UAMShealth.com Web Site Nets Award for Use of Multimedia, Social Networking

By Jon Parham

The award in the category Best Web 2.0 (Rich Media & Social Networking) was presented based on the site’s use of video, podcasts, interactive applications and social networking such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Platinum, gold, silver and distinction awards were handed out Nov. 4 in 12 categories during the 13th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference.

Introduced in January 2009, uamshealth.com includes several multimedia and interactive features allowing visitors to find health and wellness information. The site features a video library of health topics, podcasts of the weekly “Here’s to your Health” radio series with UAMS surgeon T. Glenn Pait, M.D., and newsfeeds for subscribers and visitors to receive the latest in UAMS health, education and research news.

In addition, social network applications form new avenues for connecting to UAMS. More than 1,600 followers receive health tips and other information almost daily from @uamshealth via the micro-blogging service Twitter. Fans of UAMS can find regular news and health updates on the UAMS Facebook page (www.facebook.com/UAMShealth). On the UAMS YouTube channel, video clips document new medical treatments, stories of exceptional care at UAMS and other events.

Sites receiving the awards were selected from more than 1,100 entries representing hospitals, health systems, pharmaceutical firms and online health companies. The awards program was developed by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, a leading Internet resource published by Health Care Communications, Rye, N.Y.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a new 540,000-square-foot hospital, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.