Mayo Clinic Sets International Challenge for Social Media Training

The Mayo Clinic.  To most, the name triggers disease and heartache.  But for the organization, they are choosing to use their name as a powerful tool for a social media healthcare network.

In creating a social media healthcare network, the clinic's online presence may be based out of Minnesota (like the clinic) but will be targeted to reach an international audience.  The purpose of this forum is is to educate other organizations and individuals on how social media can be used wisely in the medical community.  The Mayo Clinic originally implemented their social media 'center' only a few months ago. 

More specifically, the global social media training that they will offer revolves around workshops, training, and consulting.  Advice on blogging, Twitter, and YouTube are overflowing on their site.  It also seems that patient/doctor interaction is a strong motivation in the development of the center, along with spreading the mission of the healthcare provider.  In just a short time, they have already made many connections within the U.S., along with a few European healthcare systems.  Mayo hopes to branch out and reach nearly every continent with their advice/expertise on social media within healthcare.

I was interested in reading this article because my initial thought was, "Why do I want to see Facebook and Twitter postings about surgeries and billing?"  But in taking a look closer, I realized that this isn't so much about the Mayo Clinic saying 'DO THIS' or 'LOOK AT US' as much as it is them saying, "Do it the right way."  Although I'm a little skeptical on why they consider themselves to be experts after only three months of trial, I applaud them for their desire to implement effective guidelines for healthcare administrations to follow.  What will be the real challenge is the international and cultural boundaries that must be adjusted to fit the social media crowd.

Either way, I think it's a good initiative.  They understand the importance of social media in their field, but they realize that it cannot prosper within that community until the proper instruction has been given.  As long as they're sticking to meaningful uses, I think this is going to significantly change the face of modern medicine...modern social medicine.