Hospital communications 2.0
A new challenge for institutional communication
Abstract
In recent years, the hospital context has been subjected to several changes, among them, those caused by the increased interest people have shown towards health issues, technological development, and the implementation of the Internet, especially Web 2.0 tools (blogs, social media, etc.). This situation presents a challenge for hospitals, characterized by a limited tradition in professional management of institutional communications. Web 2.0 tools offer an opportunity for hospitals to implement institutional communication strategies that might enable them to improve their communicative relationships with different stakeholders. The objective of this paper, which reviews the available literature, is to understand the main criteria that must be considered by a hospital in order to determine its strategy of institutional communications 2.0. The conclusions arrived at by this paper indicate that these criteria should be five: 1) combine the commercial approach with a pedagogical approach focused on educating the patient on health issues; 2) involve health professionals; 3) complement communications 2.0 with interpersonal face-to-face communications held within the hospital; 4) adapt communications 2.0 strategies to the hospital’s institutional communication norms; and 5) respect communication and hospital ethics.
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