HealthManagement, Volume 18 - Issue 2, 2018

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Taking control of your reputation has become far more complex in recent decades, with advanced technology presenting widespread opportunities. If well choreographed, use of the many tools, platforms and channels on hand can lead to significant strength, propelling your reputation; but if orchestrated badly, your online and offline involvement could actually present damage. Absence or presence from the online community is an initial question to ask yourself, and healthcare providers are increasingly recognising the importance of a positive display of their professional assets across the internet and social media. A multifaceted approach that spreads across the realms of physical healthcare settings, traditional word of mouth and now also the online community is an intriguing one. In the cover story of this issue, Reed Smith of the Social Health Institute suggests that the best way to maximise each process is to use all of them together. He discusses with us how radiologists can leverage their reputation through a sound social media and digital marketing strategy, pointing out that the clinical leaders of our industry are also the ones leading in the digital and social space.

Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) play a common theme in this issue, since these have become closely linked to successful development and marketing of one’s reputation as an imaging professional. AI has, however, also presented an air of mistrust, apprehension and fear within the industry. Some believe that its use in future healthcare will threaten their reputation, and that it may even kill off their profession altogether. In terms of the latter, I agree with some- thing that Curtis Langlotz, Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Informatics at Stanford University said at a tech conference – that artificial intelligence will not replace radiologists. Yet, those radiologists who use AI will replace the ones who do not. With regard to the former, I believe that deep learning algorithms and applications of AI can help radiologists and patients, and will hence improve reputations. AI software has the potential to reduce the burden on a stretched workforce, help in making quick diagnoses and improve quality of care, whilst the initiative and creativity of human radiologists will always be there to manage this and to focus on the most complex issues. the key when it comes to reputation is how you manage this yourself and how you harness the technology and advancements around you.

Within our cover story, we also hear from Marie Ennis-o'Connor, Founder of Health Care social Media, Ireland, who expresses social media’s increasingly important role in maintaining a healthcare organisation’s reputation. Patients are looking to the internet to inform their choices on all areas of healthcare, and the online community shares a plethora of good and bad experiences. It is therefore best to take control of your reputation by responding to these conversations your- self and correcting any misinformation or misperceptions, she emphasises. A successful social media presence hinges on the trust between you and your followers, and trust is certainly crucial in the healthcare arena. the healthcare social media specialist also enlightens us on the future of this rapidly changing landscape, where Chatbots and AI will play a much bigger role in automated marketing, much of it via social media.

Alongside this, we have our Winning practices section that explores a variety of hot topics. Gil Rodas and Khalid Nasif explain how diagnostic imaging has transformed sports medicine, enabling sports people to return to play with confidence. We also hear about a revolutionary use of AI in the field of combating social isolation and improving patients’ lives within the hospital. NAO robot companions may well be wandering around your wards in the near future.

We hope that you find this issue of HealthManagement informative and motivational.