The ultimate guide to medical practice social media in 2025

Digital-first patient engagement has transformed healthcare marketing. Word of mouth is powerful, with 48% of respondents to Tebra's 5th annual Patient Perspectives survey relying on personal recommendations. But successful practices need a strategic online presence, including medical practice social media, to connect with potential patients.

Tebra's data show that the practice's online reputation significantly impact provider selection. Online reviews from other patients play a role in choosing a doctor or other healthcare provider for 45% of respondents. While only 6% of patients currently make decisions based on your medical practice social media, establishing a presence is part of supporting patient engagement and experience. By sharing relevant health information, highlighting your team's expertise, and featuring positive HIPAA-compliant reviews, you can build trust with patients before their first visit.

Ready to develop your medical practice social media strategy? Below, you’ll learn:

The first step to medical practice social media success is to select the platform for your goals. When making this decision it’s important to keep a few things in mind. 

First, prioritize quality and consistency over quantity, both in social media and in your overall practice marketing strategy. A regular, well-maintained presence on one platform is better than an irregular presence across many. 

Second, align your platform choices with your target patient demographics and practice objectives. Consider where your current and potential patients spend their time online, and which platforms best showcase your practice's strengths and specialties.

Finally, when it's time to sign up, make sure to designate any account as a “business” account. Keep your handle, logo, bio, and any other basic information about your practice consistent, if not identical, across profiles as well as your website and any other online listings.

Here’s a quick overview of several of the most relevant social media platforms.

According to a July 2024 YouGov report, of weekly Facebook users, only 13% are Gen Z, while 26% are Gen X and 29% are Baby Boomers. While younger demographics now turn elsewhere, Facebook remains important for reaching established patients and managing a practice's community presence, particularly through Groups and local features. It also has integrated tools that support video content sharing and community engagement, making it effective for patient education and practice updates.

Given both its demographics and features, Facebook is a practical choice for many medical specialties. It is particularly well-suited for practices that serve multiple generations or focus on ongoing relationships, such as family medicine, sports medicine, or OB/GYN. 

Instagram users spend nearly 16 hours a month on the platform, according to 2024 data. The platform's visual nature offers healthcare practices unique opportunities to showcase their culture and expertise. The platform supports multiple content formats, including photo posts, carousel galleries, Reels, and Stories. This makes it ideal for sharing practice updates, patient education, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of your team (with appropriate permissions).

Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, you can use integrated tools to manage your content across them — just make sure any Instagram content appeals to the platform's visual focus.

Threads has evolved into a significant platform for healthcare dialogue since its 2023 launch by Meta. The platform combines the text-focused engagement of X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) with Instagram integration, making it particularly efficient for practices already active on Instagram.

Threads has a 500-character limit per post, giving you space for detailed, yet still concise, health information. It also provides automatic verification if a provider is already verified on Instagram, which can help with credibility. Healthcare practices can leverage Threads to share educational content, practice updates, and patient testimonials (with consent and compliance), while engaging in meaningful conversations with other healthcare professionals. The platform excels at facilitating professional dialogue through interactive Q&A sessions and collaborative discussions about health topics.

Users stay on YouTube the longest of any social networking platform, spending an average of 7 minutes and 25 seconds per session according to 2024 data. The platform's emphasis on long-form video content makes it particularly valuable for healthcare practices looking to provide in-depth patient education and showcase their expertise.

While video content requires more resources to produce than text or images, YouTube is a unique opportunity for healthcare practices to demonstrate procedures, explain complex medical concepts, and build trust through comprehensive content. Its sophisticated search capabilities ensure that well-optimized healthcare content can reach patients actively seeking medical information.

While TikTok has gained prominence as a short-form video-sharing platform, particularly among younger demographics, healthcare practices should carefully consider whether it aligns with their professional objectives and compliance requirements. While some practices have found success, the platform's informal style and rapid content cycles can present challenges for maintaining the level of professionalism expected in healthcare.

As of December 9, 2024, TikTok is also on the road to being banned in the United States.

LinkedIn serves as the premier professional networking platform for healthcare providers, though it plays a different role in practice marketing than other social channels. While patients rarely use LinkedIn to search for providers, the platform offers valuable opportunities for professional visibility and referral network development. Use it to build relationships with other providers, showcase your professional achievements, and establish thought leadership in your specialty.

Finally, when it comes to new platforms, like Bluesky, research how other healthcare providers and entities are using the platform before deciding whether to invest.

Good medical practice social media content balances healthcare messaging with engaging presentation. Your medical expertise is your foundation, but modern content creation tools can help you communicate that expertise effectively across the platforms you selected.

For instance, Canva is a graphic design tool that offers lots of easy-to-modify templates to get you started. Scheduling tools like Hootsuite help maintain a consistent content schedule. InShot is a video editing tool. Rev autogenerates captions and transcripts for video content — important for both accessibility and SEO.

While aesthetically pleasing and interesting photos and videos are important, they aren’t the only component of a successful social media strategy. An image might capture attention, but the message behind it will help you retain and engage people. 

Focus on storytelling and breaking down complex topics in ways that make them accessible and relevant. Remember: patients follow healthcare practices on social media for a variety of reasons. They want medical insights and practical information, and also to peek into the inner workings of your practice and get to know your team. Aim to incorporate a mix of different types of posts into your strategy. 

It's also important to showcase diversity in visual content and use inclusive language. This promotes equality, and can increase patient loyalty, and enhance your practice's reputation.

Medical professionals should also consider social media as an extension of their practice and not just a marketing platform. Find what you genuinely care about about as a practice and share that with your audience. This authenticity can help drive engagement.

The key to consistent, engaging content is planning ahead with your patients' needs in mind. To start, create a content calendar that aligns with your practice goals and patient interests.

To begin, identify any important holidays or events you want to feature that are relevant to your speciality. For instance, if preventative colorectal cancer screening is important to your patients, plan content around Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March. 

Then, consider community events related to your practice's local presence, such as health fairs, fundraisers, athletic events like 5k runs, or well-being-related events. According to Tebra's research, 48% of patients use word-of-mouth recommendations when deciding on a provider, so demonstrating community engagement can build trust.

Add practice milestones or events, like your practice's anniversary or seasonal health services. Remember to focus on public events and milestones like these, rather than on internal celebrations like team birthdays.

To create consistency, consider establishing recurring content themes that address recurring patient concerns or questions. For example: 

Fill remaining content slots with patient education materials, practice updates, and helpful resources. Tebra's survey shows that quality of care and provider relationships are top priorities for patients, so focus on content that demonstrates your expertise and commitment to patient care.

When writing posts, include clear next steps for engagement, whether that's scheduling an appointment, downloading a resource, or asking questions through your patient portal. According to Tebra's research, 91% of patients expect responses within 24 hours when it comes to the patient portal, so be prepared to engage promptly with any questions or comments.

Remember that your online presence should enhance, not replace, meaningful patient relationships. Focus on creating valuable content that helps patients make informed decisions about their health while reflecting your practice's commitment to quality care.

Maintaining privacy and security in your online communications is essential, not to mention legally required. All digital content must comply with HIPAA regulations and protect sensitive information.

Each team member or outsourced contractor involved in creating or publishing practice content should be familiar with both HIPAA and also your practice's communication guidelines. Create a comprehensive privacy policy that includes:

Professional boundaries are important, too. Create clear guidelines about what personal and practice information should and should not be shared online. Consider:

Remember that digital presence should enhance, not compromise, the provider-patient relationship that is central to practice success.

Receiving critical feedback is a normal part of running a medical practice. Tebra's research shows that quality of care (32%) and staff interactions (15%) are the top reasons patients leave negative reviews. While you can freely remove inappropriate or harassing content, genuine patient concerns deserve thoughtful attention.

According to Tebra’s 5th annual Patient Perspectives report, patients are open to reconciliation, and 64% of patients say they would go back to a practice if it addressed their concerns. However, 66% of patients report not receiving a response to their negative feedback, which represents a big missed opportunity.

When responding to patient concerns:

A thoughtful response strategy not only helps retain existing patients but also demonstrates your commitment to quality care to potential new patients. Since 45% of patients consider online reviews when choosing a provider, according to Tebra's research, it's important to make managing feedback a part of your medical practice social media strategy.

Once you've established a strong digital presence, consider strategic marketing investments to expand your practice's reach — including sponsored content.

Targeted practice promotion looks organic and appears naturally in potential patients' feeds, like any other type of content. While the research shows only 6% of patients find providers through advertisements directly, strategic outreach can amplify word-of-mouth recommendations, which influence 48% of patients' provider decisions.

With sponsored content, you can reach people online beyond your current followers. Like other forms of digital advertising, you can focus on specific audiences based on location and interests. Since Tebra found that 59% of patients consider location when choosing a provider, geographic targeting is particularly valuable.

You can even identify audiences similar to your existing patients within your geographic area. This increases the likelihood that prospective patients will see your content. 

Whether you use sponsored content or focus on organic growth, make sure that your content drives viewers to a professional medical practice website designed to help your practice grow. 

Finally, observe and learn from other providers who are succeeding on social media. Study successful practices to understand current trends and best practices in patient communication.

Consider analyzing what content and approaches resonate most with patients in your specialty. Tebra's research shows that 61% of patients stay with providers due to excellent care experiences, so focus on showcasing your practice's commitment to quality care.

Remember: the goal is to build meaningful connections with patients and prospects. Patients value authenticity and strong provider relationships, with 38% citing "a good listener" as a key factor in choosing a provider, according to Tebra's survey. Ensure your medical practice social media reflects your practice's values and care philosophy — the person they meet in the profile should be the same person they meet in the exam room.

Editor's note: This article was updated in December 2024 to reflect the most recent data.