Healthcare Marketing and Medical Websites - How Patients Find Their Specialist Doctors

Discussion of Recent Results of the study: How Patients FIND specialists. * Medical Websites: 45% * Internet Listing: 10% * Yellow Pages (book) 2% * Word of Mouth 17% * Brochures at Referring * Physician's Office 11% * Prescription from * Primary Care Doc 15% What have we learned? The old Yellow Pages is no longer in use. As most doctors will have internet presence in the next 5 years the best way to look up a doctor is through an internet listing. Yes, Yellow Pages definitely has an online version and so do at least 5 other major listing directories. Google Business is great! It allows patients to see the doctor's address on the map when they type in their search. Word of Mouth: Talking about a Positive Experience as a patient Word of Mouth... well, if you had a great patient experience in the office, short waiting time, excellent staff, and you were able to effectively be treated for your condition? Wouldn't you want to share your experience with others? Wouldn't you want to respond to "I have these awful headaches" with... "I know this amazing Neurologist in New Jersey! He's amazing. Other doctors consider him to be a Thought Leader, a true expert in his field. I had these cluster headaches for the longest time and now I don't. This doc knew everything about my condition. And you should have seen his office, it's so clean... and I waited only 5 minutes before I was seen by a Nurse Practitioner."... it kinda leaves the question to ponder... 'Why aren't doctors making sure patients have a positive experience?' Medical Brochures: Do you read them? Have you ever been to your primary care office and while waiting for those 45 minutes you picked up a few brochures? It's quite amazing that almost half of patients eventually do go to the specialist after seeing his brochure. Prescriptions are self-explanatory. You go to a doctor, he writes a referral to a specialist. Medical Websites But what of those medical websites? Isn't it an amazing way to talk about a doctor's experience, his office, and to read up on the expertise in treating YOUR condition? Do you know how many doctors in the US actually have a medical website? Less than 20% With so much competition in the medical field, it's no wonder patients are completely unaware of WHERE to seek medical help. Why aren't doctors getting smarter to help patients find them?