A full 81 percent of medical education and communication companies staff who participated in a recent survey use social media in their personal lives, and 84 percent said they had either an intermediate or advanced understanding of it. But only half said their organizations were using social media around their CME programs. These are among the findings Jeremy C. Lundberg, MSSW, chief executive officer of DLC Solutions LLC, Reston, Va., outlined at the Medical Education and Communication Company Alliance section meeting at the Alliance for CME Annual Meeting, held in January in New Orleans. “There's a disconnect between how individuals are using social media and how their organizations are using it,” he said.

Results of a recent pilot survey show some CME providers to be behind the curve on social media adoption.

The survey, which asked 13 questions related to social media use, also found that three-quarters of the respondents whose organizations were using social media for CME didn't have a formal strategic plan in place. When asked which technologies they use, Twitter was the big winner, at 69 percent. Facebook came in second at 61 percent, and LinkedIn third at 58 percent. Surprisingly, only 38 percent used community discussion boards.

“Social media needs to become part of the strategic learning plan, not just a tactic,” said Lundberg.

Medical Meetings is teaming up with DLC and Omnia Education to develop a more in-depth survey. Be on the lookout for the questionnaire coming this spring.

51 %
Number of Medical Education and Communication Company Alliance members who said their organization uses social media in conjunction with its CME program

Related Article

For more on social media and meetings, go to our Special Report on Social Media and Meetings