It’s no secret that health care is a hot topic right now. Combine the debate over the reform bill and the growing demand of quality care, and there are many opportunities for hospitals to reach out to an audience craving more information.
This past spring, Ad-ology released a report on what media most influence patients. Researchers surveyed the nearly 41 million U.S. adults who visited a hospital or urgent care center recently. The findings from this report can help hospitals decide what media to use to communicate with specific audiences.
As for messaging, quality of care ranked the highest among patients as the most important factor when choosing a hospital (considered “very important” by 80%). While this is not surprising, it was surprising to see where patients found information to choose a hospital.
“Online media influenced nearly half of recent patients at hospitals or urgent care centers, revealing the Internet as a powerful tool in regards to consumers’ choice of where they receive care.”
More specifically, hospital Web sites had the most overall influence (approximately 29%), followed by Health Web sites, which influenced 27% of these patients.
Nearly 40% of recent patients were influenced by social media, particularly comments and reviews. This shows that patients are asking for others’ opinions to determine the quality of care at a hospital.
How does this compare to traditional media?
“Approximately 32% of recent patients of a hospital say traditional media influenced their decision of where to go. Television had the most influence (22.3%), followed by newspapers (21.9%).”
So while nearly half of recent patients went online, and another 40% used social media, only 32% were influenced by traditional media. This suggests a shift in how people are choosing which hospital to go to.
What does this mean for health care marketers?
Online and social media present an opportunity for hospitals to increase top-of-mind awareness. Primarily, hospitals should make sure they have a Web site with important information that is easy to find and navigate.
Additionally, it is important to have a section on a hospital’s Web site where patients and potential patients can seek each other’s opinions, either in the form of comments, reviews or a forum.
This is also a good time for hospital to make the leap into mainstream social sites like Facebook. This provides a superior level of interaction between patients and between a patient and the hospital.
In fact, Forbes.com recently featured an article, “How The Internet Is Changing Health Care,” which outlined what online media hospitals are using right now and how. The top online media currently being used by hospitals include:
- Blogs (Sharing Mayo Clinic, a blog operated by the Mayo Clinic)
- Facebook (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Social Networking Support Groups (Patients Like Me)
- Virtual Tours (Palomar Pomerado Health, a hospital system in the San Diego, Calif., area)
- Twitter (Henry Ford Hospital, or @HenryFordNews)
- Online Video and YouTube (Akron General in Ohio)
Influencing a patient should and can begin well before a decision of what hospital to go to actually occurs. A hospital can now be in front of its audience’s eyes to raise awareness by providing relevant information and interaction.
* All data provided by Ad-ology Research “Media Influence on Consumer Choice: Hospitals + Urgent Care Centers” Spring 2009
