Reproduced with permission from the November/December 2012 issue of Spectrum, 2012 by the Society for Healthcare Strategy

y and Market Development.

C O M M U N I C AT I O N

Planning for a Social Media Crisis

By anticipating issues and putting well-crafted policies in place, communicators can mitigate social media risks.

Reluctant managers and

overcautious communicators continue to find reasons to say no to social media. Executives in regulated industries fear risk and exposure; nonprofit and small-business leaders fear they dont have the staffing levels or internal champions to sustain a meaningful presence; and communicators from organizations of all shapes and sizes speculate the rewards will never be worth the investment of time. Perhaps uniquely, hospitals and healthcare providers across the country can claim all of these reasons to stay out of the social media game. But, when a crisis strikes, sitting on the sidelines simply is not an option. In todays healthcare environment, patients, regulators, and community members pressure their providers for greater transparency and accessibility and for near-instantaneous communications. Social media offers ideal venues to meet these demands while demonstrating the organizations goodwill and underscoring the quality of the care and service it delivers. So how can we balance healthcare communicators ever-present reluctance with consumers ever-increasing demand for online engagement? And how can those already active in the space ensure they have the processes in place to respond efficiently and effectively when an issue or crisis arises? Specifically, how can we assess risk and plan a response when a patient takes to Twitter to complain about the waiting time in your emergency room? Or when a patient posts private, HIPAA-protected information about a fellow patient? Or when a patient accuses a physician of negligence on her blog? 6 Spectrum | November-December 2012 Planningthe greatest tool in the communicators toolkithelps in many ways. By anticipating issues and putting well-crafted policies in place, communicators can mitigate social media risks. A secondary benefit: The planning process demonstrates to skeptics that youve thought through the risks and are now ready to focus on the opportunities. Planning is a crucial step in earning buy-in and cultivating in-house champions. Now, Lets Start Planning Complement your organizations crisis communications plan by developing a dedicated social media crisis response plan. Some social media issues require immediate action via social media; others simply require careful monitoring. Take the guesswork out of this decision process. In the social media crisis response plan:

To Engage or Not to Engage Social media crises and issues are multilayered and complex. Unlike incidents that play out in traditional media, each social media incident must be evaluated for its own unique risk to your organizations operations. When determining whether to respond to a social media post, first consider the following attributes:

Visibility: How visible is the social me-

dia activity on which the comments were published? Is the channel accessible by search? Are comments accessible through aggregators such as Google News? In short, what is the likelihood your brand will be exposed to key audiencesmedical staff, patients, neighbors, media, or other stakeholders?

Articulate policies and procedures for your response. Assign responsibilities. Identify vulnerabilities.

Influence: Can the author be consid-

ered influential? To whom? Do the authors audiences appear to overlap with your stakeholders?
Viral potential: Is the comment generating discussion among the user community? Are people commenting? Reposting? Retweeting? Longevity: Is this a one-off comment, or is

Then, test those policies with scenariobased exercises (see sidebar). The scenario exercises give definition and clarity to social media (a topic that seems intangible to many who have not embraced social media firsthand) and clarify just how social media ties in to your organizations operations. When your internal audiences understand the impact, they are more likely to champion for you.

the author continually posting criticisms of (or rumors about) your organization?

Security/confidentiality: Is security-

compromising information being shared? What would be the public safety implications of replying to the comment?

Reproduced with permission from the November/December 2012 issue of Spectrum, 2012 by the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.

Legitimacy: Is there truth behind the comment(s)? Is the poster supporting his or her arguments with credible documentation? Can you easily clarify any misinformation?

Analyzing a Gray Area Scenario

Perhaps one of the most challenging tasks in hosting a scenario-based social media exercise is developing scenarios that fall into the gray area between responding and not responding. These scenarios always carry the most impact; they test your teams ability to evaluate the risk and determine a course of action. Sample gray scenario: A patient posts on his Facebook page that his family physician (employed by your hospital) was location-tagged on the physicians personal Facebook page at a California medical marijuana dispensary. The patient jokes, I hope Dr. Smith wasnt high the last time I had a checkup. The comment has generated a dozen comments from the posters friends, one of whom you know to be a nurse at the same hospital. What questions do you ask, and what actions do you take? This scenario is rife with complexities, much more so than a simple case of misinformation would be. Its possible the physician was there for an illicit purpose, its possible he was not. Its also possible the physician wasnt even at the dispensary, as any friend can location-tag another friend. It may have been a prank; it may have been an accident. When you consider the venue, the potential audiences, and the viral likelihood, the scenario becomes more complex. Digging deeper: As you examine this scenario, consider the roles of the leadership and communications teams in responding. Without question, your communicators must begin a monitoring regimen. Is this accusation building an audience on the patients Facebook page? Are his friends sharing the post with their friends? Is the physicians page receiving increased activity or attention? Is the post jumping channels and appearing on Twitter or in the traditional media? If yes to any of these, put into action the social media crisis response plan. Beyond your communicators, consider the roles of others in the organization. A credible executivepossibly your chief medical ofcer, the medical staff president, or a physician liaisonshould engage the physician to understand the situation. Your human resources and legal teams should be consulted to understand the legal implications of the physicians actions if the rumors are found to be true. The stewards of your mission and values should be consulted as well to ensure the physician is operating in line with the character your organization demands. In short, while social media may be a communications function, its impact resonates throughout an organizations management. Use the gray-area scenario approach to bring home this important point.

Planning Your Response After considering the attributes above, discuss with your team the benefits and risks of responding to each comment. Then, discuss the most appropriate channel for response. In the most serious scenarios, you may want to take the conversation off social media and orchestrate your response through traditional media channels. If you decide to act, act promptly. Social media are instant, and users respond well to organizations that display a sense of urgency. Social media have become realtime sources of information, so prompt responses may help defuse a crisis before it builds momentum.
State a point of view or clarify misinformation, but avoid arguing your point of view. Unlike traditional reporters, social

media users have no obligation to report objectively. In fact, many of the most successful and highly regarded bloggers are very subjective and opinionated. You cant expect to change an authors point of view; you can, however, state your point of view or clarify misinformation.
Be humanexpress sympathy or empathy if appropriate. Social media users do

not respond well to polished responses that feel corporate. The tone of your response should be conversational and personal. Although social media users may be factually incorrect, their feelings are valid and should not be dismissed. Remember, expressions of concern, understanding, or sympathy are not admissions of wrongdoing. Provide a solution. When responding to an issue, problem, negative comment, or crisis, the response should always have an element of resolution. The tenets that guide a traditional media crisis response also hold true in the social media sphere. Be transparent. As with traditional media, when working with social media, it is important to be honest and forthright; avoid speculation. Be transparent in identifying the individual who is delivering the response. Social media users prefer to see

the name of the individual who is representing the organization. Never go off the record. The mantra of spokesperson trainers may be even more crucial in the world of social media. Unlike users of traditional media, social media users are not bound by a written or unwritten code of ethics, nor do users necessarily care to protect a relationship with your organization. Expect that all of your correspondenceincluding

e-mail screenshots and phone message recordingswill be posted publicly. Written by:
Christopher Lukach, APR Senior Vice President and COO Anne Klein Communications Group, LLC Mount Laurel, NJ 856.866.0411 chris@annekleincg.com www.annekleincg.com November-December 2012 | Spectrum