How To Generate a Google Reviews Link For Your Medical Practice Written by Jeff Tormey on January 29, 2021. Posted in Convert. Online reviews have become extremely important for all types of businesses. It’s been shown that people trust online reviews more than they trust the copy on your website. They want to read about a real experience that someone actually had and is willing to share. Not only that, but people’s attention is driven more toward reading negative reviews than positive ones. What this means is that it’s paramount to make sure that people who have a good experience with you also talk about said experience. One easy way to do that is to create a Google Reviews link for your medical practice. How To Create a Google Reviews Link for Local Doctor Reviews This process is a very simple one and only takes a few minutes. It requires you to have your business already on Google My Business. If you don’t have a Google My Business account, simply register for one and follow the directions: How to Set Up A Google My Business Account Once you’ve confirmed that your business is visible on Google, just follow these steps: Go to Google Places API Type in your business’s name and location Get the Place ID for your medical practice Now that you have your Place ID, all you have to do is append the ID to the following link: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=your place_id You can put this link in automated emails, text messages, or on your website to make it easier for people to write a review. The Importance of Google Doctor Reviews People who are searching for medical services online are looking to see how good of an experience patients have had. Patients will often provide their own experiences by dropping a Google review. However, people who do review on their own are rare and often need to be reminded to do so. People are likely to give a review if they’ve either (1) had an amazing experience and would absolutely go again, or (2) had a bad experience and want to warn others to stay far away from that doctor. Both are ways that patients help other prospective patients make decisions about who to see for their medical issues. It stands to reason, then, that a practice that has an abundance of good reviews and a dearth of bad ones would be more likely to get new business. Of course, not all reviews are relevant. Some people may write reviews based on things that aren’t in your control, such as insurance billing issues or isolated incidents. For this reason, you may want to invest in reputation management services. These companies will not only dispute and respond to negative reviews, but they will also help you get real positive reviews from your clients by giving you the tools needed to request these reviews. Read more: Google Business Profile: What It Is and Why You Need It One bad review can outshine several good ones, but it’s important for a practice (or any business) to maintain a high ratio of good reviews to bad ones. This shows prospective patients that bad experiences are few and far between. Sequence Health provides healthcare engagement solutions. They include healthcare marketing services, healthcare call centers to take a load off of your staff, and access to a powerful healthcare CRM that syncs with your program’s EMR and website. Learn about Sequence Health’s vast array of patient engagement solutions!
How to Fine Tune Your Marketing for Healthcare Businesses in 2021 Written by Jeff Tormey on January 25, 2021. Posted in Convert. Marketing for healthcare businesses is not quite the same as marketing for other businesses. There are different considerations, such as HIPAA compliance, and marketing healthcare services requires slightly different tactics than marketing a store or a professional service. But marketing is still important for medical practices and other healthcare businesses, and there are things you’ll need to do in order to fine-tune your medical marketing strategies. 4 Steps to Optimizing Your Medical Marketing Strategies Use past data to figure out what works. If your business is brand new, you won’t have access to historical internal data. But, if your business has been operating, you can use what you’ve done to help figure out where your marketing dollars should go in the future. Answer the following questions: What marketing strategies did we invest in last year?Did we see growth in the following KPIs:Patient volumesPatient valuesOverall revenueOverall profitWhat strategies worked the best, based on the data we have? If you don’t have data, or your business is brand new, your priority should be to make sure that you are able to collect that data this year. Companies like Sequence Health can help you collect and analyze patient engagement data in a HIPAA-compliant way. Brainstorm new ideas. At this stage, what you want to do is figure out what new marketing strategies could be used to generate new patient leads. Healthcare advertising, medical SEO, social media marketing, traditional marketing strategies such as radio or news… there’s a lot that can be done! But not all of these ideas will be equally viable. Take insights from people in your company who work patient-facing roles and who are intimately familiar with the initial stages of patient onboarding. You’ll also want to use the insights from people who work with the website, the social media, and anything else related to your practice’s online presence. Assess the ideas and come up with a strategy for each viable one. Not all ideas will be right for this year. You will have likely settled on a few strategies that are viable for your practice. Not only that, but you’ll also have the original strategies that you’ve been using that have worked thus far. Now, it’s time to come up with a strategy and an action plan for these initiatives. You’ll want to come up with the following: Tasks requiredTeam members & their responsibilitiesTimeframeCosts involvedIdeal outcomes Set SMART goals for these strategies. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The goals you choose should be based on KPIs that directly contribute to the bottom line. Of course, not all strategies will work in the end. You will want to assess the results at the end of your chosen timeframe and decide whether or not it’s worth pursuing in the future.
Healthcare Advertising Strategies for Doctors & Physicians in 2021 Written by Jeff Tormey on January 22, 2021. Posted in Convert. 2020 is now over, but the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on. There is an end in sight, but despite this, many things have changed. Telehealth has become more accessible (and more expected), more people are scheduling appointments via the Internet, and patient portals have become an absolute must. Online marketing for doctors has been an important investment for decades now, but it’s more important now than ever. So how can healthcare advertising fit into hospital marketing strategies? Let’s find out. What is Online Healthcare Advertising? Online advertising is exactly what it sounds like: purchasing ad space on an Internet platform to be seen by people who are browsing that particular website or group of websites. The most popular platforms for online healthcare advertising are Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and Bing. There are far more advertising options for doctors, but our focus will be on certain categories of online advertising platforms. What Are Some Healthcare Advertising Strategies for 2021? Search engine advertising Search engine advertising is the most powerful form of advertising there is for a healthcare business. When you’re advertising on a search engine, you’re showing your ad to people who are specifically looking for you. This is powerful because you’re already advertising to hot leads! You can buy search engine ads through Google, Bing, and Yahoo, but Google Ads are the most popular. Read more: Guide to Improve SEO & PPC For Doctors in 2021 Social media advertising Social media advertising is when you purchase ad space on a social media platform. Facebook ads are the most common, because you can use Facebook ads to buy ads on Instagram and Messenger. There are also Reddit ads, Twitter ads, LinkedIn ads, and Snapchat ads that you can use. Social media advertising is powerful because of how well you can target a specific prospect. The trouble is that you have to be careful about advertising specific services to specific people as it could constitute a HIPAA violation. Make sure you understand HIPAA’s rules on using patient data! Healthcare video advertising Video advertising, usually done on Youtube, uses video ads to get eyeballs. The benefit of video advertising is that you’re able to use the medium to not only get attention, but keep someone’s attention as well. Not only that, but Youtube (run by Google) allows you to only show your ad to people in a certain area. Video is a highly engaging medium, and Sequence Health has another article on healthcare video marketing that you can check out here. Should I Hire A Medical Advertising Agency? It’s entirely up to you whether you want to hire a medical advertising agency. The biggest benefit of hiring one is that you will not need to have your own staff working on the advertising. However, you do surrender some control. Medical advertising agencies have expertise in online marketing that can take years for a staff member to develop, and the cost of hiring a medical advertising agency is typically cheaper than it would be to have a full-time salaried digital marketer in house. Sequence Health provides patient engagement solutions as well as medical digital marketing services all across the USA.
Why Medical SEO Is A Game Changer for Doctors Written by Jeff Tormey on January 20, 2021. Posted in Convert. If you run a medical practice, you might have found that getting people to find you is not as easy as you first thought. You might have a website, a GoogleMyBusiness profile, and some social media pages, but people who are searching for you still can’t find you! This is where medical SEO comes in. With medical SEO, your business becomes more visible to people who are looking for you on search engines like Google. So what is medical SEO, and why is it so important? What Is Medical SEO? SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the process by which a website is optimized in order to be more easily found on search engines. There are many advantages of SEO for doctors, including increased website traffic, greater brand recognition, and higher patient volumes. There are several aspects to medical SEO, such as content creation, on-page code and content optimization, link building, and reputation management. Medical SEO services are offered by companies like Sequence Health, who also provides healthcare advertising and medical digital marketing solutions to help grow medical practices. What Are The Benefits of Medical SEO for Practices? Medical SEO is highly beneficial for one key reason: with SEO, you can get a much higher rank on the search engines. You may notice that when you Google a certain search term, some results are shown before others. You may also notice that you’re most likely to click on websites that are on the first page of the search engines. The goal of SEO is to have your website content hit that front page for the search term that you want. Here’s an example to illustrate the point. If you Google “chiropractic clinic near me”, you will see a variety of results (including results from advertisements and from Google Maps). People who are searching for that term are likely going to stay on the first page, and any chiropractic clinic that is on the first page is more likely to be seen by people who are searching for them. This visibility leads to a lot of other benefits. People who are searching for your desired search term are more likely to find out about your practice. As a result, people are more likely to visit your website and, ultimately, book an appointment with you. Without medical SEO, you won’t be able to take advantage of the vast number of people searching for practices in your area. Sequence Health provides medical SEO and patient engagement solutions for practices and hospitals all over the USA.
Patient Pre-Registration Tips for a Better Experience Written by Jeff Tormey on January 8, 2021. Posted in Connect. Check-in processes are notorious for consuming staff resources and making patients wait longer than they have to before they receive care. One excellent strategy for improving your check-in process is to implement patient pre-registration. How should patient pre-registration be handled? Does your practice need to improve its patient registration system? Let’s discuss. Why Most Practices’ Patient Registration Process Is So Awful Patient registration is a nightmare. There are so many data points that need to be collected, such as demographic information, contact information, appointment scheduling information, health history, and what kind of health insurance coverage the patient has. All of this is absolutely necessary to make sure the hospital is able to get reimbursed by insurance. Not only that, much of this information needs to be collected and saved into a practice’s CRM; in the healthcare industry, CRMs are vital to maximizing revenue. Because of all the information that needs to be collected, having a patient register in the hospital can take a very long time and turn into a very painful process for both the patient and hospital staff. The Solution: Patient Pre-Registration Patient pre-registration is when part or all of the registration process is performed before the visit. This method allows the patient to fill out the necessary information on their own time. Patient pre-registration can save a great deal of time for staff and patients. The process typically starts one of several ways: Over the phone. The registration process is conducted by a new patient coordinator and starts before the visit. Via mail. The practice sends forms to the patient via mail and expects them to mail back a completed form or submit it on the day of the visit. Through the patient portal. The patient signs into their patient portal and completes pre-registration there. Using online forms, either downloaded or on the Web. Similar to the mail, the patient fills out the form and submits it online. In order to get the benefits out of patient pre-registration, it’s recommended that healthcare providers follow these tips: Use electronic forms if possible. Electronic forms can integrate with your CRM, stay HIPAA compliant, collect e-signatures, and ideally can be done from a patient’s phone. Train staff correctly. New patient coordinators need to be able to enter patient information into the Healthcare CRM directly, guide patients through pre-registration, answer any questions that the patient has, and schedule the patient in correctly using the information provided. Automate as much of the process as possible. Patients should receive automatic reminders to pre-register. Staff should not have to spend time scanning pre-registration forms to input them into another system later.
How Mobile Health Clinics Make Care More Accessible to Vulnerable Patients Written by Jeff Tormey on December 24, 2020. Posted in Manage. Mobile health clinics have been used for decades, particularly in the developing world, in order to provide low or no-cost care to vulnerable populations. Due to the healthcare situation in the US, they number about 2,000 as of 2017. A CDC report found that about 17% of patients do not have access to a place where they can regularly get care, regardless of their insurance. As a result, millions of people are not able to get care from a primary care physician, nor do they have much access to preventative care. Ultimately, the healthcare system has to eat the costs associated with this. Patients without access to preventative or primary care may end up with an emergency acute condition that could have been prevented. Healthcare marketing trends indicate that mobile health clinics may continue to grow in popularity as vulnerable populations grow. How Mobile Health Management Services work Mobile health clinics exist for the purpose of providing healthcare services to vulnerable patients that they would otherwise be unable to access. There exist barriers to healthcare access, such as a lack of transportation, a lack of time to utilize these services, cost, and a general distrust of doctors and the American health system. These mobile clinics are a remarkable way to provide healthcare services to underserved populations. According to Harvard Medical School’s Mobile Health Map, it’s estimated that 6.5 million visits to mobile health clinics occur annually. 60% of patients who use them are uninsured. The most common services that these mobile health clinics offer are preventative screenings, primary care services, and dental services. These services, often taken for granted by people who get them every year, are highly effective at improving long term health outcomes. Not only that, they’ve been found to be highly cost effective. The average annual operational cost of a mobile program is $429,000 and returns $12 for every $1 invested. Goals of Mobile Health Clinics There are three main goals to mobile health clinics. The first is to provide an entry point for access to the healthcare system. Vulnerable populations may have a level of distrust in the system, so an easy, comfortable access point will help them become more engaged in their health. The second goal is to remove barriers to care that are due to logistics. For example, urban working poor individuals may not be able to take time off work during the time that most clinics are open. Or, they may not be anywhere near an accessible health clinic. The third goal is to fill the service gap that exists in these communities. People in these communities may not have access due to the factors described above, and these mobile health clinics provide a great way to bridge that gap. All in all, mobile health clinics or healthcare call centers provide an excellent way to help underserved communities get access to affordable care.
Impact of Social Media on Healthcare Businesses Written by Jeff Tormey on December 17, 2020. Posted in Connect. When social media first came to the scene in the early 2000s, nobody expected that it would become a mainstay of our lives. But now that social media platforms are used by billions of people around the world, governments and businesses of all types have had to adapt. One of the major impacts that social media & healthcare digital marketing has had is on healthcare. People are now getting healthcare information faster than ever before. They’re also getting misinformation more than any time in our history. Our focus in this article is to detail the impact of social media on healthcare businesses and how healthcare business owners can take advantage of it while still staying within legal and ethical guidelines. Impact of Social Media on Healthcare The ease of sharing information. Thanks to social media, it’s easier than ever for people to access and share information about any topic, and healthcare is no different. Of course, this has its downsides. Because social media is a free space where anyone can say what they wish, there’s nothing stopping people from spreading or sharing misinformation about health. Those who own practices need to be careful about the content they share. Healthcare business owners are also encouraged to use their platform to refute misinformation that they see. A study published in 2017 shows that people’s comments influence how others interpret information and that commenting on misinformed opinions can be effective in changing people’s minds. The new connections that medical professionals can have with their audience. Medical professionals have started to take on authoritative positions, regardless of their research experience and published works, building a base of readers entirely through social media. Doctors and researchers can share their point of view with the world and connect with those who benefit from what they have to say. It’s become a lot easier for medical professionals to have a real relationship with their audience, taking in feedback as soon as it comes in, and sharing the stories of those they helped. The rise of patient influencers. Patients are taking to social media to detail their experiences dealing with their condition. Some people have spoken at length about receiving bariatric surgery or chiropractic treatment, whereas others talk about what it’s like to have a chronic condition with no cure. These patients, who are not medical professionals, share their stories and what worked for them. As a result, other patients listen to them and sometimes take their advice. This can be a good thing, but it can also be very dangerous. Patient influencers are not qualified to give medical advice but are free to share their stories. It’s important that healthcare entrepreneurs understand a little bit about where patients get their information while also ensuring that patients do not misconstrue a fellow patient’s narrative for medical advice. If you would like to learn more about how social media can be used in healthcare, contact Sequence Health Check out our post where we share 4 ways that patients use social media to chronicle their weight loss journey
Patient Retention Strategies for Reducing Leakage Written by Jeff Tormey on November 19, 2020. Posted in Connect. Patient volume is one of the most important metrics for your practice. Making sure that there’s a steady flow of patients is paramount for keeping your business alive. But the most important source of patient volume comes from patients who have already visited you in the past. Current patients who continue to trust you to take care of their needs are the backbone of your business! As a result, you need to keep them satisfied so that they will not only continue to come in but so that they will refer others as well. When patients decide to switch providers, we refer to that as leakage. Your job as a practice owner is to keep leakage as low as possible. So how do you reduce leakage and keep patients satisfied? Patient Retention Strategies & Ideas Make sure patients are treated with respect at every encounter. It’s such a simple thing, but it’s so important. Patients are in a vulnerable state when they walk into a medical practice. Whether it’s a routine checkup or it’s a consultation about a very serious condition, two things are for certain: 1) they would probably rather be somewhere else, and 2) they’re more vulnerable than they’re used to being. For this reason, it’s important to remind them that the people who work at your hospital or practice are human, too, and understand their need to be respected and treated fairly. A patient should never feel like an intrusion or a nuisance. Make sure that they feel like their needs will be attended to, even if the office is hectic. This will require you to train staff, particularly new staff, on how to treat patients with proper respect. Do whatever it takes to reduce wait times. Nobody likes to wait, and patients experiencing long wait times may feel that their needs are being ignored. They may feel like they’re just another headache for the organization, even though you don’t see them that way. Reducing wait times by making sure that appointment scheduling is done in advance, keeping physicians and other staff accountable for operational efficiency, and keeping patients well-informed about their appointments so that missed or late appointments do not affect others’ wait times. Sometimes, things happen. If a patient’s wait time cannot be reduced, do what you can to notify them in advance and give them an opportunity to reschedule if they would not like to wait. Giving patients an option goes a long way. Reach out to patients who are overdue for an appointment. Patients might not know they’re overdue for an appointment. It’s up to your practice to make sure that messages are being sent to them. If you know that a patient hasn’t scheduled an appointment that they’re supposed to get, reach out to them! There are plenty of reasons why a patient would fail to schedule an appointment, and the most common ones have to do with their own schedule. It’s also important to follow up and connect with patients. If possible, ask them why they didn’t make an appointment when they were due for one. Maybe they moved and are no longer in your service area, or maybe they simply didn’t have the time. Want to learn more about how you can increase the number of patients who come in? Check out our tips to increase patient volumes! Learn more about Sequence Health’s patient engagement solutions!
How To Increase Patient Engagement with Patient Portals Written by Jeff Tormey on November 12, 2020. Posted in Connect. Patient portals are used commonly by hospitals and medical practices that want to provide patients with an easy, secure way to access their electronic health records (EHR). They also help the practice, as patients who use the portal no longer have to use your staff’s time to access medical records that belong to them. They’ve also been shown to help patient engagement. A systematic review published in 2019 that examined 58 different articles found that patient portals have enabled the discovery of medical errors, improved adherence to medications, and providing better communication between the patient and the healthcare provider. We’ve also explained the importance of patient engagement in a previous article. So how should practices use medical center patient portals to improve patient engagement? How Patient Portals Improve Patient Engagement Patient engagement in healthcare is linked to better health outcomes. Those who are more engaged with their care are more likely to take medication prescribed, tell physicians about relevant health information, and commit to lifestyle changes prescribed by the physician. What patient portals do is give patients access to their own health information while also providing a secure messaging and appointment scheduling platform. They also provide relevant education to patients. Patients who are able to get their own health information are able to stay better informed about their own health, leading to better outcomes. So what does this mean for your practice? In short, it means that efforts to inform patients and encourage patients to use the portal could directly lead to better health outcomes and higher patient satisfaction. How To Get Patients To Use The Portal Tell patients about the portal during their appointments. When going over a patient’s health information during an appointment, physicians should be checking to make sure that patients are aware of the information you have on record. The patient should then be told about the portal’s existence and its benefits. When the patient is getting ready to leave, staff should give them instructions on how to use the patient portal. Inform patients during reminder calls, texts, and emails. Since your patients are not in your office most of the time, it makes sense to reach out to them directly and tell them how they can use the patient portal. In emails and text messages, provide them direct links to the portal while informing them of the benefits. Encourage patients to use the portal. Patients need to know why they should use a patient portal, otherwise they’re not going to use it. Let them know how they can benefit by using it. Appeal to their busy schedule and tell them that they could easily set online appointments. Another way to get them to sign up is to incentivize new patient portal signups. Offering small gifts or potential prizes to those who sign up to the patient portal is a good way to get them to sign up.
4 Secrets To Effectively Market Doctors’ Offices & Medical Practices Written by Jeff Tormey on November 5, 2020. Posted in Connect. Most doctors get into medicine to save lives and make a real impact on their communities. They did not go into medicine because they wanted to run a business. The problem is that medical practices are businesses, and they need to be run as such if they’re going to succeed. Part of running a business is marketing it effectively, making sure that people know who you are, what you do, and what you can do for them. Doctors often report that the operational and business aspects of running the practice are the most stressful parts of their job. We’re here to make it a little easier. In this article, we’re going to go over a few tips on how to market medical practices. 4 Secrets To Marketing Your Medical Practice Be where your people are, and engage with them. Where do your people hang out? Apply this to your community. Sponsor community events and spend time with your local chamber of commerce or board of trade. Be active on social media, as well, so you can share content and company updated with the people who care the most. You need to be visible on the search engines so you can be seen by those who are actively looking for you. Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is an important part of making sure that people can find you. Ask for reviews from patients and referring physicians. In the digital age, people trust online reviews far more than they trust marketing material. Use this to your advantage! Get patients to leave honest reviews of your practice on Yelp, Facebook, Google, and other places online. How do you do this? Just ask! When your patients are about to head out the door, ask them to leave a review about their experience. Send reminders to patients via email. Or, call them and ask if they’d like to share their experience. Become an authority. One excellent way to market your practice is to provide quality information for the wider online community. Blogging and videos are a great way for you to engage with people while also giving people the education and information they’re looking for. By sharing your point of view and giving people real help through blog posts and videos, you can eventually become a trusted resource for people looking for info. Embrace new ideas. At the dawn of social media, some people became early adopters. Those who were able to find their audience on social media early on gained a distinct advantage from those who didn’t. Of course, not all new ideas make sense, but by giving them a little more thought and diving a little deeper into the latest technologies, you could find a goldmine for your practice. There’s always room for new ways to communicate with patients! Elevate Your Practice with Strategic Digital Marketing In today’s interconnected world, the success of your medical practice hinges not only on exceptional patient care but also on a robust and forward-thinking marketing strategy. By actively engaging with your community, leveraging the power of online reviews, establishing your expertise through valuable content, and embracing innovative technologies, you can significantly enhance your visibility and attract new patients. The “4 Secrets” outlined in this guide provide a clear roadmap for modernizing your outreach and ensuring your practice thrives in a competitive landscape. Implementing these strategies can be a complex endeavor, and this is where expertise from a partner like Sequence Health can prove invaluable. Remember, effective communication and a strong online presence are no longer options—they are necessities for growth and patient engagement. Contact us today to transform your medical practice marketing. Are you in need of some ideas for medical online marketing? Check out this article for more ideas for marketing your medical practice!