Examining the relationship between social media engagement and hospital revenue

The importance of social media for management of SMEs

“…It has also been found that financial, business and organizational performance have shown a great change. Moreover, Apenteng et al (2020) claim that the support of social media resulted in generating profit and increasing profitability.…”

Online reputation management by cancer hospitals: A systematic literature review in the USA and Spain

“…Moreover, Facebook offers several key performance indicators that are useful for evaluating brand performance (Attai et al, 2016). Thanks to all of these data and metrics, companies can integrate Facebook as a professional tool for corporate communication (Kotsenas et al, 2018), which is a smart decision from an economic point of view as there is a positive relationship between patient engagement on Facebook and hospital revenues (Apenteng et al, 2020).…”

“…From a corporate communication point of view, the use of social media offers several advantages for cancer hospitals: (a) these platforms allow hospitals to innovate and revitalize their corporate communication strategies (Vraga et al, 2018), (b) hospitals can focus on storytelling and pedagogical communication initiatives in order to improve engagement with patients (Kotsenas et al, 2018), (c) hospitals can enhance engagement with health education and prevention initiatives (Noar et al, 2018), (d) hospitals can use social media to improve their public health communication campaigns, especially in crisis situations Guidry;Fuemmeler, 2019), (e) health organizations can use social media to reduce social inequalities between patients in different countries (De-las-Heras-Pedrosa et al, 2020), (f) integrating social media platforms with oncological care can potentially improve patient care and increase trust (Sedrak et al, 2017), (g) the use of social media allows health professionals and patients to interact before and after their hospital appointments (Yang et al, 2018), (h) these platforms provide hospitals with data that allows them to adapt their medical services to different patients (Triemstra; Poeppelman; Arora, 2018), (i) social media can improve patient outcomes by offering knowledge about diseases and promoting lifestyle modifications (Yang et al, 2018), and (j) professional management of social media platforms can help hospitals improve their financial performance by facilitating customer service and providing a low-cost marketing platform (Apenteng et al, 2020).…”

“…Cancer hospitals carry out research on patient perceptions and attitudes before implementing any social media campaigns (Noar et al, 2018) because these data can improve their strategic decisions in terms of targets, objectives, and brand positioning (Mazor et al, 2016). Hospitals implement research mechanisms that allow them to identify the relationships established between the hospital's social media presence, the consumer's health behavior, and the hospital's profitability (Apenteng et al, 2020). On the other hand, before launching social media campaigns, hospitals define different key performance indicators to use during and after the campaign to evaluate its efficiency (Cua; Moffatt-Bruce; White, 2017).…”

“…By using Facebook, hospitals can revitalize their brand from an economic and corporate point of view Guidry;Fuemmeler, 2019). The following five reasons support this statement: (1) According to data provided by Facebook, hospitals can improve their knowledge of the relationships established with patients, and design messages based on patients' interests and demographics, directly influencing the hospital's credibility (Kotsenas et al, 2018); (2) Facebook is a source of emotional support for all caregivers specialized in cancer, as well as for patients and their family members (Gage-Bouchard et al, 2017); (3) thanks to Facebook, many patients can interact directly with oncologists and obtain credible information, thus positively influencing patient empowerment, as well as their perceptions of the hospital's brand (Attai et al, 2016); (4) Facebook plays a key role in patient evaluation of a hospital's quality and reputation (Ivanov; Sharman, 2018); and finally, (5) Facebook positively influences patient engagement which, in turn, determines economic investment in the hospital (Apenteng et al, 2020).…”