Healthcare marketing for physicians and their practices should never be ignored. Above all, you’re a doctor because you want to help people – but you also need to pay your bills. So, your approach to revenue cycle management (RCM) should also include marketing and promoting. To clarify, just how healthy is your practice revenue?
This week, I’ve developed a few tips for physicians and practices to help ensure that RCM is as healthy as possible.
Healthcare marketing relies on online visibility
Healthcare marketing helps patients find you. Generally, and like it or not, a bulk of your patients will look you up online. However, if you’re not visible, you risk losing out on patient revenue. In short, today’s patients shop around for their docs, which is why it’s so important to make sure you’re visible.
Ensure that your practice is visible
Incidentally, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Healthcare marketing means visibility. Thus, opting for online business listings, using social media, and developing quality content is vital to the health of your practice these days. For instance, Hubspot has put together a list of over 50 local online business directories. Take a look and take action.
Most importantly, listing your practice in a local directory helps patients search for specific practices and/or specialties. Furthermore, Google has become something of a ‘middle-man’ between local businesses and consumers. In short, take advantage of such listings.
Encourage your patients to leave feedback and reviews online
In the same vein, encourage your patients to leave reviews online. For example, ask your patients to fill out a printed form or leave their feedback on the patient portal. (You do have one, don’t you?) Today’s savvy consumers like to research before making a decision on anything from clothing to selecting their doctor.
Likewise, a 2018 survey revealed that nearly 95% of potential clients search for and read online reviews left by patients. Therefore, make sure your patients receive quality care and advice. Most negative complaints left by patients revolve around wait times, rudeness, billing mistakes, and so forth. In short, mismanagement of front office practices can – and does – have a huge and negative impact on overall patient satisfaction.
Pay attention to your healthcare marketing content
Subsequently, pay attention to healthcare marketing and content. However, I’m not referring to ‘content farms’ that create generic content. To clarify, you need to develop trust with your patients. That means brand awareness. In other words, focus on high-quality and informative content development. That content should be – if not ‘entertaining’ – easily readable and related to your practice scope. In other words, all your content, from website homepage to blog, should provide your patients with value.
As a result, quality healthcare content marketing approaches encourages trust from your patients. That same content can also enhance your practice revenue.
Bottom line: If you don’t have the time or the writing chops to focus on your healthcare marketing approaches, hire someone who does. The health of your practice depends on it. For more info, contact me.