Twitter’s impact in building reputed hospital brands in USA

Abstract

Social media have become a strategic tool for hospitals interested in boosting their corporate communication and achieving several organizational objectives such as improving patient’s engagement or reinforcing their own corporate reputation. These platforms help hospitals adapt their communication strategies to a new context (new patients’ demands, increasing competition between health organizations, development of health technologies, etc.). This paper aims to analyse Twitter’s impact in branding initiatives led by hospitals. To do that, we carried out a literature review about corporate communication, branding and social media; and then, we analysed Twitter’s corporate profiles of the best US hospitals in the treatment of oncological diseases. This paper concludes that hospitals interested in effectively using Twitter as a corporate communication tool for branding initiatives need to carry out a strategic reflection before launching any initiative on this platform, improve Twitter’s integration with other social media platforms and mobile applications, and facilitate better collaborations between health professionals and communication experts.