It has only been a few weeks since the IHA Social Media and Health Care conference was held and already the internet is buzzing with some interesting discussion pertinent to the event’s topic. On Monday, Advertising Age published an article focusing on the role of social media in hospitals in light of the passing of federal health care reform.

While the article tries to point out that recent increases in hospital marketing dollars and social media tactics can be attributed to hospitals vying for market position in anticipation of reform changes, certain social media experts in the health care industry have raised a red flag.

Lee Aase, manager of syndication and social media at Mayo Clinic, recently spoke at the IHA Social Media and Health Care conference. Aase was prompted to post on his blog some thoughts on how his quotes were interpreted and what he thinks is the true relationship between health care social media and health reform. Aase defends Mayo Clinic’s social media efforts as not being in reaction to health reform, stating that the hospital’s efforts date back to 2005. He also states that health reform is likely a non-factor in the reason for why hospitals are beginning to embrace social media.

It can be expected that this debate on how social media will be used in the wake of health reform will be carried out for years to come. For now, Lee Aase and the Iowa Hospital Association both feel that it is premature to determine whether or not hospitals have been incorporating social media for the purpose of proactive marketing. It’s more likely that hospitals have been implementing social media in order to stay current on what has become a new era in marketing and communications.

A realistic scenario is to assume that the bright marketing individuals working in Iowa’s hospitals are more interested in testing these waters to see what sort of return on community engagement can be realized as opposed to jumping into a turf war, fighting for impression in a realm that’s still largely undefined.

What are your thoughts? Are your hospitals currently incorporating health reform into your marketing tactics? Discuss in the comments below or on Twitter by using hashtag: #ihahealthreform.