New Facebook business model could improve internal hospital communication

Collaboration is key to new professional Facebook platform

Facebook is launching a new social media platform aimed at making the workplace more collaborative. Facebook at Work is almost identical to the original site, providing a newsfeed, likable options, and a chat service.

What, then, is the purpose of this tool?

Facebook at Work is a social platform created only for companies and its co-workers. Collaboration is important to almost all businesses and this new platform will provide companies with their own social network.

Although no reports have surfaced about hospitals or health systems signing up for this service, we can see the benefit. FB@Work could help improve communication, internal alignment, and customer experience. For marketing teams, it can help them tackle challenges together, such as bad press or customer service complaints.

Here’s how it works: Think about who’s in charge of your hospital’s social media. Imagine if one day, your hospital receives a negative Facebook post about an employee. The social media manager could instantaneously send a message to your marketing director and tag other important team members in that post. The team can then work together to fix the problem all in one place and at the same time. FB@Work can act as your hospital’s own private communication system and could effectively resolve a social media issue much faster than email or a phone call.

Additionally, CEOs and CMOs don’t have to worry about teaching their employees how to use it —  the website offers the same user experience as Facebook. Employees can either create a different profile or link to their original profile to access everything in one place. For a few dollars a month per employee, the social tool will offer analytic capabilities and customer support. Also, it includes different profile capabilities and security tools outside of the original social platform.

According to TechCrunch. FB@Work is modeled after what Facebook’s own employees use to spread news, schedule meetings, and share documents. More than 300 companies have signed up for a pilot program so far, including Heineken, the Royal Bank of Scotland and French resort company Club Mediterranee SA (Club Med), according to Reuters. The official site is projected to go live soon.

Hospitals and healthcare systems that utilize this tool are welcoming a myriad of possibilities for improving internal communication and crisis management. Additionally, it gives marketers a platform for engaging employees and could possibly eliminate the use of email.