Comparative Analysis of the Audience of the Medical Organization's Communities in Social Networks and its Patients

Abstract

Interaction with patients, the quality of communication with them by medical professionals affect the results of treatment. In the digital era, new formats and channels of interaction are emerging, which are successfully used by medical organizations in the process of communication with consumers of medical services – patients. Among a wide range of online tools, social networks have become a phenomenon. The subject of the study is the communication of a medical organization with patients in social networks. The purpose of this article is to analyze the audience of medical organization communities in social networks using the example of a specialized federal medical center in St. Petersburg to determine how the characteristics of the audience of social networks correspond to real patients of a medical institution. This study is based on the analysis of cancer incidence statistics in Russia, content analysis of the communities of a medical organization specializing in Oncology in social networks. Author studies the role of social networks and online interaction in the era of digitalization. Using methods of analysis and synthesis, content analysis, systematization, generalization, a judgment is formulated on the compliance of the audience of medical organization communities in social networks with the real characteristics of patients. It was revealed that the audience of thematic communities of a specialized medical center in social networks corresponds to the characteristics of real patients of the institution, as well as morbidity statistics in the country. The results of the study can be applied by medical organizations in the process of building a communication process with patients. The novelty, uniqueness of the work and the contribution of the author to the consideration of the question posed consists in conducting a comparative analysis of the demographic and geographical characteristics of real oncopatients and subscribers of thematic communities in social networks.