Join us every Friday at 5 for our weekly top 5 favorites in the world of HIT and HITECH. This week we take to LinkedIn. Here are our picks for LinkedIn groups to join and 5 tips to get you engaged. Explore these groups using the search tool function on LinkedIn.
5 of our Favorite LinkedIn Groups
- Meaningful Use Answers Okay, shameless self-promotion here but we think our MU Answers group is pretty great. Here’s the group description: Meaningful Use Answers provides news, updates and discussion on all aspects of “meaningful use” and its impact on EHR adoption and implementation.
- Health Informatics Technology (HIT) A really informative group on all things informatics and who doesn’t like a little informatics now and then? Here’s the group description: Health Informatics Technology is a remarkable fusion of clinical care and technology. In HIT we strive to keep the base values that all healthcare providers have and move into a broader realm of helping the patients and our fellow providers through the adoption of technology in healthcare.
- Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) If you’re a practice administrator or manager, highly recommend you join this group. You don’t have to be an actual MGMA member either to benefit from this group. Here’s the group description: MGMA is the nation’s premier membership association for professional administrators and leaders of medical group practices.
- Physicians Practice, America’s Leading Practice Management Resource For both physicians and practice administrators/managers. Here’s the group description: For physicians, practice administrators and consultants who are passionate about helping to improve patient outcomes through improved practice management – as well as others affiliated with the healthcare industry.
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) The only thing larger than the attendance at an annual HIMSS conference is the HIMSS group on LinkedIn. Still, a must-join group for any CIO. Here’s the group description: The HIMSS Linkedin Group is for constructive and stimulating discussion, knowledge sharing and communications among professionals regarding the optimal use of health IT (HIT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare worldwide.
5 LinkedIn tips
- Join! You can’t participate and network without taking this first step, right? But be sure to spend the necessary time to create a profile – at least complete 50% of it. It will be worth it.
- When you join a group you get the option of setting a preference for “daily” or “weekly”. Our suggestion is choose weekly — you’ll then get an aggregate of news and discussions for the week.
- Use the search tools for peer-to-peer networking. As a LinkedIn member, you set your preferences as to who can contact you to invite to connect. Look for those members who are a connected to you on a 2nd or 3rd level. Beyond that, avoid those with no connection thread at all.
- Pay attention to the possible connections LinkedIn finds for you. They’ll be featured in the “People You May Know” box on the right side of your home page.
- Finally, engage! Get out there and share interesting news articles, post a question for discussion, comment on others. It’s the primary tenet of social media.