Guest Blog: The Downside of Social Media
The following is a guest blog from Anthony Cirillo: Check out long-term care conference agendas. Scour Linked-In. Social media topics and experts abound. So much interest. And so much hope that social media will be your marketing savior. Social media has its place in your marketing mix, particularly if you understand that in long-term care your audience is the boomer caregiver.
Maybe I am in a naysayer mood this month. One thing is certain. The bigger you build your brand the harder you will fall if you fall out of disfavor with the community.
Just ask Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He has a very popular CEO blog called Running a Hospital. If you follow it, you sense over time that he was transparent, knowledgeable, moral, ethical. In other words you got to know not only his organization but the man at the helm and of course the number one brander of the organization.
So what happens? It is revealed that he was having the infamous "inappropriate" relationship with a female staffer. Complaints were filed. Two women chiefs have left under Levy's tenure, and one has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit naming both Levy and the hospital.
Attorney General Martha Coakley investigated and issued a report that revealed facts confirming that some board members had knowingly sat on their hands since 2003 while Levy engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate employee. During that time, the report shows that the employee's salary doubled as she became the "only non-physician, director level employee, to receive a performance bonus for all four years from 2005-2008." The AG also concluded "The personal relationship between the CEO and the Employee... endangered the reputation of the institution and its management."
So is it no wonder that the National Organization for Women and 1199SEIU Union released a statement calling on the board to fire Levy. In part it reads "If the BIDMC board fails to take further action at its September 23rd annual meeting - specifically by asking for the resignation of CEO Paul Levy - then it is aiding and abetting Levy in his creation of a hostile and inequitable work environment for women at the hospital."
I am not saying that social media was his downfall. It only amplified the situation. Because the relationship with blog followers is somewhat intimate, once the trust is broken it is hard to regain. And word of mouth spreads. And if affects the hospital because people have something in the back of their mind where they unconsciously cast the sins of the father (Levy) on to the son (the hospital) and guilt by association could mean people not choosing it for their healthcare and physicians not choosing it as a place to practice.
So do use social media. But step lightly. Have a strategy. And know the consequences.
Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC, is a speaker, health care consultant, senior advocate and blogger. He consults with long-term care facilities and is available for management retreats and association keynotes. He is the author of "Who Moved My Dentures?" Hear him speak at AHCA in October. For more information go to www.4wardfast.com and www.anthonycirillo.com.