New research shows what is — and isn’t — working for health organizations venturing into social networking.

More than 90% of hospitals and health systems are using social media to some degree, according to a new report from Greystone.net. But the actual results those organizations are seeing are mixed at best.

The reason: Most health providers don’t have a set goal in mind when they start using social networks, or formal guidelines on how to use them. In addition, most health care organizations are devoting few resources to social media.

The report found:

• 70% have three or fewer people monitoring their social networking efforts
• 92% have ventured into social media with the goal of attracting more patients, but only 12.5% say they’ve accomplished that.

The report also found that secondary goals of social networking have had minimal success — 16.7% improved community relations, 8.7% improved customer service, 8.7% improved employee engagement, and 4.5% used it for crisis management.

The most popular social media platforms for health care organizations were Twitter, YouTube and Facebook — which were also the three networks most likely to show positive results.

Tags: community relations, crisis management, customer service, employee engagement, Facebook, Greystone.net, social media, social networking, Twitter, YouTube