Baptist Adds New Live Feature to Its On-Line Medical News
Baptist has added a new monthly feature called Med News Live located at http://www. mbhs. org/mednewslive.
Jackson, Miss. (Vocus) October 13, 2009
This summer, Baptist created a new section on its website called "Baptist Medical News Network" at www. mbhs. org/mednews (http://www. mbhs. org/mednews). It's a place where all press releases, surgical videos, community seminars, employee news and other news regarding Baptist Health Systems can be stored. Now, Baptist has added a new monthly feature called Med News Live located at http://www. mbhs. org/mednewslive (http://www. mbhs. org/mednewslive).
"Each month, Baptist hosts community seminars at our facility with physicians and sometimes clinicians discussing various health topics. Since these seminars have a good attendance, we wanted to reach out to those who might not be able to get away from their home or office for a lunchtime or evening seminar. We wanted to bring health information to them with just a few clicks of a button," said Baptist Spokesman Robby Channell.
Channell continued by saying the hospital finds more and more people are seeking health information via the Internet. "Our Medical News Network page is a place to store all external communication information. We can upload everything from event photos to videos of medical procedures."
Launching this section of the website was timely. Baptist recently signed up with Twitter, launched a YouTube channel, and created a Facebook page. Videos are uploaded to iTunes as well. Channell said he is not sure what to expect from embracing social media. "Besides, what is 'social media' anyway?" Generally, it's a set of Internet tools enabling a group of people with common interests to connect with one another to learn, play, work, organize and socialize.
Baptist started by launching Women's Health Inside Out weekly podcast series in November 2006 with 157 listeners. In April 2009, there were 903 listeners.
"This podcast series was something unique we wanted to try since we were opening a new women's facility and rebranding our women's services," explained Channell. "It was just the tip of the iceberg where we focused on audio interviews with clinicians and then dabbled into video podcasts known as vodcasts. Now, we are uploading surgical procedures to YouTube as well."
For the past couple of months, Baptist has been hosting these live webinars. Baptist Public Relations Coordinator Rhonda McRae serves as the host for most of the sessions. She works with different physicians and clinicians to see what topics might be appealing to Internet viewers.
"This is something new for Baptist we wanted to test. A key feature of a webinar is its interactive elements," added Channell. "It's the ability to give, receive and discuss information in real time. People can email questions during the live broadcast."
The next live webinar will be Wednesday, October 14, 2009, featuring Clinical Psychologist James H. Brown, PsyD, talking about ways to deal with stress and tips for managing a busy lifestyle. Especially if you are a caregiver-to the very young or the very old-join us to find out ways to get help. To view, visit www. mbhs. org/mednewslive (http://www. mbhs. org/mednewslive) at 12:15 pm central standard time.
"In today's 'social media' climate, I come in to the office with my cup of coffee focusing on the topic I need to 'tweet' about for the day. What does Baptist need to communicate to its Facebook fans? Then, which surgical procedure can we upload to YouTube?" Channell concluded. "I wake up wondering how to use the World Wide Web to let people know Baptist is a resource for wellness and staying healthy."
Webinars for the rest of the year will be live at 12:15 pm CST on November 11 discussing "Merry Christmas to Me, Part 1: Botox and Injectable Fillers" with guest speaker Plastic Surgeon William Wallace, MD and on December 9 the second part of "Merry Christmas to Me, Part 2: Treatments for Varicose and Spider Veins" with guest speaker Cardiovascular Surgeon William Harris, MD.
For more information, visit www. mbhs. org/mednews (http://www. mbhs. org/mednews). Search for Baptist Health Systems on Facebook. Other social media site direct links are for Baptist are http://twitter. com/baptistmednews (http://twitter. com/baptistmednews),
Http://www. youtube. com/baptistmednews (http://www. youtube. com/baptistmednews), http://www. facebook. com/baptistmednews (http://www. facebook. com/baptistmednews).
Contact:
Robby Channell
601-968-5135
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