HealthCare Marketing Group

The Importance of Providing a Space to Answer Patient Inquiries

A study done by the National Library of Medicine emphasized the importance of practices providing a safe and welcoming space in which patients feel comfortable detailing all of their medical information and asking questions. This dynamic between a physician and their client has been proven to enhance patient satisfaction, decrease patients’ anxiety levels, and allow patients to elicit helpful information from their physicians, which leads to an increase in self-efficacy and a greater sense of control over their care.

Studies have proven that patient questions make up only 7% of the patient dialogue. This means that typically each patient only asks their doctor 3-9 questions about their health per visit. Often, patients are reluctant to ask their physicians questions, as they view their physician as the “decision-maker” and are hesitant to express their opinions and ask questions. When physicians create an atmosphere in which questions are encouraged, the dynamic shifts to more of a partnership, in which patients feel more comfortable raising any concerns that they may have.

By providing a space for inquiry via social media, patients will feel more comfortable raising any concerns about themselves during their visit to your practice. This open dialogue creates a relationship of trust and opens the floor for there to be engagement between patients and between your clinic and patients. Prospective patients will recognize your pratice’s effort in encouraging dialogue and will be more inclined to pay a visit to your practice.

How to Increase Engagement on Reels?

To get more views on REELS, try:

1. Use audio that has already established its presence on the internet. Using audio that others have already used makes your Reel more likely to receive more engagement because it will come up along with the other videos under that sound.

2. Repost other Reels that are trending and tag the creator. It will boost the other creator’s content, but it will also increase engagement on your page.

3. Keep it short. A short and informative Reel is more likely to be played multiple times, while a lengthy video is more likely to be ignored.

4. Share your Reels to your stories and feed to boost engagement.

5. Add hashtags so that your video will receive more views and is more likely to appear on the explore page.

6. Add a meaningful caption so that viewers will continue reading as the video replays.

The Importance of "Tell Don't Sell" on Your Practice's Social Media Pages
It's simple: we like to see a return on our investments. If we invest time and money into our social media marketing, we want to see a direct return. Unfortunately, this can lead to problems, especially when patients feel that your practice's social media pages are constantly promoting services instead of engaging with an audience.

Your primary goals should be to grow your practice's recognition, increase awareness of your services offered, and create personal relationships with current and prospective patients by promoting your office on social media. For starters, consider yourself. You most likely have social media to catch up with friends or family, look for entertaining videos, or catch up on what is going on. A timeline full of posts that encourage you to buy a product or try a new service will feel like an intrusion.

By keeping your practice pages personable and informative, prospective patients will be more motivated to look further into your office as you create a trustworthy reputation. In contrast, patients who have already visited your clinic will be motivated to come back as they recognize that you value them more than the services they book with you.

Improving Patient Experience
Understanding what your patients are looking for is crucial to ensuring satisfaction during their visits to your clinic. Due to the wide range of healthcare provider options that are available, patients do not have to continue going to a practice that does not meet their satisfactory level. With easy access to reviews about clinics nearby, medical organizations must work even harder to better understand their patient’s wants, rather than waiting for an unsatisfactory review.

To improve your patient’s experience, we recommend 4 tips:
1. By installing electronic health record software, patients will spend less time idling in the waiting room. According to a report from Online Medical Care, doctors typically only spend 5 minutes with patients, but spend another 19.3 minutes working on patient’s electronic health records. A well-designed EHR system will allow your doctors to spend more time engaging with their patients, which will provide a much more satisfactory experience at your clinic.
2. Courtesy and respect go a long way when maintaining positive relationships with each patient. Provide a friendly and relaxed atmosphere where your patients feel respected and heard. The more comfortable patients are, the more likely they are to bring up issues that doctors need to know during diagnosis.
3. A doctor’s waiting room cluttered with old magazines indicates a lack of attention to detail. A waiting room that offers refreshments and useful and entertaining periodicals will provide distraction while patients are waiting to see their doctor. The TV should be kept low, or muted, so that nobody is bothered by the shows being played. According to Its Relevant, “A few well-placed plants, some hanging portraits, and a TV, can make or break a waiting room.”
4. Provide education materials to patients so that they have the opportunity to learn about parts of the body, or common ailments and treatment methods. Interactive information provided on a tablet computer, laptop, smartphone, or PC are a neater and more sanitary way to display the information than your standard wall poster or printed brochure.

Social Media and Healthcare Marketing
Social networks are fundamental to today's society. By promoting your business on social media, you can attract a wide demographic and connect with people in unique ways. Organizations trying to expand their business and attract a broader audience should incorporate social media into their marketing strategy. When promoting your business on social media, do:

1. Build an audience. As an established practice, you likely have a network of contacts to begin building your audience. Incorporate sending email blasts to patients that provide a link to your social webpages to increase your following and engagement.

2. Establish credibility. By having neat, formatted social media pages with large followings and striking, original images, you establish your credibility. Engagement on your posts from actual users often makes prospective clients feel more comfortable, as it provides a sense of community.

3. Be consistent and active. Once you have established your internet presence, be consistent with your posts. Interact with your followers and other users by responding to comments and incorporating proper hashtags to expand your following.

4. Include high-quality images and videos. Quality is critical, especially when promoting your medical practice on the internet. Video marketing can be shared among many channels and used on your website to establish trust and authenticity. In turn, this will make clients feel more comfortable and as if they have a personal relationship with the physicians at your clinic.

5. Get your followers involved in content creation and reposting. Reposting your followers' content provides "real content" and allows users to feel special seeing their image reposted. To encourage reposting, try starting a hashtag challenge. For example, to incorporate healthy living, create a hashtag challenge about daily exercise.

6. Direct people to your bio with a link and CTA. It is crucial to provide a clear call to action, so that prospective patients know how to take the next step. On your social media pages, make sure to include a link to your website in your bio where they can read more and book appointments.

What are the 5Ps of Healthcare Marketing?
Your healthcare marketing plan needs to achieve the organization's mission. The 5P's are necessary to fulfill your organization's goals so that customers and the healthcare community can utilize these services.

The 5P's are:
1. Product: What is the business offering?
2. Place: Where will the offering be available?
3. Process: What is the correct way to market the product or service?
4. Price: How much are customers willing to pay?
5. Promotion: What will get buyers' attention?

Why is Healthcare Marketing Important?
1. Professional marketing allows you to differentiate your practice from others in your area that offers similar services.
2. Provides an open line of communication to your patient audience by building trust and piquing interest.
3. Marketing allows practices to provide reasons to the general question of why patients should choose your practice. Physicians have the opportunity to document their strengths and achievements.
4. 88% of those searching for health information start with search engines.
5. Patients act on paid search ads.
6. Prospective patients typically search for a practice’s reputation, insurance, reviews, and technology, which can be promoted through proper marketing.

Social Media Writing Tips

1. Stay professional online! It is very easy to be eroded by the casual nature of social media, but it is crucial to maintain a level of professionalism online. To ensure professionalism, keep an updated website that is mobile-responsive and provides information on the services and procedures offered at your practice.
2. Share new services! Whenever you are expanding your practice by integrating a new piece of medical equipment or hiring a new professional who can offer new services, make sure to announce it to your followers on social media.
3. Communicate new policies! To maintain an accurate and up-to-date online presence, share new policies on social media. For example, you announce a new cancelation policy that makes your patients aware before they visit your clinic.
4. Highlight your specialties! All medical team members are individuals, and posting about them on social media can create a more personal dynamic with patients. Profiling your team’s education, experiences, specialties, and hobbies will make patients more interested in working with them in the future.

Keep your patients and your staff informed about promotions and train your team to up sell services.

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