The top 4 questions asked by potential patients when looking for a Physician/Provider are as follows:
Problem – Question #1 Is my insurance cover or policy accepted by this particular doctor or healthcare facility?
Fix: A doctor/dentist office or a healthcare facility must go out of their way to list all the insurance policies or coverage they accept on this website.
Generic phrases like all major insurances accepted wouldn’t foot the bill or cut it here.
Don’t make the potential patient call your office to find out this basic information remember your competitor is also a phone call away in a competitive market .
Problem – Question #2 Is the particular doctor I want to see near me?
Fix: Make sure your Google MyBusiness Page profile is current and free of errors like
- Wrong doctor or office/facility business name
- Inaccurate Location Address
- Phone Number
In addition do the following:
- Put ‘Near Me’ in the title tag of your website page.
- Variants like ‘Near Here’, ‘Near You’ ‘Near By’ in the body tag of that page.
- e.g. ‘Oncologist Near Me’.
Problem – Question #3 Has this doctor got the necessary experience I’m looking for?
Fix: The doctor’s resume must emphasize the following:
- Number of years experience treating a particular health condition or conditions
- Board Certifications
- Hospital or Facility admitting privileges
Problem – Question #4 Are there any reviews for this particular doctor available?
Fix: Make sure that third party reviews on like sites healthgrades.com,google.com,facebook.com and yelp.com are not only accurate but also timely.
Ask current patients to consider writing a review immediately after office visit when their experience is fresh. Bear in mind you can’t offer incentives for those reviews.
In addition to the above-mentioned third party reviews include the reviews on your own website. The fact is that Google places premium on these first party reviews that are on your own website.
Ensure that you address any negative reviews within 24 hours of that review.
Negative reviews over 90 days don’t seem to weigh a lot on your rating/reputation. As long as there are current and positive reviews to balance it out.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS:
77% of prospective patients used search prior to making an appointment1
YOY 146% growth in ‘Near Me’ searches1
500% Growth in Oncologist Near Me searches2
81% of all healthcare related searches are unbranded2
Just like healthcare itself healthcare searches are tend to be local.
Prospective patients search for physicians and not health facility.
Given this scenario health systems that list only facilities online risk missing three out of four potential patients.
In order to address the nonlinear online journey a potential patient embarks on health systems must do the following
- Maintain a central repository for their location data record(s).
- List physicians and facilities.
- Maintain accurate listings on healthcare directories.
Sources:
1Think With Google,Associated Press-NORC,Pew Internet & American Life Project)
2Google Adwords,Google Trends
Send any questions/feedback/comments to:
Author: Ing. Gordon Fletcher, Principal Consultant (Engineering & Mobile Technology) at Compumagick Associates
Markets We Serve: Markets We Serve
Web: http://compumagickassociates-com.stackstaging.com
Email: http://compumagickassociates-com.stackstaging.com/contact
Phone: +1217-886-8051
Twitter: @compumagick