ROCHESTER, MN – A new Center for Social Media, slated to launch at Mayo Clinic this month, seeks to accelerate effective social media use at the clinic – as well as for hospitals, medical professionals and patients worldwide.

The Mayo Clinic Health Social Media Network, a service of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, will provide access to tools, resources and guidance for organizations and individuals wanting to apply social media in health and healthcare.

Lee Aase, who works for Mayo Clinic as manager for Syndications and Social Media and is one of the leaders of the new center, says although the new center will house eight full-time employees on an existing building on campus, it will eventually be “pretty virtual.” 

The center will initially serve Mayo Clinic’s three campuses but aims at forming an external board of advisers to collaborate virtually with Mayo on various projects. A related international network organized by the center will also gather broader input from the healthcare community and disseminate resources and research findings.

Aase says a community site, which is still in the development process, will enable the members of the network to engage in a more focused and private way. The site will provide another platform where more secure conversations can happen, whether they are about how social media can be used in patient care or research collaboration, he says.

"Through this center we intend to lead the healthcare community in applying these revolutionary tools to spread knowledge and encourage collaboration among providers, improving healthcare quality everywhere," said Mayo Clinic president and CEO John Noseworthy, MD.

Aase says even though there has been growth and interest in terms of hospitals using social media, there is still a lot of ambivalence and trepidation about engaging in social media.

"Staff at many hospitals wanting to get involved in social media have pointed to Mayo Clinic's activity and experience to help make the case for engagement with their senior leaders," said Victor Montori, MD, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and the center's interim medical director. “One of our goals for the center is to provide a mechanism for this consultation and sharing, so we can help colleagues in healthcare everywhere break down the barriers to involvement."

“We have gone through these phases, and now we want to be able to help others. We want to see how Mayo can go beyond and improve what we are doing and make more resources available to others and learn from them,” Aase said. 

"As we find new applications, we plan to conduct research into their effects so we can measure any cost savings, efficiency gains and improved effectiveness. And when we do, we'll be sharing those findings externally to help the whole health system improve," he added.

The network will be officially launched in late September, in conjunction with the Social Media Summit at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., which is set for Sept. 27 to 29.