HealthManagement, Volume 18 - Issue 2, 2018
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What’s behind the phenomenon?
Top influencers from the healthcare field weigh in on what it has taken to establish credibility in their niche.
While the act of ‘liking’ or ‘sharing’ on a social media channel and growing a reputation may appear on the surface to have superficial value (it doesn’t take long to press a thumbs up!), an influencer’s online presence is actually a result of and developed parallel to old-fashioned graft in their field. HealthManagement.org spoke to a selection of top healthcare influencers about how they have made their names.
The Wearables Expert and CEO Digital Salutem
“I believe that healthcare is very unique in its own right so to be called a top healthcare influencer is such a privilege. With that in mind, I would like to breakdown ‘Healthcare’ and ‘Influencer’ into two separate parts in order to make sure that the blend of the two words together makes sense. Starting with healthcare; does this person clearly display a deep understanding and insight of the industry by his/her involvement on a daily basis in professional terms? Is this professional trusted and seen as a credible and respected opinion leader? Is this person passionate and actively involved in making a difference to people's lives with his/her contribution? Now addressing influence, which is probably even trickier, I have to ask what's the role of the influ- encer? How do we dictate influence? Is this professional contributing to the shaping up of the industry by connecting people, solving problems and sharing knowledge? I could come up with many more discussion points, although in my opinion some of these questions must be asked before we can call anyone a top health influencer.”
Director, The Medical Futurist Institute
“To
be selected as a top influencer, you need to forget what it is like to
feel comfortable; remain extremely curious about the future, be ready to
make mistakes and never share Coelho-like quotes like this...”
Bertalan Mesko, MD, PhD is a speaker, researcher and author. As a
physician, he has a PhD in genomics and his books on the digital health
sphere have earned him the status of an Amazon Top 100 author. More than 3 million readers follow his blog and he is one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices – an accolade recognising those who have “gotten the
professional world talking."
Marie Ennis-O'Connor
Founder - Health Care Social Media
One of health IT's Top 100 global social media influencers in 2017, Marie Ennis O'Connor is a digital communications strategist and internationally-recognised keynote speaker, who specialises in providing consultancy and training services to healthcare organisations. She is on a panel of multi-sectoral experts in Path to Zero, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s research, policy, and advocacy initiative that aims to surface innovative strategies to support the elimination of the Hepatitis C virus. she also serves as an external international board member of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, and sits on the board of the Patient Empowerment Foundation.
Cardiologist, Hospital Universitario Lucus Augusti & Former Nucleus ESC Cardiologists of Tomorrow
European Society of Cardiology
“You
need to be open minded and it´s essential that you share health content
of quality and interest for a big audience. One key element to be an
influencer is to be in the most important congresses to give a live
coverage of these events, providing useful knowledge and essential
information.”
Rafael Vidal is a clinical cardiologist specialising in cardiac
imaging and acute cardiac care. As well as being active in cardiac
training through membership of education committees, he is also
passionate about clinical research, cardiology specialist training and
application of new technologies in health. He has appeared in the top
ten influencers list of healthcare social media analytics company,
Symplur.
Radiologist - Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Milwaukee
