Healthcare Research Institute. (2012). Social media “likes” healthcare: From marketing to social business. Price Waterhouse Cooper. Available from http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/publications/health-care-social-media.jhtml.

According to PwC’s consumer survey of 1,060 U.S. adults, about one-third of consumers are using the social space as a natural habitat for health discussions. Social media typically consists of four characteristics that have changed the nature of interactions among people and organizations: user generated content, community, rapid distribution, and open, two-way dialogue. This report dives into the social world of the health industry and provides insights into new and emerging relationships between consumers and the biggest health companies that serve them. It examines how individuals think about and use the social channel; how some providers, insurers, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies are responding; and discusses specific implications for organizations to take advantage of with this new view into the 21st century patient.”

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