Social media: How hospital facebook activity may influence patient satisfaction

Some hospitals use social media to promote accurate health-related education, information, and engage consumers. We performed multiple linear regression analyses to determine the associations between hospital Facebook activity and patient satisfaction for 390 hospitals. Hospitals that had a Facebook page were active on Facebook in the past 30 days and had more "likes," had more patients willing to definitely recommend the hospital, and had a higher overall satisfaction score. Practitioners can use the results when considering whether a minimal financial investment in social media may be worth customer loyalty and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Systems (CMS) reimbursement benefits.