Do Patients Choose Their Doctors Online?

May 11, 2020 | General, Healthcare

Woman sitting on the sofa while making video call over laptop with her doctor.

To this day, our team at Lenz is regularly asked: Do patients really choose their doctors and care team online? The answer, of course, is a resounding yes.

Lenz Marketing, Atlanta’s lead healthcare marketing agency, has always known the benefits and importance of digital marketing for medical organizations. For years, we’ve worked with our clients to generate successful campaigns that allow prospective patients to find them online at the right time, and with the right message. 

Here are some important statistics that illustrate how healthcare decisions are being made online.  

  • 5% of all Google searches are health-related. 
    • About 57% of baby boomers have searched for healthcare and wellness information in the past few years. 
    • 43% of millennials are likely to find new health care practices to start visiting regularly in the next few years. 
  • Search drives 3x more visitors to hospital sites compared to non-search. 
  • 83% of patients say they visited a hospital’s website before they ever made an appointment. 
    • However, 61% of patients often compare at least two different hospitals before picking their location. 
  • “Near-me” searches related to health-care have doubled since 2015. 
  • 88% of those looking for health information start with search engines, such as Google or Bing. 
  • 48% of patients spent two weeks researching before booking an appointment.  
  • 84% patients trust online reviews as much as recommendations from people they know. 
  • These percentages represent the number of people who googled information before scheduling an appointment with a particular type of healthcare professional:
    • 67% clinics.
    • 69% hospitals.
    • 71% dentists.
    • 71% physicians and surgery.
    • 74% optometrists. 
    • 84% physical therapists.
  • When patients come across a paid search ad, they:
    • conduct searches for more information: 26%.
    • begin the research process: 38%.
    • visit the website of the treatment center that was advertised: 39%.
    • consider a treatment center that was advertised: 36%.

All this to say, the internet will continue to be an invaluable space for healthcare organizations to reach new and existing patients. Is your practice prepared? If you’re unsure, we’d love to have conversations about how Team Lenz can help. 

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