Healthcare revolves around the doctor-patient relationship and the treatments the doctor prescribes. That will always be the most important staple for your practice to uphold, but while word-of-mouth referrals from happy patients can keep new patients coming through the doors, that’s not enough on its own.

Like all other industries, medical practices, urgent care centers and hospitals all need to keep their online presence in mind and actively work to improve it. If you don’t, after all, that practice down the street will, and they’ll scoop up all your new patients in the process. With both the healthcare industry and the marketing industry both evolving quickly in some ways, it’s essential to stay on top of the latest best practices.

1. Everything is Going Online
Remember the good old days of pen and paper? While paper charts are still a thing in some cases, most patient data is going digital—and the patients are starting to expect that. Patient portals are being expanded on and improved, and are a lot more common. Three of my doctors currently have patient portals that allow me to log in to check on my appointments, see all the details of my blood work or other test results, and see the notes that the doctor entered in about my appointment. Even the urgent care providers have a patient portal, which can be immensely helpful if you experience an awful concussion causing bad short-term memory loss for a few days.

For patients who want to be involved in their healthcare and treatment plan, this is a big deal, and in many cases, it makes your job easier in the long run, too. It can also speed up the process—I can actually email my providers through a secure message instead of waiting on hold or hoping to get patched through to a nurse for minor, non-emergency questions. This big step is all about convenience for the patient, and it allows you to better treat them even when they’re not right in front of you.

In the same way, healthcare marketing is happening more and more online these days. People turn to the internet to find healthcare information and to identify which practices they want to use for their healthcare needs. If you want to capitalize on this trend, you need to be marketing your business online.

2. Content is More Prevalent
Doctors are busy people, but hiring someone to tackle healthcare marketing will benefit your business significantly. After all, there’s a lot of terrible information out there (even on popular sites), and there’s a lot of alarmed people Googling their symptoms becoming convinced that the rash from their new laundry detergent is MRSA. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that increasing numbers of healthcare providers and medical practices are starting blogs on their site.

This is a great way to capture clients at the top of the funnel, because if someone is Googling “symptoms of carpal tunnel,” they’re probably experiencing them and could use a doctor’s help. And boom, you’re right there with reliable information and the rest of the site hanging around in the background.

You can keep this content on your site, or even take it to other platforms. Orlando Health has a great series of videos on YouTube where doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners talk about not only their experiences, but what different medical conditions and treatments involve. This demonstration of knowledge can build trust in potential patients long before they see you, and patients must trust their providers to have a successful treatment plan.