ChesterCountyMedicineSpring2020 - 12

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How Top-Performing Practices Will
Grow and Acquire New Patients in 2020
BY RICK CANCELLIERE

our waiting room is no
longer just outside your
office. It's online, busy, and
demands your attention.
Given the volume of in-person
interactions medical staff have
with patients each day, it's easy to
understand why practices don't
give their online presence the
same careful attention they give to
monitoring what happens in the
office or on the phone.
Here's the problem: your patients are digital consumers. They
have moved to the Internet in droves, taking important parts of
their medical care online - whether or not their doctor knows
about it.

If you are like most physicians that read this, you immediately
thought, "Well, I have a website." But that's simply not enough
anymore. Today's patients read reviews and consume social media
profiles. Today's search engines use every piece of digital feedback
they can find to judge your practice.
Fast growing practices in 2020 understand this and now use a
360-degree approach to managing their web presence. They know
their website isn't enough. Relevant, accurate, and compelling
information laid out across the entire world wide web, spanning
the entire patient journey for both robots and patients to consume,
is the true core to a strong online presence that appeals to
prospective and current patients alike.

2. Practices Are Done With "Online
Brochure" Websites

According to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, four out of
five respondents reported using the Internet to make a healthcarerelated decision. In 2018, Inc.com reported that three in five
survey respondents stated they would choose one provider over
another because of a strong online presence. Today, in 2020, every
doctor needs to ask: how does my practice fit into the digital
world?

It's not enough to "set out" a website that sits on the Internet,
waiting for people to find it. Websites need to cater to the two key
groups that consume them: mobile patients and search engines.

To grow and stay competitive, practices must offer the
simplicity and convenience digital consumers expect to win
patients. If you can order groceries online and have them delivered
in two hours, why would you wait days or even weeks to hear back
from the doctor? And who would order a new appliance, select
a school or daycare for their child, or pick a car service center
without checking online reviews?

At the same time, search engines like Google deliver results to
patients with a sophisticated, evolving algorithm. Search engines
aim to find the best information in the best format - a format
that's mobile-friendly and well structured.

You as a physician or practice manager must take action now to
help your practice thrive in 2020 - and you start by following the
example of fast growing practices. These five action steps highlight
exactly how others are using digital technology to better reach and
serve patients:

You might be the biggest practice with the
best off-line reputation and the highest number
of specialists doing the most difficult cases.
But online, you're on page 2 - beneath a
long list of practices that don't deserve the
positioning. They have been rewarded where
you have been penalized.

1. Practices Are Taking A 360-Degree
Approach To Their Online Presence
You need to take control of your web presence.

12 CHESTER COUNT Y Medicine | SPRING 2020

Patients today "live" online and constantly use the Internet to
meet their needs promptly. Now nearly two-thirds of Americans
are smartphone owners, and more than 70% of healthcare traffic is
mobile as a result.

This is where 80% of independent practices fail. Sites
developed to be little more than an online brochure will become
outdated just as fast as the magazine in the waiting room.

The solution? In 2020, your website needs to make these two
groups happy with a structured, modern rebuild. This is what will
guarantee that patients will find and come to your website.

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ChesterCountyMedicineSpring2020

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