I find myself shm (shaking my head) at hospital executives - even some marketing professionals - who time and again dismiss the value of a Facebook strategy. Sure, I know all the "cons" and all the challenges of developing a robust Facebook approach, but there is one absolute truth about Facebook:  it has viral value.  In fact, a recent Pew Internet & American Life Study stated that:

“Facebook users from our sample on average can reach 156,569 other Facebook users through their friends of friends. And the median user can reach 31,170 people through friends of friends."

So let's say your hospital has 100 fans and the median user can reach over 30,000 others -- that means your message on Facebook can reach over 3,000,000 (that's 3 with an "m"). And what if you have 1,000 fans?  3m jumps up to 30m. Math has never been my strong suit, but those are big numbers. Can your TV advertising pull that number? Can your billboards? Can your direct mail? And if so, how much do you have to spend to get there? Take a hard look at your position on Facebook. Make certain you aren't dismissing it out of hand -- and for goodness sake, do you really think you should continue to be short-sighted and block your employees' access to Facebook? Seems like a no-brainer to me.