She has a website, Facebook page, a YouTube presence, a Twitter account, and personal blog. She also made sure she’s listed on Google places, Citysearch and Yelp. She said that just by having a “Latest News” page on her practice website, where she can convey updates and information, she has saved a minimum of 100 to 150 calls per season asking for that exact information.
“I’ve included when my practice has received the flu shot (particularly useful when the flu vaccine is in short supply), or a recall on products such as Infants’ and Children's Tylenol or Similac formula,” said Wu.
According to a recent American Medical Association study, nearly 80% of Internet users, or 60% of all adults, searched online for health information last year. Another survey by the National Research Corporation found that almost half of all patients look for medical content from social media sites, including Facebook.
The question for physicians, therefore, should be not whether to have an online presence, but how to manage it effectively. “I can sum this up in a simple phrase: if you don’t host the conversation online, you’ll be left to react to it,” says David Martin, founder of VeinInnovations, one of the largest vein health and treatment clinics in Georgia, which has a online presence through Facebook, Twitter, and SaportaReport.com, an online newspaper serving the metro Atlanta area.
“Every practice will have to identify their brand and make their presence known online,” says Martin. “I believe that doctors graduating med school today will be open to this concept, having grown up in the digital age.”
The key to success for physicians and small group practices is to have presences on every digital touch point that patients would reach out to in order to learn about their medical condition, says Robb Hecht, a digital strategist and adjunct professor of marketing at Baruch College.
Hecht also said that physicians should have a compelling website with content that is useful and updated frequently. “Physicians need a content-driving engine to supply potential and existing patients with information to keep them coming back,” Hecht says.
Pediatrician Wu says when she first started her New York practice four years ago, the practice website was a one-page, text-only website with outdated information. The first thing she did when joining the group was revamp the entire website and give patients relevant information that was easy and to the point.
“We are very clear in our targeted audience and our message: parents. And we want to help them raise happy and healthy children,” Wu says. “And our belief is that if we educate and empower parents, we can help them make informed choices that will best serve their children. It also helps us have a clear voice that sets us apart from other practices, and help us attract like-minded individuals who are interested in our philosophy.”
And do all these multiple online outlets require a huge investment of time and resources? No, says Wu. “I’ve come to learn that having a strong online presence really augments what we want to do – and once I’ve put in the initial hard work of setting everything up, it really is not a lot of effort to maintain.”
