Barnes Jewish Hospital: Using Social Media to Build Relationships and Community

There’s a lot to be proud of in St. Louis, the town I called home for more than 17 years. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, part of the system where I had my own two children, is one. Barnes-Jewish is the largest hospital in the state of Missouri. It’s a teaching hospital (which is why an audience of about 10 watched me deliver my son) and is affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine.

Barnes-Jewish is also the hospital where my brother-in-law died in 2000, as the result of a medication error that caused him to go into cardiac arrest while undergoing treatment for cancer. As a result of that, my mother-in-law and father-in-law have dedicated time, care and emotion, sharing their story and working with the hospital’s patient safety and quality committee to help the hospital continually improve patient care.

Thus, my personal perspective on the hospital’s manner of working with patients and their families has been up close. The culture of caring and commitment, even in times of crisis has never failed to impress me. When my family was going through what was truly hell on earth, the relationship with the hospital held up; and eleven years later is still strong.

I cannot share what I started to write about in this post without covering that very personal territory. When I sat down to write, I simply wanted to honor Barnes-Jewish for it’s blog Touching Base. I’ve been following the hospital’s blog since its beginning and have been consistently impressed with the content and the commitment to its mission of “building relationships and a community through sharing.”

The blog has a whole page dedicated to sharing guidelines, posting very publicly the expectations for employee interaction in social media platforms. The hospital’s mission, vision and values are plainly stated and the regularly updated content consistently provides interesting and valuable health information while also giving a behind-the-scenes look at hospital life.

Coincidentally, blogger and social media specialist for the hospital Kristin Hall is a friend and someone I attended Lindenwood University with (back in the Dark Ages before blogs existed). I’d say this even if Kristin wasn’t a friend; she’s really excellent at her job. Watching the way she has created content on behalf of the hospital and continued to stay on message and mission has truly impressed me. As a result of her efforts, Barnes-Jewish is one of few nationwide examples of hospitals using social media in a really effective, meaningful way.

Hospitals and health care organizations would do well to pay attention to not only the way Barnes-Jewish uses social media, but the way they develop and maintain relationships, the way they continue to interact with patients and patients’ families over time and the value they provide to the community, overall. There’s much to be learned from following the example of those doing this work well.