The answer is clearly yes.
Medicine is more a business today than ever, and those who don’t advertise out of ethical or moral concerns place themselves at a significant disadvantage in the marketplace.
That being said, I think that physician and hospital promotions have to be done tastefully, as there are limits to what kind of ads that are acceptable for patients.
Rather than spending money on expensive newspaper or billboard ads, simply optimizing your website for search engines is powerful and inexpensive.
More and more patients are searching for their doctors on Google, entering keywords like “Nashua primary care” or “Massachusetts primary care“.
Having your name or website rank high is provides value and is quite effective in promoting your practice.
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{ 2 comments }
I understand your bias toward online advertising, but the best strategy is to make use of multiple media – print and broadcast, as well as online.
Most people do not exclusively rely on the Web when seeking out local services. There is also a value to repeating and reinforcing your advertising message in a variety of media that reach the widest demographic possible.
Finally, may I say that exclusive online advertising is, well, elitist? Many people can’t or won’t use computers – including, to my own personal knowledge, more than a few health care professionals. Some of them aren’t comfortable with the technology, or haven’t gotten into the habit of using the Internet to search for local health care. Maybe they can’t afford to have a computer, or can’t afford to pay the monthly fee for a good broadband connection. Many rural areas simply don’t have good Internet service available. And many physician practices and community hospitals don’t have the resources to invest in an attractive, up-to-date Web site, or have chosen to spend their resources on other things, such as patient care.
Technology is awesome, but it creates a whole new class of haves and have-nots. I respectfully submit that your advice to ignore your local newspapers and radio in favor of online advertising will serve only to widen this gap in ways that don’t bode well for the future.
You might equate internet web sites as advertisements, but when coupled with ‘Google’ as a search engine you have instantaneous yellow pages, with lookup features, by specalty,location, and features. Very cost effective…..
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