Becker's Hospital Review

28 Sign up for the COMPLIMENTARY Becker's Hospital Review CEO Report & CFO Report E-Weeklies at www.BeckersHospitalReview.com or call (800) 417-2035 9 Digital Patient Engagement & Hospital Marketing Strategies to Improve Patient Acquisition and Retention By Matthew Holz, Director of Product Development, BerylHealth   T he value of your hospital's marketing efforts, both traditionally and online, can yield significant return on your marketing dollars. As consumers become more tech savvy, their online shopping transcends into the search for healthcare. Digital marketing amplifies your brand, raises awareness about your events and efforts in the community, and educates your patient populations. In turn, a focus on a digital strategy can help meet your patient acquisition objectives and boost patient loyalty while driving revenue in and back through the hospital and affiliated physicians. What are some of these different strategies and blended approaches to attract and maintain a loyal patient base? Ensure your organization is utilizing or leveraging these key objectives to drive measureable return on your marketing investment: Digital strategies to acquire new patients The key to acquiring new patients digitally is simply making sure your organization and its information are easily accessible for those who need it quickest: physicians, patients and staff. Harness the strengths of technology to ensure your brand is discoverable online and create powerful, user-friendly tools. 1 2 3 ONLINE PATIENT ENGAGEMENT & HOSPITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES A focus on a digital marketing strategy can help meet your patient acquisition objectives and boost patient retention. 7 14 21 28 Try these strategies for the month of August to educate on service line information specific to the health observance: 8 9 NATIONAL BREASTFEEDING MONTH MARKETING & OUTREACH IDEAS Write a blog series around the benefits of breastfeeding – for both mother and child, healthful alternatives to breast milk for babies with a milk intolerance, etc. 15 16 10 AUGUST 17 Create a dedicated landing page for child-birthing and breastfeeding classes & resources--offer a download and monitor traffic. Promote page across all channels, digital & traditional. Create a secure micro-site for Future Moms & Moms in your commmunity! Share hospital resources, class & event information, blogs, clinician tips and spotlights, and highlight pediatricians to keep these patient populations engaged with your brand! 22 23 24 29 30 31 NEED MORE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES? SCAN THE CODE OR CONTACT BERYLHEALTH TODAY! 855.958.2273 BerylHealth.com/PatientEngagement • heck your search engine optimization. How does your organization C organically rank within search engines for key words correlating with different patient needs? Is your competitor ranked above you for service line information? According to The Pew Research Center, 97 percent of Web users search online for healthcare information, 30 million search online for a physician each month, and 80 percent of clicks are on the top three searches.1 Ranking in this prime real estate for identified keywords can drive optimal payer mix and revenue to newly acquired or affiliated physicians. To demonstrate this value, a major Southeast health system implemented an enhanced online physician referral program that was able to drive 49 percent more commercial payer mix visits than their traditional physician referral program.2 • dd a toolbar of "quick links." Once the potential consumer lands A on your website, what are they seeing? Are they able to easily find the information they need? How is the user experience? This is where you can supplement high-priority information with a specific call-to-action that can drive immediate decision making for current or potential patients. Adding a toolbar like this will ease navigation and land your visitors to the page they want, and quickly. Topics for this section can include "Find a Physician," online chat, bill pay, location information, event and class registration and general "Contact Us" information. • nclude referral phone number and other key info on all pages. I Want to make important information, such as your referral phone number, readily available on your website? Include it on every page. This can be in a footer, a side bar, or even better, in the banner of the website, right in plain sight. Use caution and advertise the difference between your referral line and your switchboard line. Routing your patient to the proper point of communication is a valuable first impression. With the right tools and resources in place, tracking and monitoring inbound phone calls can tie hospital revenue directly back to the patient who visited your website. • ake a call to action. Get the attention of page visitors with direct calls M to action. For example, along with the physician referral information and phone number, consider adding attention-grabbing text such as, "Need to make an appointment?" This helps prompt patients who have these questions to take action without having to click through countless pages. Hospitals and physicians should also consider online chat features to expand patient access to care. Information capture along the way through data download forms or from an inbound phone call or online chat can drive immediate follow-up and target marketing. • everage your website. With 80 percent of internet users looking for L health information online, 66 percent of those users are looking for information on diseases or current conditions.3 Take advantage of your online real estate by using it to host blogs, videos and other information. You can promote wellness tips that correlate with the current health observance, emphasize preventative care tips for chronic disease or host spotlight videos of actual physicians discussing these tips. Also, consider patient communities such as mom-to-be microsites. Be the source of truth for those planning to be moms, soon to be moms and current moms that are past patients. Create a wealth of information through interactive learning guides, videos, tips and message boards for your patients to interact with other moms in the community and associate that trust with

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