Physicians Use Social Media to Generate Business

admin    Social Media     Business, Generate, Media, Physicians, Social

Physicians Use Social Media to Generate Business

In these tough times for every industry, healthcare continues to add jobs. And while these numbers may suggest that healthcare is recession proof the facts reveal this may not be the case. Despite continued job creation in the healthcare industry, the bad news continues to mount massive layoffs at pharmaceutical companies, multiple hospital closings, health plans struggling, etc. And with the uncertainty surrounding the impact of new legislation, many healthcare providers are fearful for their futures.

These are unsettling times for every industry, but the overall outlook for healthcare is still positive. You already know the reasons for the projected growth aging baby boomers, technological advances, longer life spans, even healthcare reform. These long-term forces will continue to drive job growth in the industry, but it doesnt mean physicians arent worried about the impact that the recession and other circumstances may have on future earnings.

Around the country, patients are facing financial hardships affecting their ability to seek medical care. According to a recent MDsearch Income Survey, 61% of physician respondents have seen a decrease in patient traffic, and 64% have seen a decrease in elective procedures. The downturn isnt surprising because for most patients, job loss is accompanied by the loss of health insurance, and even those who still have coverage are facing rising co-pays. The recession is causing a shift in patients priorities, and money now seems better spent on gas and groceries than anything less than emergency medical services.

While most physicians are not worried about losing their employment, they are concerned about the drop in patient visits and what that means for their income. Nearly half (47%) of the MDsearch survey respondents earned less in 2008 than they did in 2007, and 57% projected that they would earn less in 2009 than they did in 2007.

Can Social Media Save the Day?

Physicians of all specialties are concerned about their incomes, and many are taking matters into their own hands. In an effort to promote themselves and their practice or facility, physicians are using free online mediums like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to engage with current patients and reach out to new ones. One of the most popular physician bloggers, Dr. Kevin Pho, author of KevinMD, has this to say about why doctors and nurses should engage in social media:

Its to a health professionals benefit to have some sort of online presence. Not only to engage and provoke discussion, but also to make them pro-active in the information associated with them when their name is Googled.

More patients will be searching for doctors and hospitals via search engines, and being active in blogs, Facebook and Twitter allows you to define your online reputation. Going forward, this will be one of the more important reasons why doctors, nurses, and medical institutions should have a robust social media presence.

But physicians arent acting alone. According to a recent article in the Jackson & Coker Industry Report, at least 367 hospitals have created accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or You Tube, and a number of hospitals have blogs authored by their CEOs in an effort to personalize their message.

The overwhelming popularity of social media has certainly not gone unnoticed by the healthcare profession. Physicians are just beginning to explore how these new tools can help them create an online presence. Healthcare may not be totally recession proof, but with the help of tools like Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and blogs, healthcare providers and facilities have new ways to engage with consumers and foster growth in the industry.

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Three Tips To Powerful Online Marketing For Physicians

admin    Twitter Marketing     Marketing, Online, Physicians, Powerful, Three, Tips

Three Tips To Powerful Online Marketing For Physicians

One of the newer marketing avenues is online marketing. Thanks to the widespread use of computers, the internet, and other telecommunications advancements, physicians who advertise online can now reach a wide audience and open up their chances of attracting more clients. Of course, more clients would usually equate to an increase in revenue as well. In fact, many physicians and medical clinics have experiences significant increases in revenues after engaging in internet marketing.

The problem is that not everyone is adept at online marketing. Since it is relatively new, especially in the medical field, physicians may have trouble coming up with ideas for an effective online marketing campaign.

For physicians searching for guidance as to how to go about online marketing, here are some tips to follow:

Hire a knowledgeable and competent website designer:

Remember – your website provides your first impression to your potential patients or clients. Having a compelling website is critical to attract the patients or clients you desire. A good website showcases the benefits of your practice or business along with it is skills and capabilities.

Compared with websites offering basic design or poorly-written content, an attractive, professional-looking design, and well written content helps instill your prospective clients’ confidence in your medical practice. It is all about creating a perception of TRUST!

Hire a Search Engine Optimization expert for your website

What if you already have a website? It would be ineffective if the people seeking your services are unable to find it. This is where the search engine optimization (SEO) specialist who is an expert on medical website SEO comes in.

Search Engine Optimization tweaks and places informative content on your website that would enable it to appear higher on search engine ranking for searches about medical practices. This is important because search engines, such as Google, are nowadays one of the main ways people get their questions answered.

Having an SEO specialist in your team helps ensure that your website does not get buried by your competitors. By using the tactics of medical website SEO, you would have an advantage over those other websites.

Advertise through profiles in your social networks

Some of the most frequented websites nowadays are social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter.  Maintaining an active profile, including your website URL, on one or more of these sites helps you connect with your prospects. Your educational and friendly communications help expand your network, and this network in turn talks about you, your services and your business!

There are, of course, other ways in which you can use online marketing to your advantage. These tips suggest three basic but essential activities you can use as a launching pad for your practice website.

Twitter for Physicians / Doctors

admin    Twitter Marketing     Doctors, Physicians, Twitter

Whether you prefer to call yourself a doctor or physician, you may be wondering if Twitter is for you. Everybody is talking about twitter but is there anything in there for you – the busy doctor? Can Twitter help your practice, can Twitter bring more business, improve patient loyalty and raise your stature in the community?

Well let’s step back and see what physicians with thriving practices have done over time. Besides keeping themselves abreast of current drugs and research, they have maintained an excellent relationship with their patients. Some have done it through newsletters while others make their staff call patients periodically just to check on them. Some mail birthday cards and season greetings to their patients.

In today’s world though, there are a lot more intriguing options. What if a doctor’s office becomes a micro publishing house, scours newspapers, journals and research publications, extract relevant news / findings, compile them and send them to their patients. Patients will get fresh and relevant content and will be very appreciative of the good doctor. That will be perfect but can you imagine the resources that will take. Even if you limit yourself to a staff of two or three for this purpose plus the relevant hardware and software, you are talking about $9,000 to $10,000 a month. Add it up and that is $108,000 to $120,000 a year, a significant chunk of change even if you have a thriving practice.

What if you could do all of that for just a fraction of the cost? What the book ‘Long John Twitter’ explains in great length, you can use five or six different applications and blend them together to:

 If you are tech. savvy, you can do all this yourself. Just use the eBook ‘Long John Twitter’ as your guidebook and implement one step at a time. If you don’t have the time or inclination to do it yourself, consulting companies like Interloper, Inc. can do it for you.

In summary, you need to seriously consider Twitter as a tool to keep your patients healthier, informed and more trusting of you. Twitter can grow your practice.

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