The Importance of Patient Relationship Management in the Digital Era
Keeping your healthcare practice growing and thriving requires more than a strong marketing plan to get new patients in the door. It requires you to retain your existing patients too. After all, it took a lot of effort and resources to get each patient so why wouldn’t you do everything you can to enhance the relationship? In fact, patient relationship management will help you with both patient retention and new patient acquisition.
This has always been the case to some degree because patients will always spread the word about their experiences – positive or negative. As digital technology has developed and become an essential part of life, though, maintaining trustful and positive relationships with your patients has become even more critical. Our healthcare marketing team at McCauley Marketing Services has seen this shift first-hand, and we have uncovered several reasons why your patient satisfaction is more important today than ever before.
Growth in Word of Mouth
The web has changed our world in many ways, but more notably than anything else, it has given every person a platform for their voice. Between social media platforms, blogging, and more, each patient you see has a way to share their experience with possibly millions of people in minutes. This means that each negative experience a patient has with you has the potential to do far more harm to your reputation and your business, and each positive experience has far more potential impact too.
Increase in Online Research
The internet is packed with helpful information, and patients are eager to use that information to make smarter healthcare decisions. That includes researching the healthcare providers in their area (whether or not the provider has been recommended to them already) to see which ones may be the best fit.
In fact, a 2020 study found that 90% of healthcare patients use online reviews to evaluate potential physicians. In 2013, the same study found that only 25% of patients took this step. With such a large increase, it’s more essential than ever to make sure your online reviews paint a good picture of your practice.
Long-Lasting Effects
By its very nature, the web stores information for the foreseeable future. That includes any information your patients post about their experiences with you. If they’re unsatisfied and they post about it online on social media, review platforms, or other sites, those words are there to stay and they can continue to affect your practice for years or decades to come.
Search Engine Impacts
Some patients have a physician in mind, so they Google the physician’s name to see what they can find out about them. Others, though, start by looking for physicians in the specialty they need, such as “obstetrician.” They see which obstetricians come up in those search results and start researching and comparing them from there.
In searches like these, the number and rating of your Google reviews will actually affect your placement within those search results. If you have few reviews or your review rating is negative, Google is more likely to show the patient your competitors who have better reviews or more established reputations. In this way, poor patient relationship management could prevent future patients from hearing about you at all, much less choosing to trust you with their health.
If there is one fact about marketing that is always true, it’s the fact that it is constantly changing, especially in our ever-evolving digital world. Of course, it’s important to remember that it is not only about digital mediums when it comes to improving your numbers. For the critical reasons above, every healthcare practice needs a strategic plan for their patient relationship management today more than they ever have. To work with our experienced and specialized experts to improve your patient retention, contact McCauley Marketing Services today. Follow us as well on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more healthcare marketing tips.