I recently listened in on a series of webinars where three different types of healthcare practitioners discussed their use of digital in their working lives. I heard from two nurses, two GPs and two hospital physicians about where and how digital fits into their days.
The first thing that was clear was just how widespread the use of mobile devices, apps and online resources now is.
A recent infographic produced by the Digital Insights Group shows that over 40% of GPs compare treatment options on their smartphone. A similar proportion even use it with their patient whilst they’re in the room.
In the cases of those speaking on the webinars, digital technology is already embedded in their working lives and their use of it is often assumed and intuitive. Many had iPads and iPhones provided for professional use by their NHS trusts to support them in their everyday tasks. From paperless meetings to e-prescribing, use of digital technology in the NHS is fast becoming the norm.
Interestingly though, I noticed emerging distinctions in the means and ends of using digital technology between the different practitioners.
The two nurses made more use of tools that allowed a two-way dialogue, using Twitter and Facebook to interact with others. On the other side of the coin, the GPs and physicians emphasised their use of digital to source information and keep themselves up-to-date in their field, frequently using the online versions of publications such as Pulse and the digital version of the British National Formulary (BNF).
For me, the discussions reinforced the maxim that to use digital well, the idea should precede the platform. Certainly, if our audience isn’t treating all platforms equally, neither should we.
Instead of starting by identifying the channel and moving on to craft an idea around it, start with the idea and then find the platform that best facilitates it.
In other words, don’t just decide you want a Twitter campaign and then have a think about what you want to tweet; think about what you truly want to say and only then identify the digital platform that can say it the best.