Microsoft Blogger Has as Much PR Power as CEO. What Does That Mean for Your Hospital?

Via Micro Persuasion:

"Google Trends is also a killer tool for measuring the impact that bloggers have on a brand. Take a look for example at the graph below. It charts Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer against it's most well-known corporate blogger, Robert Scoble. Note how close the lines touch."


Scoble, Microsoft blogger = blue; Ballmer, Microsoft CEO = red

This is one more reason why it might be a good idea for hospitals and physician practices to have blogs.

In today's consumer-driven world, the internet search is often the force that brings patients to your hospital. If a blog can get as much web exposure as press releases, you should probably have one.

Talking about trends, you can see clearly that "good" beats "evil" anytime, as if you had any doubt.... :-)

On a more serious note, you can see how hospitals compare in this "Google battle" of PR impact:

Cleveland Clinic vs. Mayo Clinic

Cleveland Clinic vs. University Hospitals

The Top 4 Hospitals in America in Google Trends

I work at Cleveland Clinic and we think we provide some of the best patient care in the world overall. Obviously, Mayo Clinic is doing a slightly better job at marketing and they are winning the "Google battle" for now. Blogs, like this one, may be one way to show the world how good we really are.

U.S.News & World Report ranks The Cleveland Clinic 4th Among the nation's 6,000+ hospitals in 2005. Cleveland Clinic Heart Center was ranked No. 1 in the nation for 11th consecutive year.

References:
Google Trends First Look. Micro Persuasion.
Hospitals Use Websites to Attract Patients
Google Trends comparison among the nation's top 4 hospitals
Google Press Day 2006 highlights. Googling Google.
Google Trends Examples. Google Blogoscoped.
25 Things I Learned on Google Trends. Micro Persuasion.
Google Trends - a Non-Scholarly Approach. MSSP Nexus Blog.
Blogs amplify the power of hospital critics. Kevin, M.D.

Updated: 11/18/2007