Social networking giant Facebook is quickly becoming a powerful ally for the business interests of the medical profession.

Last year, a report by Reuters journalists Christina Farr and Alexei Oreskovic indicated that Facebook was looking into the feasibility of creating support communities for people who share certain medical conditions in common. Another research team within Facebook was also rumored to be working specifically on developing apps to help people foster healthy lifestyles as a means of preventative medicine.

It so happens that Facebook is already becoming a source of medical advice. A recent example in this regard was illustrated by fashion model Chrissy Teigen, who posted an update on her Facebook and Instagram about a bee sting. Ms. Teigen included a photo of the sting, and in turn she received thousands of responses about the potential of an anaphylactic reaction or even Lyme disease.

It turns out that crowdsourced medical advice is actually not a bad idea, at least according to the Director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, who told Health.com that medical advice from Facebook could be a good start as long as it is evaluated by a health professional shortly thereafter.

Medical professionals who are active on Facebook have been using the network to attract patients for a few years. According to The Goodness Company, a social media marketing consultancy based in Costa Rica, 85 percent of today’s patients use the Internet to find a healthcare provider. To this effect, CEO Patrick Goodness, further explains:

Facebook marketing, including building and marketing your own Facebook page, boosting (advertising) your posts or running Facebook Ads can be a powerful tool for attracting patients. But, as with most tools, you have to know how to use it effectively. On Facebook, medical professionals should:

• Be specific
• Be goal-minded
• Get to know their followers
• Use images to augment their message
• Speak frankly
• Be inviting

In relation to medical tourism, online social networks are only one piece of the marketing puzzle. Healthcare providers will require other tools such as engaging websites, press releases, marketing kits, downloadable brochures, email campaigns, and others.

Medical tourism providers are even more reliant on social media marketing for the purpose of getting the attention of prospective patients. The Goodness Company believes that physicians and dentists who are interested in growing their practice in relation to medical tourism should retain the right social media marketing partner, particularly when providers wish to attract North American patients.

The Goodness Company is a global healthcare marketing agency with offices in the USA and Latin America, offering results-driven marketing and advertising services for progressive, growth-focused doctors, dentists, surgeons, medical centers and hospitals around the globe. In short, The Goodness Company helps connect international medical and dental providers with patients from the USA and Canada and around the world. For instance, to attract dental clients to Los Algodones, Mexico, this site, LosAlgodonesBestDentists.com was launched. In Costa Rica, this site, www.colinadental.com attracts dental internet prospects to Costa Rica.