Proceedings of the 39th International Academic Conference, Amsterdam

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKET COMMUNICATION TOOL IN HEALTHCARE

PETER PUHEK, MILAN JURŠE, ROMANA KOREZ-VIDE

Abstract:

Healthcare performance is strongly dependent on the health system and its efficiency. This paper discusses social media as a tool for higher effectiveness of communication among the key healthcare stakeholders – patients and physicians – in the period of digital society. Based on the findings of previous research and case study analysis on Slovenian healthcare context, the paper provides a framework of key motives, advantages, risks, personal attributes and contextual factors that influence the use of health-related social media. Together with the proposed key supportive mechanisms the framework is developed into a holistic conceptual model of market communication in healthcare via social media.

Keywords: Market communication, social media, healthcare, health system, Slovenia

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2018.039.038

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