Hospitals are heading into the realm of social media, because there's a growing general awareness that "these ways of communications and connecting with each other are transforming" hospitals and their relationships, Robert Matney, a partner at Austin, Texas-based consulting firm Social Web Strategies, tells American Medical News. And many hospitals are hiring social medical managers to help them build closer relationships with patients and referring physicians. At Seattle's Swedish Medical Center, Dana Lewis, an interactive marketing specialist, has trained 100 physicians, including the CEO, on how to post and respond to others' Twitter posts, the legal and ethical rules for doctors on social media, how to communicate with patients through social media and how to use social media to make themselves into "thought leaders" in their field. Read the full story at FierceHealthcare and get more advice from FiercePracticeManagement editor Deb Beaulieu.