Promoting your medical services online

For those who missed it I have another article published in Pulse IT's May edition titled Promoting your medical services online on pages 32-35 following on from the previous article A doctor's website - a growing necessity? which has now also been republished on the Australian Federation of Medical Women website.

The article begins as follows:

This article is the second in a two part series devoted to websites for medical practices. The first article outlined the reasons doctors might establish an online presence, such as attracting new patients or providing information to existing patients. In this article we will look at the options available to build your reputation online and monitor the effectiveness of your online presence.

Building a reputation online is a multi-faceted process as people seek information using a variety of methods for a variety of purposes: a potential patient will typically go to a directory to find someone with relevant experience when they already know they need those services. However, where they are seeking information about a condition or treatment they may ask their friends, read books or hopefully consult a medical practitioner.

As shown in Table 1, all online promotion methods have parallels to traditional advertising and promotion methods.

Read the rest of Promoting your medical services online or in the May printed edition.

Feel free to comment or discuss the contents of either article on this blog.

More to come: Over the coming weeks I plan to revisit the topic of creating a website and introduce a few ways that have come to my attention to get a web presence. I plan to profile both HealthEngine and YourHealth but if you are aware of any other services or one you have found useful please point it out so I can profile them.