Healthcare**
**by Larry Small**
Congress' debate on healthcare has sparked many different opinions
about the right path for the future of healthcare insurance.
Regardless of where that debate is headed, all Americans share the
same challenge at one point or another: finding good healthcare.
And that's where local search comes in—to help connect medical
professionals with patients.
Recently, Dennis Fromholzer at CRM Associates analyzed some data
points from Knowledge Networks that show healthcare accounts for 14
percent of all Yellow Pages usage—or roughly one out of every seven
uses. In 2008, there were 2.4 billion references to healthcare
headings in the Yellow Pages, both print and online. Five
headings—Physicians, Dentists, Chiropractors, Hospitals, and
Pharmacies—account for over 75 percent of healthcare references.
Over the last few years, we've also seen a proliferation of
vertical web sites that offer local search tools and user reviews to
help consumers find local medical professionals. They range from the
all encompassing Angie's List <http://www.angieslist.com>
and CitySearch <http://www.citysearch.com>
to the more specific like webMD Physician Finder
<http://doctor.webmd.com/physician_finder/home.asp>
, Find A Doctor <http://www.findadoc.com>
and New York City-based Zoc Doc <http://www.zocdoc.com>
.
Online local search options are even spreading beyond simply finding
a doctor to finding health insurance as well—an inherently very
local task given the nature of the insurance industry and a wide array
of state laws. Healthcare.com <http://www.healthcare.com>
made a presentation at the recent Kelsey Group Directional Media
Strategies conference about the growing opportunities for insurance
providers to use online local search tools to market themselves.
So what does all this mean for the local healthcare professional or
practice wanting to build a clientele of patients? For starters, it
means taking stock of all the tools available to you, from print
yellow pages, internet yellow pages, city listings sites and local
search verticals to determine which will reach your intended audience.
Depending on the community and demographic desired, this may be a mix
of tools, or possibly all of them.
I think in this evaluation, it's very important to consider which
mediums people trust most. A yellow pages ad can offer legitimacy,
while a featured listing on an internet yellow pages site can attract
high viewership via a Google search.
Once the medium has been selected, it's critical to spend some time
on the message. Look at what other healthcare professional are sayings
in their listings and ads, and determine what message and ad format
will differentiate against others in the profession.
Finally, word of mouth is critical. And by word of mouth, it's not
only the referrals you hear from family or friends in every day
discussion, but also what others are saying online. A simple tweet
about a great doc can drum up new clients for a practice. Likewise, a
user-generated review on local sites that allow them can be critical
in attracting, or scaring away, potential patients.
I think it's safe to say that whatever happens in Congress,
patients will continue to turn to local search tools to find
accessible healthcare. Our role as local search agents will not
change, and in fact, may only get greater as changes to the system
will only prompt additional questions. Our job will be to continue to
provide the most relevant information for the millions and millions of
Americans who rely upon local search to make some of the most
important decisions for themselves and their families.
Opinions expressed in the article are those of the author, and not
necessarily Search Engine Land.
Larry Small <http://searchengineland.com/author/larry-small/>
brings nearly three decades of Yellow Pages and local search
experience, as Director of Research for the Yellow Pages Association
<http://www.ypassociation.org>
(YPA). Larry spearheads and advises on all association-driven
research activities for the industry, as well as blogs about the
industry on the InsideYP <http://www.insideyp.com>
blog. <http://searchengineland.com/author/larry-small/>
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