Patients are participating in their healthcare choices, forcing the healthcare industry to become more sophisticated and creative and address healthcare marketing myths. Engaged patients are delving into controlling their care and options afforded by their insurance plan and searching for new treatments via the Internet.

As a result, the healthcare industry is beginning to understand how vital marketing strategy can be to the practice’s revenue. Understanding the process is crucial if the patient begins with a social media shout-out to find a new provider or looks to Google for advice. 

Benefits of Healthcare Marketing Strategies

Medical and behavioral health practices are beginning to realize the importance of developing a solid marketing strategy to reach potential patients. In addition, debunking healthcare marketing myths is a valuable learning process and assists with increasing your understanding of online marketing.

Professional healthcare consultants can help obtain data proving the effectiveness of a solid online presence. The goal is to increase visibility and differentiate your practice from the competition. Professional healthcare consultants are familiar with the data patients seek to make their healthcare decisions. 

The benefit of increasing a healthcare presence online is increased revenue by building a solid patient base. Effective marketing strategies can set your practice apart from your competitors and drive new patients to your door. Understanding how to present the benefits to your physicians is essential. Before healthcare marketing myths are brought to you, learn the facts first. 

The benefits of a solid healthcare marketing strategy for medical and behavioral health practices include the following:

• Increases a solid patient base by engaging patients with strong communication of your services and treatment options.
• Offers referral options from local physicians who have viewed your services online.
• Develops thought leadership from providers in practice forming trust in potential patients. 
• Promotes specialized service opportunities and capabilities available in practice.
• Inviting opportunities for potential patients to read reviews, ask questions, be educated, and interact with the practice. 

Common Healthcare Marketing Myths

Practice managers or administrators may find their providers strongly believe in common healthcare marketing myths. Debunking these myths is essential to obtaining the facts before presenting the marketing strategy to the physicians. Finally, selling the concepts to the physicians helps them engage with the potential patient base. 

Providers may believe the following healthcare marketing myths:

• They don’t need to invest in healthcare marketing because they have enough patients. Patients in this area already know who they are so they don’t need more. However, if anything is true about society today, demographics are constantly changing. Another truth is the competition can be intense. Providers offering new treatments, simplified communication options, and online educational opportunities can force a change.
• People don’t click on advertisements for doctors; online advertising is just unethical. The data proves people search online for healthcare providers. It’s also proven to grow a practice. Healthcare is a competitive business, and advertising is very ethical. Honest communication about your practice’s services is welcome and sought-after information by people looking to find care. 
• Online marketing is too expensive. Those looking to cut costs don’t want to cut their marketing budget. Marketing is a revenue booster, not a cost center. Investing money in marketing and seeing the growth of the practice increase revenues. Professional data can debunk this myth quickly. “Spending the minimum on digital is good enough,” is another myth quickly debunked. 
• Social marketing is free, why not just post our information there? Social marketing involves extensive time, resources and in some cases, fees for additional information. Time for personnel working the social media is not free. Social media also may add fees for any type of advertising. Despite this, social media is an effective marketing tool, but not the only marketing strategy.

Pros and Cons of Online Healthcare Marketing

Behavioral healthcare is expanding its boundaries with telehealth visits, following the medical communities existing opportunities. The pandemic began the vital changeover for medical insurance to accept telemedicine for payments. Debunking healthcare marketing myths concerning how vital these services are has been proven in the data. Behavioral health practitioners are lowering their fees to take self-pay payments because insurance companies are still not up to speed as they are with medical providers. Educational opportunities for telemedicine can be indicated on a professionally built website. 

Compelling data provided by patient satisfaction can be a pro to online marketing. Many potential patients are reading patient reviews for both medical and behavioral health practices. Likewise, healthcare practices can monitor the demographics visiting their websites. Healthcare marketing myths can be easily debunked by personnel using the tools afforded them through their online presence. 

Of course, there are disgruntled patients who will post given the opportunity. These opportunities are beneficial in the long run for the practice to remedy mistakes and turn a negative into a positive. Professionals educated in utilizing online data collected in both social media and website portals can use all information to fine-tune and direct their information to the desired demographics. Just as electronic health record software has emerged, you must be educated and understand the potential it affords the practice.

Debunk Healthcare Marketing Myths in Florida

If you are considering the essential component of online healthcare marketing in your Florida practice, Bloom Healthcare Consulting is an experienced healthcare resource. Our professional healthcare consultants are well-versed in forming marketing strategies, debunking healthcare marketing myths, and educating administrators where needed. Online marketing holds vital opportunities for collecting valuable patient information.

Contact Bloom Healthcare Consulting now to begin your journey in a solid marketing strategy.