost its
search engine rankings. We have also observed that the website doesn’t have an
internal blog and the website is not responsive. The lack of a responsive website might
be the reason that it doesn’t have a good search engine ranking. Moreover, Fortis
has been optimized for keywords which helps it to be listed top on a search result page.
On social media, the hospital has a very good presence with 21 and 14 updates every
week on Facebook and Twitter respectively. Its strong presence can be attributed to the
frequent contests/campaigns running on their pages which are very timely done. E.g.
the hospital’s latest campaign was #NepalEarthquake which portrayed its relief work
carried out in Nepal. Another common e.g. would be #stomachflu which is very much
informative by suggesting people to follow a healthy diet.

On LinkedIn, it has a good number of followers, 13704, which adds to the credibility
of the page. On Google+, the brand is very active with the use of # like
#worldheartday, but has less number of followers, 216. On YouTube the brand has a
whooping number of subscribers, 2146. This can be attributed to the good quality of
videos posted.

4. MANIPAL HOSPITALS

Present only in Bangalore, this hospital has an astounding presence in social media.
The focus at Manipal Hospitals is to develop an affordable tertiary care multispecialty
healthcare framework through its entire delivery spectrum and further extend it to
homecare. This hospital for sure has leveraged digital marketing to its advantage.
We observed that the brand’s website has a domain age of 7 years and expiry around 4
years from now. A domain of 7 years is neither very good nor bad. However, in a
couple of years’ time it can gain Google’s recognition. It has a global Alexa rank of
171989 which is not bad but has to be improved. It has 854 links from 192 reference
domains. The hospital’s not so good Alexa ranking can be attributed to the very less
number of backlinks.

Though the website is responsive and has an internal blog, it is not optimized for more
keywords which can hamper it from coming on the top results on a Google search of
healthcare associated keywords. The brand has a sound presence on social media. The
hospital’s Facebook page has 236225 likes. It posts on an average 10 and 21 updates
per week on Facebook and Twitter respectively. Moreover, the hospital conducts lot of
contests, which is one more reason for its strong presence on these platforms.

These campaigns and contests ensure that the followers are engaged well. Also they
provide a lot of information on improving health. One example would be the
#stayhealthy which gives general health tips. Another contest #ans2win is a kind of a
contest post wherein the visitors are encouraged to answer for the questions posted and
the winner is rewarded. A few such campaigns are shown below. On LinkedIn, the

hospital has 1798 followers. Though it is active on Google+ with the use # like
#worldhealthday, #cancer etc., the followers are very less. This can be because of the
less number of people active on Google+. On Pinterest, the brand has 98 pins which
results in only 25 followers. Again, Pinterest is a growing platform, in India, that
doesn’t have a large number of users.
5. MEDANTA MED CITY

Present in Delhi, this hospital is present in all platforms which were analyzed. It is
founded by an eminent cardiac surgeon and is aimed at bringing highest standards of
healthcare to India. To do this, it has used the social media platforms to its advantage.

Medanta’s domain is 7 years old. This is neither old or nor young. But it is old enough
to gain Google’s respect. With a global Alexa rank of 111743, the brand has 1371 links
from 119 reference domains. The poor Alexa rank is because of the less number of
backlinks and lack of a responsive website. Medanta has optimized for keywords
which helps them to be listed top on a search result page.
 The brand’s social media presence is of a major concern as it doesn’t post regular
updates on its Facebook and Twitter pages. Its posts are engaging but without the use
of any common contests /campaigns like in other hospitals, it tries to spread
information. For e.g. the image shown below shows how the hospital leverages its
twitter page to collect blood for an urgent requirement.

On LinkedIn, the hospital has 4302 followers and its YouTube presence is good with
129 subscribers. But this can be improved by sharing their YouTube videos on its
social media pages. On Google+ it has 2291881 views but very less number of
followers and their Pinterest pins, 139, is very less. As explained earlier, the number
of active users on Pinterest and Google+ is less.

6. NARAYANA HEALTH

Present in Bangalore, this hospital has a pretty decent social media presence. The
hospital is also known as Narayana Hrudayalaya. Moreover, it is India’s most
economical healthcare service provider. The information on this aspect has to be
known to all. To check this, we analyze its social media presence.

We observed that their domain age is just 2 years. This shows that the hospital is very
new to the online world. But hopefully, it can get Google’s recognition by updating its
website on a regular basis. The brand has an Alexa global rank of 139545 along with
2309 links from 336 reference domains. The presence of an internal blog and the
brand has been optimized for keywords which helps it to get listed on a search result.
But the website being not responsive is a minus. Since the brand is young online, it
has a less number of backlinks.
On Facebook, apart from the fact that the hospital has 289000 likes, its high average
number of posts per week at 7 and conducting campaigns such as #healthquiz,
#knowthesymptoms, #detect2protect etc. adds to its strength. These campaigns help
people know the symptoms of diseases. However, the hospital can post more as it
currently stands behind its competitors like Apollo and Fortis. The posts are much
about the hospital’s information like any successful operation conducted. Currently,
it is running a rigorous campaign on #breastcancer – this helps in knowing the
symptoms of breast cancer.

On LinkedIn, the hospital has 6664 followers. But on YouTube the brand has only 44
subscribers and 51 videos. The less number of subscribers could be because of the
quality of videos posted. The brand is not very active on Google+ and Pinterest.

7. WOCKHARDT HOSPITALS

Having a PAN India presence, the hospital’s activity level is pretty decent on
Facebook and Twitter. Many of the Wockhardt group of hospitals has accreditation of
the NABH (National Accreditation Board of Hospitals & Healthcare), the highest and
the most stringent quality standards institution in India and the National authority in
healthcare accreditation.

When its website was analyzed, we found that its domain age is 14 years, Google
page rank is 5 and Alexa global rank is 513669. These numbers show that the hospital
must have Google’s recognition for being very long. It has 1428 links from 202
reference domains. Its less number of backlinks could be a reason for its bad ranking
status on Alexa. Though the website is responsive it doesn’t have an internal blog and
it is not optimized for more keywords which makes it almost invisible on a search
result of healthcare related keywords.

The hospital is very active on Facebook and Twitter by posting 2 posts on an average
every day. Moreover, the hospital has 989 reviews and gets 12 likes per post on an
average on Facebook. The posts are generally aimed at creating awareness about
health. The main parameter that adds strength to it is the campaign and contests it
conducts. For e.g. #MediQuiz helps in letting people know or share their knowledge
about human body facts. Another e.g. #InterestingBodyFacts throws light upon
certain amazing facts about human body which is not known otherwise.

On LinkedIn the brand has 2812 followers. The 119 videos of moderate quality on
YouTube is supported by just 48 subscribers. The brand is not active on Google+ and
absent on Pinterest.

8. ADITYA BIRLA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Having presence only in Pune, the hospital’s social media presence is pretty good and
versatile and absent only in Pinterest. The hospital employs the finest talent in the
medical industry as full time consultants using ultramodern medical technology to
provide high quality cost-effective medical services. It lays special emphasis on
preventive care towards which is hosts a complete Wellness Assessment Center under
one roof.

When its website was analyzed, we found that the domain age is 13 years. It has a
Google page rank of 4 and global Alexa rank of 527791. With an age of 13, it has a
matured online presence and a regularly updated website. It has 10000 links from a
less number of reference domains, 32. The number of reference domains has to be
increased. Though the website is not responsive, the presence of an internal blog and
the brand being optimized for a good number of keywords helps it stand tall among
health care related searches.

On social media, the hospital is very active by posting 2 updates everyday on Twitter
and Facebook. The updates are mostly healthy tips and much informative. One such
update is shown here
But one drawback is that, the brand doesn’t conduct any campaign or contest. The
brand, has 2160 followers on LinkedIn. The hospital’s Google+ page has 655000
views but very less number of followers. The brand is almost invisible on Pinterest
and YouTube.

9. ESCORT HEART INSTITUTE

This hospital, though present only in Delhi they have a pretty decent presence on
social media. It is the largest free standing private cardiac hospital in Asia Pacific
region. Its social media pages are the same used by its parent company

When analyzed the brand’s website, we found that it has a domain age of 5 years.
This shows that the brand has to update regularly to gain Google’s recognition. It has
a Google rank of 4 and Alexa global rank of 385845. But the reference links being 16
is a matter of concern. The poor ranking can be attributed to the less number of
reference links. Moreover, the website is not responsive and is not optimized for
keywords.

Its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels are the same used by the parent, Fortis
Healthcare.

As shown above it’s quick in responding to customer queries. And it had recently
conducted a live chat session on Asthma.

On Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube the brand is almost invisible. This
leaves some scope for improvement in these channels.
10. JEHANGIR HOSPITAL

Jehangir is one of the oldest hospitals in India which is stands steadfast serving people
for the past 69 years. Their online presence is in proportion to their offline presence.
The registered domain has already served for 16 years and about to expire in the next
6 months, so it has to be renewed soon. In spite of having such a long online presence
it is not able to impress Google with respect to Alexa global rank (1598222), the
reasons for the same could be poor number of backlinks which is only 203 and non-
responsive website.

They have accelerated their social media activities in order to improve their online
presence. They post on an average 3 posts per day on popular platforms like Facebook
and Twitter with lots of Hashtags. The commonly used hashtagas are #exercise,
#fitness, #pune. However, even with a good number of posts, they are not able to
attract traffic as the average number of people liking the posts is only 2. This can be
attributed to very less number of campaigns and contests. They are yet to make its
mark on other platforms like LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinerest. Here is one of the posts
which they have posted recently.
11. DESUN HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE

Ranked as a top hospital under West Bengal Health Scheme (WBHS), Desun hospital
has earned a lot of name and fame in the eastern India with its dedicated service. One
of its unique features includes being the only hospital in Eastern India to have steel
operation theaters. As much it has gained appreciation offline , it seemed to do its best
on social media also. In Facebook and Twitter it is marketing heavily with 2-3 posts
per day with aggressive use of hashtags #exercise, #desunhospitalhealthtips. They
also engage people in campaigns and contests. It also put interactive question &
answer type post which are very educating. And its efforts have borne fruits as a
trending increase in the number of Facebook page likes and Twitter followers has
been observed. It is giving equal attention to dormant platforms like Google+ and
Youtube. It has got 31360 views on Google+ and 39 subscribers on Youtube for 27
videos posted till date. It should also include LinkedIn and Pinterest in its social
media marketing portfolio. Below is one the FB posts and a Tweet.

Moving on to SEO, Desun is yet to impress Google. Despite having a 7 years old
domain it has managed to get only 145 links from 2 reference domains. This is
holding its website to get a good score on page rank given by Google, which is
currently 3. Its Alexa rank is also more than a million which suggests a lot of
improvement in the above mentioned aspect. Presence of internal blog and keywords
optimization reflect the fact that they have started working on SEO.

12. NU HOSPITALS
NU hospital is 16 years old dedicated nephro-urology care located in Bangalore. It is
the only nephro-urology hospital in India to earn both NABH and NABL
accreditation. Online it is 9 years old and going strong. It has a live chat option on its
website which is very rare to find on other hospital websites. But when it comes to
SEO, it is yet to make its mark. Non-responsive website, absence of internal blog and
less number of backlinks (178) can be attributed for its poor SEO performance. It has
a Google page rank of 3 and Alexa global ranking of 1078934.

The brand is present on all major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and
Google+. But it has justified its Facebook presence only with 10 posts per week, 50k
page likes and running interactive campaigns and contests. Most of the content it put
through its posts are healthcare tips and facts. On Twitter it has negligible presence
with only 1 tweet per week. It uses hashtags like #kidneycare, #MedicalNewsToady,
#kidneyFacts etc. on Twiter. The following is an example of its tweet:

Marketing on platforms like LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest needs to be improved.

On Youtube they have 34 subscribers which will increase if they post informative and
interactive videos regularly.

13. SHALBY HOSPITAL

Started by Dr. Vikram Shah in 1994 as a joint replacement, it is famed the hospital in
which the highest number of joint replacement surgeries are done. Having completed
over 50000 successful surgeries it is adding new services to its plethora. Not only
offline it is going strong online also with 10 years old domain. Its future online plans
can be anticipated from the fact that it has registered the domain till 2019. The not-so-
good Google page rank (3) and Alexa rank (1401186) is suggesting its inactivity in
the past. Lately it has received good number of cross links i.e. 1700 from 337
reference domains. Responsive website and good use of keywords point to its online
revolution and at this pace it will make it to the top in the healthcare digital marketing
space.

On social media also there has been changes noticed. It has 4795 page likes and 1184
page visits. With 1 post going live per day on FB and 2 tweets per day on Twitter.
There are consistent responses provided to the comments to make the interaction 2-
way. Recently it is also posting campaign and contest post to pull more crowds. Here
is one of the contest posts. On twitter it is seen to put the link to its Facebook post
which is kind of redundant.

On other social media platforms also it is marking its presence. With 40 YouTube
videos it has earned 91 subscribers. On LinkedIn it has 1457 followers. It has to
definitely increase its activity on these platforms including Google+ and Pinterest,
which are expected to boom in the coming days.

14. GLOBAL HOSPITALS

A part of famous Global hospitals group, Global hospital Chennai is a 500 bed multi-
specialty care spread over 21 acres. It is known for its cutting edge technology and
skilled medical specialists.

The social media presence of Global hospital is restricted to Facebook and YouTube.
With 147 videos on YouTube it has received 72000 views, by which it plans to
educate people with basic medical knowledge. It is evident from its FB posts also
where it posts educating posts. Here are a couple of examples:
Similar posts are put on FB at the rate of 11 posts per week and receive 20 likes on
each post on an average. Its FB page also witnesses timely campaigns and contests.
However, on Twitter its presence is quite insignificant. It tweets only twice per week
which is kind of negligible. Also, its LinkedIn and Google+ marketing needs to be
improved.

When it comes to SEO, Global hospital has done fairly well with 357 links from 140
reference domains. Responsive website and presence of good Meta tags have
accelerated its Google page rank to 4 and Alexa rank to 293778.

15. P D HINDUJA

Leading to the way to glory, Hinduja hospital has been dedicatedly serving people for
the last 64 years. It has successfully served over 3 million out patients during this
tenure. This one of the oldest standing hospital also has one of the oldest domains in
the health care sector earing it a Google page rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 349613.
It has 1117 links from 198 reference domains, making it more credible. Its online
presence would have been much better if it was backed up with an internal blog and
responsive website, which are important SEO parameters.

On social media, it is one of those few organizations which is more active on Twitter
compared to Facebook. The average number of posts per week is 3, whereas the
average number of tweets per week is 7. It has same popularity on both the platforms.
On FB it has 11000 page likes and on Twitter It has got 1619 followers. It also runs
campaigns and contests to engage its traffic. The campaign #mindfulEating was
recently conducted. Here is an example:

The use of hashtags can also be witnessed on its pages and in tweets; the favorite
hastags being #healthStar.It is very active to cover all the important occasions related
to medical field like health day, asthma day etc.

The only area where the hospital can improve is responding to comments. On
LinkedIn it has a good company page with a cover picture and 2567 followers. On
YouTube it has a distinct channel with 112 videos, 159 subscribers and whooping
57000 views. Such strong YouTube presence tells that it is keen in educating people
in the field of medicine. However, no presence in Google+ and Pinterest might
hamper the social media presence of the brand overall.

16. MIOT
With great international reputation MIOT hospital gets patients from 129 countries all
over the globe. It is a 1000 bed facility and offers treatment in 46 specialties by
indulging a team of world-class professionals and state-of-the-art infrastructure.

However it has great international presence offline, its digital presence is little
gloomy. The website domain is only 3 years old and it is about to expire. The Google
page rank is 0 and Alexa rank is 564806. This suggests that the website doesn’t get
enough traffic and the website is yet to make its presence felt to Google. One of the
reasons could be lack of backlinks (just 50) from 17 reference domains. One good
thing is that the meta tags used in the website are intact. It has a long way to go as far
as SEO is concerned.

To compensate for the poor SEO performance, the brand is doing its part to fix the
online presence with good social media marketing. Its Facebook page has got 104000
likes and 1800 reviews. It posts 5 posts on an average on its Facebook page along
with timely campaigns and contests. The same holds good for Twitter as well where it
has 1581 total tweets. The number of followers is only 24, which demands
improvement. But it is trying to catch the attention of its followers and make new
followers by it campaigns and regular responses to the comments. Here is one post
which shows the response of the brand and also the usage of hashtags:

It has a good LinkedIn page with cover page and 361 followers. On YouTube also it
has good presence but there is scope of improvement. It has uploaded 24 videos with
65135 viewers and 111 subscribers. This clearly speaks that their videos are popular
and people want to see more. They should include Google+ and Pinterest also for
branding which right now is missing.

17. MOOLCHAND HOSPITAL

Being associated with healthcare services now for more than 50 years, Moolchand
hospital has created a legacy in itself. People of Delhi identify this brand as
embodiment of trust as they have seen their previous generations being served at the
hospital. Some of the key features include compassionate care, integrity, affordable
prices and trustworthy quality.

The website domain is registered 14 years ago and the expiry date is 9 years away
from now. So it had planned for a good online presence along with its trusted offline
legacy. But it has not been able to prove its worth neither in SEO nor is social media
marketing. The Google and Alexa rank is 3 and 762786 respectively which should
have been better for a domain registered for so long. Also it is receiving only 635
backlinks from 79 domains. To add to the woes there is no blog, absence of
responsive website and lack of good meta tags in the code.

The inactiveness of Moolchand hospital is very much evident from the fact that it has
186 tweets and 570 FB followers only. Lately it has not posted anything substantial
on the platforms as well. The average number of post per week is less than 1 on both
Twitter and FB. The LinkedIn presence is somewhat better where it has 1652
followers and it is also one of those few brands which have a Pinterest account with
128 pins and 263 followers. But not much of activity is witnessed on these platforms
also. On YouTube it has 23 videos with only 15 subscribers. Overall the brand needs
to revamp its digital marketing strategy to stay strong among its competitors.

18. SAHYADRI SPECIALITY HOSPITAL

Spread across 11 different locations and having touched 25 lakhs lives Sahyadri group
has the largest chain of hospitals in the state of Maharastra. It has strategically placed
itself in locations where people can easily commute to the hospital. Online presence
of the hospital can be little contrasting as the domain is registered for last 15 years but
still the Google page rank is 2 and Alexa rank is 1134346. One of the reasons can be
staggering number backlinks (135) only from 34 reference domains and absence of
internal blog which is very crucial from SEO point of view. However, responsive
website and good use of meta tags are keeping the hopes alive.

On social media platforms also the brand has failed to create a mark as it is seen to be
active only on Facebook with 1269 page likes and 5 posts per week mainly of tips and
health benefits. On other platforms namely Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+,
the brand has to work a lot. On Google+ however, the brand is 6000 viewers and 15
followers. It uses hash tags also on the same platform. The number of LinkedIn
followers is also 1902. This depicts a clear picture that people visit and follow this
hospital on social media but due to lack of engagement and regular updates it is not
able to retain its followers.
19. B M BIRLA HEART RESEARCH INSTITUTE

This hospital is a part of 150 year old CK Birla group. It is considered as the pioneer
of cardio treatment. The social media marketing is a bit unique. Instead of putting
educating medical posts and informative content, the brand seems to be supporting the
IPL team KKR in its posts. On Facebook it has 1400 followers. The activity level is
quite good as it puts 6 posts per week on an average. It also conducts campaigns and
contests to engage the social media users but the posts are driven by love and support
towards KKR team. The hash tags used are #KKR and #healthyFan. The Twitter page
receives 4 tweets per week but it lacks engaging content. Since the Twitter Page is
new we can expect growth in the days to come. It will be better for the brand if it
endorse itself on social media rather that endorsing KKR cricket team. The hospital is
completely absent on YouTube and Pinterest. Its presence on LinkedIn and Google+
is also going unnoticed due to lack of good content.

The SEO performance is not so impressive as well. In spite of having 11 years old
domain it is not able to please Google and Alexa. The Google page rank is 3 and the
Alexa rank is 3169264. The reasons for the same can be less number of backlinks
(216), absence of internal blogging and inefficient mata tag usage. Recently it is seen
that the hospital is making its efforts to make the website responsive and the work is
still under process.

20. ARTEMIS HOSPITAL

Artemis is a 350 bed, state-of-the-art multi-specialty hospital located in Gurgaon. It is
relatively a new entrant in the healthcare sector. Its domain is just 2 years old, but this
doesn’t limit the SEO performance as it has a Google rank of 4 and Alexa global rank
of 287494. Despite of having non-responsive website and absence of internal
blogging, the brand has managed to get 2017 backlinks from 500 reference domains
adding to the credibility of the site.

On social media Artemis hospital conducts campaigns and contests. It is found to

promote workshops also on its Facebook page. Recently there was a trending hashtag
#WorldAsthmaDay featuring Mary Kom, the Olympic bronze medalist in boxing. It is
very efficiently promoting its offline events through social media especially FB and
Twitter.

On Twitter also the presence is pretty good with 5 tweets coming online per week.
These tweets also talk about campaigns and events which are conducted on regular
basis.

LinkedIn presence is also appreciable as it is one of those few hospitals to have a

cover page and 2000 followers. On YouTube, it has around 65 videos with 30
subscribers and 3000 views. This symbolizes the brand’s efforts to have a distinct
digital media presence. However, the inactivity on Google+ and Pinterest can be an
area of improvement.

Hospitals With Weak Social Media Presence

Apart from these 20 hospitals. The other hospitals do not have a very strong social
media presence and website ratings. This can be attributed to the following factors:
 1. Financial status – the hospital is not financially sound to fund social media marketing. E.g.
Vivekananda Hospitals
2. Most trusted – these hospitals do not require social media marketing owing to their current
high popularity levels E.g. CMC Vellore, Lilavathi hospitals, Nanavathi hospitals.
3. Government hospitals – the free service provided by most of the government hospitals
attracts a lot of people from the low level income category who don’t use much social media
E.g. AIIMS, Delhi.

Reluctance to invest in social media marketing on the above mentioned grounds is not
good. Moreover, in case a hospital wants to expand geographically, a strong social
media marketing would be handy at that point. Also, certain hospitals provide world
class facilities and service at an affordable price which is not known to many. Hence,
a strong social media presence will not only benefit the hospital but also help a lot of
people who are in need of good services at an affordable price.

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. “Patients’ and health professionals’ use of social media in health care: Motives, barriers
and expectations”, Tilburg University, Department of Communication and Information
Sciences, Tilburg Center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC), Tilburg, The
Netherlands, Received 7 February 2013, Revised 19 June 2013, Accepted 25 June 2013,
Available online 27 July 2013
2. “Using the Internet to Promote Health Behavior Change: A Systematic Review and
Meta-analysis of the Impact of Theoretical Basis, Use of Behavior Change Techniques,
and Mode of Delivery on Efficacy”, Thomas L Webb, Department of Psychology,
University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, UK 2010;12

3. “Social Media: A Review and Tutorial of Applications in Medicine and Health Care”
Judith Joseph; School of Psychology, Shackleton Building, University of Southampton,
Highfield, Southampton, UK 2011;13.

4. "Social networks will peel back every corner of the health system and drive
transparency on cost, value, and outcomes," said Jamie Heywood, co-founder and
chairman of Patients Like Me,2013;14.

5. "If you want to connect with people and be part of their community, you need to go
where the community is, one need to be connecting before you are actually needed",
said Ed Bennett, who oversees social media efforts at the University of Maryland Medical
Center,2012;13.

6. "As more people go online to interact with their banks and make purchases, they want
to do this with their doctors, health plans, and condition and disease management as
well," said. said Jamie Heywood, co-founder and chairman of Patients Like Me,2013;14.

7. "Truly social brands will listen to what customers are saying and feeling and use that
insight to adapt and create products and services," said Kelly Colbert, director of strategic
advertising at insurer WellPoint,2010.

8. "It's easier to trust a person than an organization. Healthcare providers have the ability
to form human relationships and connect with their patients," said Kathryn Armstrong,
senior producer of web communications at Lehigh Valley Health, 2012.

9. "As people go through life events and their health journey, they have changing
interests in health," said Ann Sherry, senior director of Kaiser Permanente's Internet
services,2014
10. "Social media can offer a unique mechanism for collaborating with other
organizations/partners to coordinate care," Susan Michie, Research Department of
Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington
Place, London, UK ,2014.

OBJECTIVES

1) To study the role of social media in health care industry.

2) To study the growth of social media in health care industry.

3) To analyze the approach which help them to get more business as a marketing tool.

4) To study scope of social media in health care industry.

 SCOPE
This study aims at studying customer/patient’s servicing and business development

process of health care industry by using social media as a marketing tool. This study help

me to get the reality check of market where there is actual comparision between

traditional and the digital media (i.e. Social Media) methods of business development.

The study help to understand the different concepts of Social Media Marketing. This

study also helps to understand and know how Social Media has impacted the business of

health care industry.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology :

Research Methodology is the way in which research problems are solved

systematically. It is a science of studying how research is conducted scientifically.
Under it, the researcher acquaints himself/herself with the vario. steps generally adopted
to study a research problem, along with the underlying logic behind them. Hence, it is
not only important for the researcher to know the research techniques/ methods, but also
the scientific approach called methodology.
Research Methods :

On the other hand Research Methods include all those techniques/methods that are
adopted for conducting research. Th.,research techniques or methods are the methods
that the researchers adopt for conducting the research studies.

Research Approaches:

There are two main approaches to research, namely quantitative approach and
qualitative approach. The quantitative approach involves the collection of quantitative
data, which are put to quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid manner. This approach
further includes experimental, inferential, and simulation approaches to research.
Meanwhile, the qualitative approaches the method of subjective assessment of opinions,
behaviour and attitudes. Research in such a situation is a function of the researcher’s
impressions and insights. The results generated by this type of research are either in
non-quantitative form or in the form which cannot be put to rigoro. quantitative
analysis. usually, this approaches techniques like indepth interviews, focus group
interviews, and projective techniques.

TYPES OF RESEARCH
 There are different types of research. The basic ones are as follows.

I. Descriptive Versus. Analytical :

Descriptive research consists of surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different types.

The main objective of descriptive research is describing the state of affairs as it prevails
at the time of study. The term ‘ex post facto research’ is quite often .ed for descriptive
research studies in social sciences and b.iness research. The most distinguishing feature
of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables here. He/she has
to only report what is happening or what has happened. Majority of the ex post facto
research projects are .ed for descriptive studies in which the researcher attempts to
examine phenomena, such as the consumers’ preferences, frequency of purchases,
shopping, etc. Despite the inability of the researchers to control the variables, ex post
facto studies may also comprise attempts by them to discover the ca.es of the selected
problem.
 II. Applied Versus Fundamental :

Research can also be applied or fundamental in nature. An attempt to find a solution to

an immediate problem encountered by a firm, an ind.try, a b.iness organisation, or the
society is known as applied research. Researchers engaged in such researches aim at
drawing certain concl.ions confronting a concrete social or b.iness problem. On the
other hand, fundamental research mainly concerns generalizations and formulation of a
theory. In other words, “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or
‘basic’ research”. Researches relating to pure mathematics or concerning some natural
phenomenon are instances of Fundamental Research. Likewise, studies foc.ing on
human behaviour also fall under the category of fundamental research. Th., while the
principal objective of applied research is to find a solution to some pressing practical
problem, the objective of basic research is to find information with a broad base of
application and add to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge.

III. Quantitative Versus Qualitative :

Quantitative research relates to aspects that can be quantified or can be expressed in

terms of quantity. It involves the measurement of quantity or amount. Vario. available
statistical and econometric methods are adopted for analysis in such research. Which
includes correlation, regressions and time series analysis etc, On the other hand,
Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena, or more specifically, the
aspects related to or involving quality or kind. For example, an important type of
qualitative research is ‘Motivation Research’, which investigates into the reasons for
certain human behaviour. The main aim of this type of research is discovering the
underlying motives and desires of human beings by

using in-depth interviews. The other techniques employed in such research are story
completion tests, sentence completion tests, word association tests, and other similar
projective methods. Qualitative research is particularly significant in the context of
 behavioural sciences, which aim at discovering the underlying motives of human
behaviour. Such research helps to analyse the vario. factors that motivate human beings
to behave in a certain manner, besides contributing to an understanding of what makes
individuals like or dislike a particular thing. However, it is worth noting that conducting
qualitative research in practice is considerably a difficult task. Hence, while undertaking
such research, seeking guidance from experienced expert researchers is important.

IV. Conceptual Versus Empirical:

The research related to some abstract idea or theory is known as Conceptual Research.
Generally, philosophers and thinkers .e it for developing new concepts or for
reinterpreting the existing ones. Empirical Research, on the other hand, excl.ively relies
on the observation or experience with hardly any regard for theory and system. Such
research is data based, which often comes up with concl.ions that can be verified
through experiments or observation. Empirical research is also known as experimental
type of research, in which it is important to first collect the facts and their sources, and
actively take steps to stimulate the production of desired information. In this type of
research, the researcher first formulates a working hypothesis, and then gathers
sufficient facts to prove or disprove the stated hypothesis. He/she formulates the
experimental design, which according to him/her would manipulate the variables, so as
to obtain the desired information. This type of research is th. characterized by the
researcher’s control over the variables under study. In simple term, empirical research is
most appropriate when an attempt is made to prove

that certain variables influence the other variables in some way. Therefore, the results
obtained by .ing the experimental or empirical studies are considered to be the most
powerful evidences for a given hypothesis.

V. Other Types Of Research :

The remaining types of research are variations of one or more of the afore-mentioned
type of research. They vary in terms of the purpose of research, or the time required to
complete it, or may be based on some other similar factor. On the basis of time,
research may either be in the nature of one-time or longitudinal time series research.
While the research is restricted to a single time-period in the former case, it is
conducted over several time-periods in the latter case. Depending upon the environment
in which the research is to be conducted, it can also be laboratory research or field-
setting research, or simulation research, besides being diagnostic or clinical in nature.
Under such research, in-depth approaches or case study method may be employed to
analyse the basic ca.al relations. These studies .ually undertake a detailed in-depth
analysis of the ca.es of certain events of interest, and .e very small samples and sharp
data collection methods. The research may also be explanatory in nature. Formalized
research studies consist of substantial structure and specific hypotheses to be verified.
As regards to historical research, sources like historical documents, remains, etc. Are
utilized to study past events or ideas. It also includes philosophy of persons and groups
of the past or any remote point of time. Research has also been classified into decision-
oriented and concl.ion-oriented categories. The decision-oriented research is always
carried out as per the need of a decision maker and hence, the researcher has no
freedom to conduct the research according to his/her own desires. On the other hand, in
the case of Concl.ion-oriented research, the researcher is free to choose the problem,
redesign the enquiry as it

progresses and even change conceptualization as he/she wishes to. Operations research
is a kind of decision-oriented research, where in scientific method is used in providing
the departments, a quantitative basis for decision-making with respect to the activities
under their purview.

The Research Methodology used for this study is personal observation (i.e.
Descriptive Research Method).
 HYPOTHESIS

A Hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a

scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it.
Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot
satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words
"hypothesis" and "theory" are often used synonymously, a scientific hypothesis is not
the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted
hypothesis proposed for further research.

Social media is becoming more common as an integral part of any healthcare

communication plan for business-to-business and business-to-customer endeavors. It
was found that while it’s becoming more common for healthcare communication to use
social media. Evidence suggests that the lack of regulatory guidance has hindered the
adoption of social media. Social media can be a useful tool for healthcare companies to
reach their publics, but research suggests the general public (and healthcare
 companies) believe that companies are not fully transparent in their use of social
media. More research is required to see if this is the most effective healthcare
communication strategy.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Social media in Healthcare organizations are using as an important tool to connect

consumers and providers. Social media can be used to influence customers and accomplish
strategic business goals. An organization needs both a social media policy and a social media
strategy. one cannot afford to take a “wait-and-see” approach or to sit idly by while the social
media revolution overtakes the information revolution and radically changes the way we
communicate and accomplish healthcare goals.

Key concerns in using social media in Healthcare has been the reliability of information.
In heavily standardized and regulatory driven industries such as Healthcare, it becomes
imperative to have well recognized/accredited sources of information. Due to increased
privacy laws and regulation, healthcare centric discusions need greater moderation than
any other industry. This also extends to social media in terms of defining clear criteria/
guidelines for how much of content to share and in what form. The role of social media
in the medical and health care sectors is far reaching, and many questions in terms of
governance, ethics, professionalism, privacy, confidentiality, and information quality remain
unanswered. Future research will be required to understand the synergies between social
media and evidence-based practice, as well as develop institutional policies that benefit
patients, clinicians, public health practitioners, and industry alike.

FINDINGS & LIMITATIONS

FINDINGS

1) It was found how Social Media has impacted the business of health care industry &
different concepts of Social Media Marketing.
2) Social media can be a useful tool for healthcare companies to reach their publics, but
it was observed the general public and healthcare companies believe that companies
are not fully transparent in their use of social media.
3) The role of social media in the medical and health care sectors is far reaching, and
many questions in terms of governance, ethics, professionalism, privacy,
confidentiality, and information quality remain unanswered.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

As limitations are the mandatory part of any study, this study was not also any exception to
this some of the limitations of the study are as follows
 1) Limited time because the study was so broad. Further research is
recommended, for example by studying the social media use for external
communication in a single sector, such as hospitals.
2) Permission for doing study in health care industry
3) Confidentiality: Confidentiality of health care industry due to various
legal policies.

CONCLUSION

From this research it can be concluded that social media use For external communication
is not optimally used in the healthcare industry. A reason for this Fact is that there is not
enough time and budget to fully concentrate on these communication tools. Nowadays,
social media are mostly used as corporate communication tools and for marketing
Purposes. However, the social media are barely used in order to inform patients about
certain illnesses, Or as platforms where health professionals and patients can meet.
Therefore, the social media are Mostly managed by staff members of the communication
departments. It can also be concluded that social-media can act as a medium to express
authentication and thus building trust which will be greatly influential in shaping the
marketing models of the future for the healthcare industry.
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