Putting an actual radiologist in charge of a radiology practice’s social media efforts—as opposed to, say, someone in marketing—is one way to significantly improve radiologist-patient engagement, according to a recent case study published by the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

“Most radiologists do not control their own online content, leaving patients to navigate inexpert and sometimes unfavorable information about imaging,” wrote Lauren Parks Golding, MD, of Triad Radiology Associates in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “Of the radiology departments and private practice groups that do have Facebook pages, most most radiologists do not control their own online content, leaving patients to navigate inexpert and sometimes unfavorable information about imaging. Of the radiology departments and private practice groups that do have Facebook pages, most are managed by marketing departments, often without radiologist input.”

With these issues in mind, Golding explained, her own practice moved the responsibility of managing its Facebook page to one of its radiologists in March 2016. The radiologist/manager would schedule some posts in advance—staff interviews, educational posts and so on—while also responding directly to patient questions and comments.

“By directly controlling content, we ensure that it is relevant, true to our culture and aligned with our predetermined goals,” Golding wrote. “Patient questions and concerns are more quickly addressed by a radiologist, who is the active manager of the account, rather than being routed through the marketing department.”

The data Golding collected shows that this shift was a runaway success in terms of radiologist-patient engagement. Facebook activity increased from just five posts in the previous four months to 41 posts in the following three months. In addition, the number of Facebook “followers” increased by more than 100 percent, and one specific post reached more than 12,000 online users.

This culture change has not gone unnoticed, Golding said.

“External stakeholders, including hospital administrators, have offered unsolicited acknowledgment of the value we have added for our mutual patients and colleagues and the attention we have brought to new service lines,” she wrote. “Technologists and patients have also provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on our social media presence.”

Worried that such engagement might take too much of your time? Don’t be, Golding said. It takes an estimated two to three hours per week to manage such an account, and the many benefits mean that this is not in any way a waste of time.

“If we as radiologists are to build value through engaging patients and our communities, we cannot wait for them to come to us,” Golding wrote. “We must meet them where they are already searching for health information.”