Twitter’s Practical Uses for Today’s Business: Health Care Industry

FoxBusiness.com published this deansguide article 3-10-09

Phil Bauman’s “140 Health Care Uses for Twitter” is a fantastic example of the sharing and brainstorming that is the power of social media and Web 2.0. This is a brilliant display of matching needs to solutions, giving value to those of us looking to understand how to utilize Twitter for practical business uses, and it provides a template for social media consultants when thinking of ways to use Twitter with other industries, niches, or specific company products or services.

Exercise for Consultants:

Examine Phil’s list and consider how you can create a list of uses for Twitter (or other social media tools):

• Expert Knowledge: find an expert in the industry, niche, or business you are attempting to find Twitter uses for and learn as much as possible about your target

• Examples: find examples of other industries or niches already successfully utilizing Twitter. What can you use from those methods that fit your target industry?
• Ask, Ask, Ask: ask people what is practical or feasible. What Twitter functions will actually work and which ones are not suited for your target industry?

Phil’s 140 Heathcare Uses for Twitter:

1. Tissue recruitment (for kidney and other organs, including blood)
2. Epidemiological survey
3. Disaster alerting and response
4. Emergency response team management
5. Supportive care for patients and family members
6. Diabetes management (blood glucose tracking)
7. Maintaining a personal health diary
8. Adverse event reporting in the clinical setting and other pharmacovigilance functions
9. Emitting critical laboratory values to nurses and physicians
10. Alarming silent codes (psychiatric emergencies, security incidents)
11. Drug safety alerts from the FDA
12. Risk management communication
13. Augmenting telemedicine
14. Issuing Amber alerts
15. Issuing alerts for missing nursing home residents
16. Exercise management and encouragement
17. Weight management and support
18. Biomedical device data capture and reporting
19. Nutritional diary and tracking
20. Coordinating preoperative, perioperative and postoperative care (among pharmacy, nursing and surgical services)
21. Medical service collaboration in the clinical setting
22. Triage management in emergency rooms
23. Census management/monitoring
24. Arranging outpatient care
25. Crowdsourcing for health care resources
26. Shift-bidding for nurses and other health care professionals
27. Mood tracking (for patients with bipolar and other mood disorders)
28. Patient care reminders in the clinical setting
29. Prescription management, including pharmacy refill reminders
30. Daily health tips from authoritative sources
31. Location awareness during crisis
32. Occupational safety response
33. Hazardous materials communication
34. “Quick and dirty” diagnostic brainstorming between physicians (e.g. ’symptom clustering’)
35. Clinical case education for (residents following attendings)
36. Physician opinion-sharing
37. Promoting Domestic Violence awareness
38. Raising Child Abuse awareness
39. USMLE preparation for medical licensing
40. NCLEX for preparation for nursing licensing
41. Recruitment of health care staff
42. Alcohol and other substance abuse support
43. Issuing doctor’s orders
44. Environmental alerts: pollen counts, pollution levels, heat waves, severe weather alerts
45. Remote wound care assistance
46. Rural area health care communication
47. Micro-sharing of pertinent patient information
48. Micro-sharing of diagnostic results (blood tests, echocardiography, radiological images)
49. Internal facility customer service (a hospital equivalent of @Comcastcares – c’mon hospitals!)
50. Publishing health-related news
51. Psychiatric “check-ins” for patients
52. Nursing mentoring and collaboration
53. Publishing disease-specific tips
54. Childcare support
55. Fund raising for hospitals and health-related causes
56. Updating patient family members during procedures
57. Live-tweeting surgical procedures for education
58. Rare diseases tracking and and resource connection
59. Reporting hospital staff injuries
60. Tracking patient trends
61. Tracking disease-specific trends
62. Checking hospital ratings with other health care consumers
63. Providing around-the-clock disease management
64. Connecting genetic researchers with physicians
65. Publishing the latest advances in biomedical devices
66. Tracking antibiotic resistance
67. Real-time satisfaction surveys with immediate follow-up for problem resolution
68. Issuing asthma alerts
69. Data collection for tracking facility patterns (process-performance, supply-chain and staffing problems)
70. Live-tweeting medical conferences
71. Keyword-tracking of health-related topics via Search.Twitter
72. Posting quick nursing assessments that feed into electronic medical records (EMRs)
73. Improving medical rounding systems
74. Clinical trial awareness
75. Hospital administration
76. Sharing peer-to-peer reviews of articles of interest
77. Connecting patients with similar disease processes
78. Enhancing health-related support groups (e.g. buddy-systems for depression)
79. Providing smoking cessation assistance
80. Medical appliance support (e.g. at-home: colostomy care, infusion-pumps, wound-vacs)
81. Reporting medical device malfunctions
82. Tweeting updates to facility policies and procedures
83. Arranging appointments with health care providers
84. Product safety alerts
85. Food safety alerts
86. Information on women’s health
87. Pain management
88. Hospital reputation monitoring
89. Publishing hospital-sponsored events in local communities
90. Community health outreach
91. Bioterrorism awareness and preparedness
92. Issuing updates to hospital services to the public
93. Insurance claim management
94. Ethical, permission-based following of patients
95. Micro-sharing consent for surgical and other procedures
96. Patient-sharing of health-related experiences
97. Posting ‘bread crumbs’ of facility experiences (”I had a bypass at this hospital and it went well but the food almost killed me.”)
98. Patient searches for others confronting similar problems
99. Stress management
100. Mental health awareness
101. Posting homeless shelter needs
102. Food bank resource management
103. Transmitting patient data to patients who are traveling abroad
104. Generating streams of authoritative health care content online
105. Exposing medical quakery
106. Micro-sharing documentation for advanced medical directives
107. Discussing public health care policy
108. Developing stronger patient-provider relationships
109. Tracking the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals
110. Following health marketing
111. Tracking influenza alerts from the CDC
112. Exchanging/soliciting scientific validation of alternative health claims
113. Following ad-hoc conferences on eHealth like HealthCampPhila
114. Tracking toxic diseases
115. Tracking HIV news
116. Issuing/exchanging dietary tips
117. Tweeting what you eat
118. Comparing nursing home performance
119. Coordinating clinical instruction
120. Communicating with nursing supervisors
121. Public safety announcements
122. Tracking FDA guideline updates
123. Tracking the progress of developing pharmaceuticals
124. Broadcasting infant care tips to new parents
125. Publishing vaccination/immunization services locations, hours and reminders
126. Reporting adverse events to FDA (currently not available via Twitter: why not?)
127. Obtaining information on Medicare and Medicaid
128. Case management functions
129. Clinical education coordination
130. Facilitating patient-transfer processes
131. Patient-information retrieval
132. Reporting breeches of universal precautions in health care facilities
133. Posting daily nursing tips
134. Exchanging physician humor (we’re all human)
135. Closing the digital divide with respect to health care information
136. Coordinating allied health care services during patient admissions
137. Coordinating patient discharges with all services
138. Post-discharge patient consultations and follow-up care
139. Helping device technicians to communicate directly with manufacturers
140. Discussing HIPAA reform in the age of micro-sharing

Entrepreneurs & Job Seekers’ Tip #1: Utilize Box.net Linkedin Application

FoxBusiness.com published this deansguide article 2-18-09

The focus of every entrepreneur and job seeker should begin and end with the concept that in today’s world you must become a go-to source of information for your target audience. If you provide valuable information, provide it continuously, and provide that information without asking for anything in return you will be very successful. The first step to becoming a go to source of information? Utilize Linkedin.com to it’s fullest capabilities.

Tip #1 Utilizing Box.net Application

Box.net is a free application that you can load onto your Linkedin profile. The application allows you to upload pdf files, videos, articles, or links into one neat storage area. Your files are then made available to anyone interested in accessing them.

Strategy of a Go-To Source of Information

The idea is for entrepreneurs and job seekers to give valuable information while they build their network. By creating your mini resource library on Linkedin, utilizing Box.net application, you will do the following for your career:

• Establish your networking presence online
• Attract new networking partners due to the fresh information you provide
• Help others with challenges in their business
• Create a reason for people to view your profile by giving value first
• Utilize “What are you doing now” message to alert your network of new content you will share
• Create opportunities for exposure, stay top of mind, with Linkedin updates every time you add to your application(s)
• Drop the url to your profile in comment sections on  blogs inviting people to download the free valuable information in your Box.net library
• Increase traffic to your profile

These are just a handful of the benefits that the Box.net application will provide you and your network in your strategy to become a go-to source of information. Linkedin is the key vehicle to drive your message. It is up to you to find the resources of value and deliver.

Entrepreneurs and Companies: Peter Kim Your Guide Through Social Media Terrain

Recently I introduced Peter Kim to our readers, for some he was already a part of their regular reading, with the hopes that he could shed light on social media, measurement, and the trends that are developing. Including Patrick Kitano of Domus Consulting Group, Chris Brogan, and Guy Kawasaki, Peter Kim is one of the most important new thought practitioners of our times.

Who is Peter Kim?

Peter Kim is one of the most important architects of social media and a well respected social media expert. Peter is considered an expert in the art and science of “the intersection of social technology and marketing strategy.” He has been quoted by the most prestigious press organizations from the Wall Street Journal to CBS Evening News.

10 Articles Worth Your Time

At the end of each month, Peter performs his traffic analytics to see what was the most well read articles for that month. From this exercise, comes Peter’s Top 10 Content list. If you are a entrepreneur, small business, large corporation, or job seeker looking to move your message of value forward then this is a list that will provide great value:

1. A List of Social Media Marketing Examples
2. Social Media Predictions 2009
3. It’s Time To Transform
4. Why Web 2.0 Still Matters
5. Reputation Matters
6. How to break free from the echo chamber
7. A framework for measuring social media
8. Now’s the time, the time is now
9. The need for services in social technology
10. How to set an ego trap

Entrepreneurs and Corporations Measure the Impact of Social Media

Today 105 major corporations, more adopting everyday, have corporate blogs that engage their audience, tell their story, deliver their value, and offer a place for insight. Entrepreneurs are at the forefront of this evolution. In addition, many of these corporations are adopting social media tools like Twitter and Facebook as tools to help create audience and “evangelists” for their products and services. The following are steps provided by Peter Kim on how to measure a social media campaign.

Peter Kim is one of the most important architects of social media and a well respected new thought practitioners. Peter is considered an expert in the art and science of “the intersection of social technology and marketing strategy.” He has been quoted by the most prestigious press organizations from the Wall Street Journal to CBS Evening News.

In Peter’s article “A framework for measuring social media” he outlines four concepts that provide the framework for social media measurement or ROI:

1. Attention: “The amount of traffic to your content for a given period of time.  Similar to the standard web metrics of site visits and page/video views.”

IA: Your readership can vary in many ways and although measuring number of readers and page views is quite telling, average time per visit is a major factor. Simply put how long a person stays on your site reading your content can be indicative to your content’s value in the eyes of your readers.

2. Participation: “The extent to which users engage with your content in a channel.  Think blog comments, Facebook wall posts, YouTube ratings, or widget interactions.”

IA: Key is a users willingness to engage with other users on your site. The comment section for each blog post has the potential to become their own mini “forums.” Within these forums your readers debate your content, collaborate, and communicate freely. One of the best examples of this is on ChrisBrogan.com another social media expert.

3. Authority: “Ala Technorati, the inbound links to your content – like trackbacks and inbound links to a blog post or sites linking to a YouTube video.”

IA: Although Technorati is the most well known inbound link measurement site, it is often not as accurate as Google. Peter is right on the money here with the fact that your trackbacks and inbound links are absolutely critical in measuring your content’s effectiveness in attracting readers.

4. Influence: “The size of the user base subscribed to your content.  For blogs, feed or email subscribers; followers on Twitter or Friendfeed; or fans of your Facebook page.”

IA: Attracting subscribers means you are producing excellent content. Yet in some cases, the subscription numbers can be “infected” by misleading subscription growth trends based on inaccurate numbers.

Tips for Entrepreneurs: How Do You Work on the Road?

Chefs.com published this deansguide article 1-14-09

Special welcome to Chefs.com as a new publisher of deansguide content. Thank you and welcome!

What does a networking day look like to you? I drive 150 miles round trip to network in Silicon Valley one to two days a week. The following are tips on how to develop your day, on the fly, when things change unexpectedly. The first scenario represents my original plans for my day. The second scenario is the reality that was my day.

Road Tips to Save Time, Educate, and Accomplish Tasks

1. Practice Time: I practice one of my 5 workshop presentations on the 60 minute drive to the Valley. It is quiet time and a great place to practice

2. GPS: A GPS system for your car is a simple tool to keep you from losing time consulting your iPhone or laptop in search of directions.

3. Buffer and Flexibility: Schedule enough time between events, sales calls, or appointments so that you can reconnect with business tasks, call backs, and keep your day moving on all fronts of your business.

4. Give Value : Be prepared to give files, printed materials, articles, and any reference resources when you are making sales calls, new consultations, networking events, or any other place you wish to give value or support your points.

5. Be Ready for Opportunity: Be ready to present your case, workshop, or product at the drop of a hat.

My Schedule Before the Day

1. 10:00am-1:30pm  CSIX Connect: This is the best employment group meeting in the Valley. The meeting runs from 10:30-1:00 at the iRestaurant in Cupertino. It includes lunch, networking, and speaker’s workshop. This is stop #1 in my day.

2. 2:00 and 3:00pm Consultations: I scheduled two consultations after the CSIX meeting.Both of my consultations centered around current clients’ needs and my need for an evaluation of their efforts to date.

3.  3:30pm Sales Call: ProMatch is a large Edd group in Sunnyvale that Susan has presented to in the past. My goal is to secure a speaking engagement on blogging to employment, Linkedin, Twitter or any social media Web 2.0 subject.

4.  4:30pm Administration: Send follow up documents and monitor our blog.

5.  5:30pm De Anza Community College: Inquire about facility rental, sales call, schedule meeting to pitch social media curriculum.

6.  6:30-7:00pm: Final call backs, wait for rush hour to thin begin home at 7:00pm

My Actual Day

1. 10:00am-3:00pm CSIX Connect: I met 7 new contacts and our lunch conversation continued until 2:00.

2.  3:00-3:45pm New Consultation: I met with a new contact to discuss social media for job seekers

3.  4:00-5:00pm New Consultation: I met with a new contact to discuss change, transition, and understanding direction.

4.  ProMatch: my opportunity to reconnect with my contacts at ProMatch is gone as they close at 4:00pm

5.  5:20pm Phone Consultation: In coming call from former client to reevaluate past issues. New focus and strategy discussed. Invite to attend ASTD monthly meeting.

6.  6:00-8:00pm ASTD “Mentoring” : Kim Wise gave a very interesting presentation on the benefits of mentoring to companies and individuals, software developed for mentor selection, and her vision of future trends in organizational development.

Job Seekers and Entrepreneurs: Drive Your Competition Crazy

“If any of my competitors were drowning, I’d stick a hose in their mouth.” Ray Kroc

Harsh words no doubt but if you have ever read about McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc they fit his personality. Unlike Mr. Kroc’s take no prisoners attitude, Guy Kawasaki suggests that the best way drive your competition crazy is by “constantly innovating and serving your customers.”

If you are a entrepreneur or a job seeker go buy Guy Kawsaki’s latest book “Reality Check.” Begin on Chapter 66 with “The Art of Driving Your Competition Crazy” for the best practical advice on how to stand out, be memorable, and create your differentiating factor. Also check out the blog for more information. Although there are 8 important steps worth serious consideration, one stands out as the theme of Kawasaki’s advice: Focus on the Customer.

Focus on the Customer:  Entrepreneur

The irony here is that rather than trying to do something to your competitor(s), “the best way to drive your competition crazy is not to do anything to it.” The strategy to success is to focus on your customer by concentrating on great customer service, out-innovating the competition, and out-pricing them.

Focus on the Hiring Manager: Job Seeker

In the same respects there is an irony in this situation too. Instead of the job seeker attempting to out sell, out brag, or out maneuver his/her resume to be the best resume, the job seeker needs to concentrate on the hiring manager’s happiness.

This happiness can be achieved by creating value through a blog, a great Linkedin profile, and a social media broadcasting system. The goal for job seekers should be to remove the resume review process, time lost, costly hours wasted by a hiring manager who does not want to go through this process. By making a valuable case and delivering a message of value through target marketing, job seekers could completely remove this burden from the hiring manager.

Six Principles of Influence: Create Change That Benefits Your Customer

Influence is one of the most important factors in any business from the one-off entrepreneur to the largest global corporations. To understand the power of influence and persuasion, you must first understand the definition of influence.

The best definition is offered by one of the world’s leading experts on influence, persuasion, and negotiation Dr. Robert Cialdini as told in his interview for Guy Kawasaki’s great book “Reality Check.” Dr. Chialdini, a psychology professor at Arizona State University and Phd defines influence:

“Influence means creating change in some way. Change can be in an attitude, it can be in a perception, or a behavior. But in all instances, we can’t lay claim to influence until we can demonstrate that we’ve changed someone.”

Six Universal Principles of Influence

1. Reciprocation: People give back and treat you the same way you treat them

2. Scarcity: People are motivated to “seize the opportunities” of a limited offer that you provide to them if they realize the supply of this offer is rare or in dwindling availability

3. Authority: The greater your knowledge and credibility on a subject is the easier it is to persuade people

4. Commitment: People will feel the need and obligation to “comply with your request” if it is consistent with what they have publicly agreed (committed) to in your presence

5. Liking: The degree to which people know and like you is the main factor in their preference to say “yes” to you

6. Consensus: People love company in most decisions. If you give them evidence that others, just like them, have said yes to you, they then “will be likely” to say yes to you more often than not

Guy Kawasaki’s “Reality Check”: How Not to Choke

Guy Kawasaki

In Guy Kawasaki’s wonderful book “Reality Check” we are treated to a two, that’s right 2, page chapter titled simply “How Not to Choke.” Choking may be the worst possible word to have attached to your career, athletic performance, and any moment that is meaningful in your life. To choke is to blow it by not having the nerve, losing your cool, blanking, freezing in the moment, or any number of horrific things a mind can do when it goes on lock down at the worst possible time. H3re are Guy’s ways to avoid choking.

Three Ways to Avoid Choking:

1. Avoid Negative People: stay away from negative people because what they say about you “can lead to you becoming what people say about you.”  Guy’s advice is to simply avoid them or “create product and serve them like hell.”

2. Invoke Positive Stereotypes: Positivity can “enhance performance.” Guy notes that Silicon Valley is a fantastic place for young people to start companies and that the “wunderkind” tag is a great example of a positive stereotype.

3. Frame or Reframe Yourself: Guy quotes Dr. George Lakoff  “you can control which groups identify with and the strength of that association.”

In essence the company you keep, the attitude you exude, and the perception you create are the most powerful ways to avoid choking in any situation. If you want more great advice, check out Guy’s favorite books. For even more great information, investigate Alltop.com Guy’s latest user content resource.

5 Strategies to Branding “You”: Realtor’s Guide To Career Success

Branding

Reuters.com published this deansguide article September 2, 2008

What exactly is the definition for the word “branding”? We are talking about creating an aura, a perception, and a truth about a person, service, or product that allows people to identify and recognize them instantly.

Branding according to Whatis.techtarget.com definition

Branding “You” What Are You Waiting For?

You spend a lifetime promoting your employer, their products, and their services. You derive your substance factor from your experiences. Is it not about time you tell the world about you and why you are special?

Tips To Branding “You”

1. Recognize: You are a brand. You have recognizable qualities and you must consider yourself special in order to promote your unique qualities

2. Begin the Shift: Recognize you are worthy of brand recognition and begin to shift the emphasis to your qualities and differentiating factors that make you unique. Why are you so effective? How can you deliver value? Begin to market you as the source

3. Education to Expertise: in order to become a brand, you must be knowledgeable in your niche. Gain confidence and expertise by studying and learning about your business from mentors, online resources, workshops, seminars, and books. Building your knowledge base builds confidence in you as well as your potential clients

4. Writing Platform: create a writing platform with the goal of establishing your own blog within a 3-6 month period. The following are places to start:

a.) Submit articles to ezinearticles.com

b.) Create a newsletter

c.) Become a contributor to a blog

d.) Ask to contribute to a newsletter or local newspaper

5. Public Speaking Platform: Create a workshop or speech aimed at providing value to your audience.

a.) Ask to represent your company at local meetings or conferences. Work up to bigger venues

b.) Ask to speak at your Kiwanis Club, Rotary, or Chamber of Commerce

c.) Create a Free workshop for you affiliate partners

d.) Join a industry organization and submit your request to speak

Results

The best strategy to support your career as an entrepreneur or as an employee of a company is to create the brand of “You.” In so doing, you become recognizable to both potential clients and potential employers.

Your entrepreneurial business is positively effected when potential clients know you, like your brand (You), and understand the value you bring to the table

Your employer’s business is positively effected when customers know you, trust you as their “brand”, and understand the value you bring to the organization you are working for with the client’s best interests in mind

Innerarchitect.WordPress.com Moves To Innerarchitect.com/Blog: Combining Our Website and Blog Transition In Action

The blog supporting Inner Architect personal development firm and author Susan Hanshaw has moved from it’s original wordpress subdomain, innerarchitect.wordpress.com, to it’s new platform innerarchitect.com/blog. The combining of website and blog will bring all the Inner Architect writing, products, and services under one roof.

The focus will remain to provide continuous valuable resources:

1. Tips: Maintaining Positive Energy

2. How to Guides: “The Most Important Steps Toward The Life You Want”

3. Services: Books and Reference articles

4. Workshops: Changing Careers: Laying Your Foundation

5. Our Friends: trusted friends, reviewers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs

6. Events: Speaking engagements, workshops, networking opportunities

7. Discoveries: Discover Your Passions And Purpose

8. Inspiration: The story of a street preacher with a heart

9. Book Review: a sample of two book reviews for Inner Architect

10. Workshops: Scheduled events