Pinteresting EMR Thoughts

I heard about Pinterest maybe a couple of months ago and if my slow uptake of Facebook is any indication, I have a good two years to go before I add another website to the pantheon of websites I must check daily.

However some early adopters are already talking of how the healthcare world can make use of this site. I came across one such article today via the Healthworks Collective site where Mike Wilton shows us a bunch of different healthcare related Pinterest uses. Some doctors or hospitals are using Pinterest to market their services, one hospital is using Pinterest to request donations for children, yet others are targeting certain demographics (parents, cancer patients) by becoming their go-to resources on some topics.

Since I’ve sworn fealty to all things EMR, I went searching for EMR related boards on Pinterest, and I must say I was underwhelmed. I did come across one slightly interesting one called Healthcare Infofraphics that was the source of the widely pinned Top20 EMR Softwares pie-graph. You can also find other Healthcare IT Infographics.

I know if you’re related to EMRs, a) your world isn’t as interesting or visual as say cupcakes, or quilts b) Pinterest is relatively new (hell, you can’t just sign up, you need an invite to register). But, seriously, do you think people are going to find screenshots of your software interesting enough to pin to their boards and share with others? And yeah, don’t bother scanning the tri-fold handout that you shoved into people’s hands at the last tradeshow. It might have worked great on paper but it looks cluttered and unimaginative on Pinterest.

I’m going to offer some tips here for anyone with any Pinterest interest, but more so for EMR vendors:
– it’s still early days. If you’re not on Pinterest and none of your nearest competitors are there too, maybe you can increase your cool cache instantly by signing up and creating a much viewed board.
– Make us see things. Instead of reams of text, maybe we need one pic of a happy client, a speech bubble and a super short compliment.
– Play to Pinterest. It’s a highly visual site. So what works for you on FB or Twitter might not work for you here.
– Approach it sideways. Yes, you want to sell your product and make money. But if you answer questions that your target demographic typically asks, your content will probably get pinned a lot more.

– don’t be square
. Dare to do something out of the box. I would prefer my cartoon strip slightly funnier but I give Dell props for this attempt at making an unboring visual about EMRs.

Or maybe you should wait out. Pinterest has a lot of buzz. But so did Myspace and Foursquare. I even wrote a cringe-inducing article on Foursquare back in the day.

About the author

Priya Ramachandran

Priya Ramachandran is a Maryland based freelance writer. In a former life, she wrote software code and managed Sarbanes Oxley related audits for IT departments. She now enjoys writing about healthcare, science and technology.

4 Comments

  • Thanks for the roundup Priya. I’m about to jump into Pinterest professionally, and will certainly check out the boards you’ve listed to see what’s good to do and not do – and if it’s even worthwhile from a marketing perspective. I’m looking forward to playing around on the site because it offers a more creative outlet for me than the typical social media platforms.

  • Great tips! I just created our Pinterest account for Practice Fusion and it’s pretty addicting already. I think as Pinterest grows, anyone in the healthcare space who is not on Pinterest will be missing out!

  • I actually haven’t set up one professionally yet. We’re doing a bit of rebranding right now, so once that settles down. Pinterest will be an area we’ll use to display our new “look.” That being said, I plan to create boards related to many of the graphics we use in our reports, as well as to collect industry-related infographics like the one HIMSS recently came out with about social media use at the show in Vegas.

    But, if you have time to daydream about the Virgin Islands for a few minutes, you’re welcome to check out the one board I personally have: http://ow.ly/aGwAC

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