“It is better to be first than it is to be better.”  Al Ries & Jack Trout

Leadership and being the first to do something is one of the best competitive advantages around.  While being wonderful at developing and utilizing new technologies to perform procedures to enhance patient care and clinical outcomes, the healthcare industry is often a day late and a dollar short when it comes to marketing and use of internet technologies.

Physicians are beginning to blog privately and use social media tools to muse about the art and practice of medicine.  However, not to many are using blogs as a tool to market their practices and/or their expertise in certain areas.  Hosptials are even more behind.

One hospital, High Point Regional, is using patient blogs to give depth to certain services they provide.  While these blogs fall a bit short of being providing an opportunity for conversation and being fully transparent (comments are conducted via e-mail), they are a good first step. 

Not to sound too critical, but… I would also like to see High Point syndicate their feed.  I realize that they are using the blog format to provide depth to the information found on their site for the people in their community who are seeking more information about their services.  However, by not syndicating, they are hiding their light under a bushel (an old Soutnern saying).  They could be truly making the case that they are leaders in the field.

Being first to jump into the fray, their conservative stance is understandable.  In fact, that is the real beauty of being a leader and a trailblazer. You put yourself in the place to make the rules and be the first in the mind of your customer. As High Point Regional has demonstrated, the time is right to develop a blogging strategy as part of your marketing endeavors.

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