A research on the effect of social media hospital and physician preferred

Social media has become an important means of communication for both individuals and institutions due to the influence of developing information technologies and social networks nowadays. In this research; use of social media for the introduction to the health services and healthcare communication, and effect of news, information and sharing at the social media channels on preference in choosing doctors and hospitals will be examined. General information on social media and social media channels is provided at the first section of this study, and healthcare communication within the social media sharing is mentioned at the following section. The effect of the sharing done via social media channels and communications performed through social networks by medical institutions and doctors on the decision of taking healthcare service is examined. Besides introduction of healthcare providers and use of social media for healthcare communication, the effect of the healthcare complaints and suggestions shared at the social media on the decision of receiving medical service and on the selection of the healthcare provider is mentioned. A survey methodology is conducted as a means of data collection method to gather the related information for this study which examines the use of social media channels in the selection of hospitals and doctors. Results of this survey applied to 500 people showed that the effect of use of social media on the selection of hospital is 59.8% and the effect of use of social media on the selection of doctor is 64.4%. According to these results, individuals who pay attention to the social media introductions and sharing prior to the selection of hospital and doctor are also found being more likely to share the information regarding their levels of satisfaction at the social media after receiving health services.