Healthcare IT Influencers: How to Be More Influential on Twitter

twitterA few weeks ago, we introduced you to our list of the Top 50 Healthcare IT Influencers on Twitter, a compilation of the sharpest, most in-the-know healthcare IT experts Tweeting about the industry.

These 50 individuals are hospital CIOs, health IT consultants, physicians, technology experts and healthcare professionals, authors, journalists and bloggers who will teach you about health IT community outreach, thought leadership, consultant tips and tricks and breaking news and legislation changes.

Want to be on our next list of healthcare IT influencers on Twitter? There’s actually a science to it, and you can improve your Social Authority and grow your health IT network on Twitter by following these tips:

  • Include the words “healthcare IT” or “health IT” instead of the more broad categories of “health” or “healthcare” in your Twitter bio, put the words together and hashtag it.
  • Tweet often. But you don’t have to Tweet 20 times a day; the more you Tweet doesn’t mean you’re more influential. Tweet once to three times per day on one subject to become influential over time.
  • Tweet recently.  All of the Twitter influencers on our list had Tweeted within the last month (as of April 7, 2015).
  • Mention influential Twitter handles in your posts. Don’t spam them, but ask relevant questions or send them links to articles they may like.
  • Follow influential people. Follow the influencers on this list. See who the influencers are following. “If you follow them, they (may) follow back” is a good rule of thumb.
  • Follow more influential people. Search for “HIMSS” in the Twitter search box, and click on the HIMSS’ handle’s Lists to see lists of industry Tweets and past HIMSS conference speaker handles you may be interested in and their Favorites to possibly find memorable Tweets and topics of interest.
  • Be public. When your Tweets are protected (or your profile is marked as private), everyone can’t see what you’re influencing about.

Have you checked out our list of healthcare IT influencers on Twitter yet? In addition to finding out which handles to follow, it includes advice from some of the influencers about how to be HIT-wise on Twitter and why they feel health IT is an industry worth Tweeting about. If you haven't read it, what are you waiting for? You're two clicks away from learning more about health IT and where the industry is going next.

If you have read it, let us know what you think in the comment section below!