How Should Hospitals Use Twitter?

Many U.S. hospitals are already on Twitter but most of them use it as a one-way channel. They just "push" updates to the followers without replying or making favorites to share with others.

Is this the best way to use Twitter?

Is it "creepy" if a hospital follows patients on Twitter?

It is OK for a doctor to follow his patients on Twitter? On Facebook?

See some parts of the Twitter discussion below (the oldest post is at the bottom, the newest at the top):

Ed_Bennett Last word. Hospitals follow patients = bad & creepy. Patients follow hospital = good. Hospitals monitoring social nets for problems = smart about 15 hours ago from web

AllergyNotes @shamsha "how should hospitals use twitter?" - Twitter is not a PR release channel or RSS feed. about 19 hours ago from web in reply to shamsha

AllergyNotes @shamsha "how should hospitals use twitter?" - They should follow, make favorites and respond. Not like @theeconomist: 0 following, 0 favs about 19 hours ago from web in reply to shamsha

	shamsha @allergynotes good ideas. getting them to respond might be the hardest part. about 19 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to AllergyNotes
	shamsha @AllergyNotes sounds like a good blog post: how should hospitals use twitter? about 19 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to AllergyNotes

AllergyNotes @shamsha "thnx for posting the list about hospitals on twitter. hope this makes others join too" - They have to figure out how to use it too about 20 hours ago from web in reply to shamsha

shamsha @AllergyNotes thnx for posting the list about hospitals on twitter. hope this makes others join too. about 21 hours ago from web in reply to AllergyNotes

AllergyNotes Updated: Top U.S. Hospitals Are On Twitter http://tinyurl.com/6a3pxr about 21 hours ago from web

Ed_Bennett Just created @HospitalGroup an account that only follows official Hospital twitter accounts. Have 35 hospitals so far. about 21 hours ago from web

From the comments:

"I think it is poor customer service to ignore that your patients, caregivers and whomever else are saying about you in twitter. Would you ignore someone in the hallway that looked lost, or was complaining about some service issue? Is it a breach of their privacy to ask them if they need help in an email, on the phone or in the parking lot?"

Please see the rest of the comments below for continuation of the discussion.

References:
Top U.S. Hospitals Are On Twitter
How are hospitals using Twitter....and is it really effective? Hospital Online Marketing Education.
A comprehensive list of U.S. Hospitals that use YouTube, Facebook , Twitter or Other Social Networks. Ed Bennett.
Image source: sxc.hu, free.

Related:
Hospitals have found Twitter. Should we be afraid? Chris Seper. MedCity News, 01/2009.