AnMed Uses Social Media To Put Patients at Ease

A PHA marketing campaign inspired Kelly Dickson to create a fun way to introduce people with PH to various departments at AnMed Medical Center in Anderson, South Carolina.

Dickson, the PH navigator at AnMed, built on the “Flat Matt” campaign that promoted PHA 2026 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions. Flat Matt, a two-dimensional cutout of PHA President and CEO Matt Granato, helped build excitement for the conference by documenting his cross-country journey to Dallas on social media.

Dickson, who eagerly tracked Flat Matt’s travels, created “Flat Matt’s Adventures at AnMed” after returning from PHA 2026. She has shared dozens of photos featuring Flat Matt, AnMed staff and various facilities on LinkedIn and Facebook.

“Flat Matt was a fantastic idea from PHA,” Dickson said. “Every time I saw a post on social media, I would comment about how much I loved it.”

Dickson had been trying to find a way to help patients feel less scared and anxious about procedures and tests outside the PH clinic. The posts help patients put faces to names and become familiar with staff and buildings throughout AnMed’s campus.

So far, Flat Matt has visited the cardiac catheterization lab to learn more about right heart catheterizations, met with specialists for a pulmonary function test, spent time with staff in the research department and participated in a sleep study.

I wanted Flat Matt to be a real representation of what a patient would see and do while visiting our clinic,” Dickson said. “Even though I’m using a two-dimensional character for the series, I felt like it would be a good representation of what a real patient experiences.

After receiving a positive response to the campaign from her colleagues and social media followers, Dickson has planned many more adventures planned for Flat Matt.

She also believes other PH clinics and programs could launch similar initiatives.

“It’s a personable way for people coming in to feel they aren’t stepping into an unknown situation,” Dickson said. “If a patient can recognize a person from a post, that gives them an advantage. They will already feel like they belong.”