How Do You Market Telemedicine?

Welcome To Prescription PR. A Leader in Healthcare Marketing.

In an ever-changing business landscape, it is a no brainer that technology has developed a method for patients to obtain medical care over the phone while still maintaining social distancing (which is unfortunately crucial these days). At Prescription PR we are dedicated to helping prompt some of the best features that your medical practice has to offer, and one of those features could be telemedicine. Our marketing team can strategically formulate a telemedicine marketing campaign to help show your patients that if they need to get in touch with a physical therapist/podiatrist/orthopedist/etc., they’ll still be able to obtain quality care virtually. Either over the phone or through online video chat.

Developing a Telemedicine Marketing Campaign

If you’re a practice that is making the adjustment to telemedicine due to the changing landscape of healthcare, the first step will be getting the word out to all of your patients. So that raises the question, what is the best way for you to reach your patients? Naturally, the best form of communication across a wide audience in 2020 is social media. At Prescription PR, we can formulate a social media campaign centered around telemedicine for your practice. We understand that the coronavirus is an ever-evolving situation, especially in the state of New York where cases are high, so it’s vital that you contact your current and new patients and inform them on your telemedicine strategy for caregiving.

Other options that we can explore in order to create a successful marketing strategy centered around telemedicine:

SEO/Blogs: Getting content onto your website regarding these developments could be crucial at this time. You want to keep your patients informed about your telemedicine program and how it can benefit them. A keyword plan could also be critical, as some patients who are stuck at home could be searching for a practice that offers telemedicine. You’ll want to make sure that they find your website when conducting these searches on Google.

Newsletter Marketing: While SEO may be your only resource in obtaining new patients for telemedicine at this time, newsletter marketing is also pivotal in helping you to keep your current patients. At Prescription PR, we construct our newsletters with imagery and context, and then we send them out to a list of patient emails that your practice can provide. This is done to provide updates to patients on recent developments, either to your office or to the healthcare industry as a whole. With the coronavirus outbreak, this form of marketing could be essential for your practice. Especially if you’re looking to get the word out about your newly founded telemedicine.

Importance of Keeping up With Technology

With the younger generation, a lot of them work more hours and have less time for themselves. So when it comes to their health, many young people make the unfortunate choice of putting their work first. Now if there was a way for them to consult with a physician and still be at work, then this could be a more appealing option. At Prescription PR we understand how the younger generations think and act, so promoting telemedicine for your practice is vital for your growth. We can offer campaigns that feature public relations, graphic design, content creation, and marketing consultations. All the messages you want to convey can be broadcasted to the target that you feel is most important.

What is Telemedicine?

Developed back in the 1950s, most healthcare practitioners needed a way to share information and images via telephone. Due to the limited technology of that era, they were restricted in the options that they could give patients (no smartphone back then!). However, thanks to the rise of the internet in later years, communication between doctor and patient suddenly saw some advancements. Through the use of smart devices and high-quality video transmission, developing technology opened several doors to help deliver remote healthcare to patients all over. Even while they are in their homes, workplace or assisted living facilities.

Benefits of Telemedicine

Naturally, the primary selling point of telemedicine is that as a patient, you can avoid taking a trip to your healthcare practice. Unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic that is sweeping our world has made telemedicine a much more desired healthcare service. Aside from the social distancing aspect, there are also many other benefits to using telemedicine that is convenient for both the patients and the providers. Some of these benefits may include a few of the following:

Less time away from work (especially if you’re working from home).
No travel expenses.
Less interference with child or eldercare responsibilities.
Privacy.
No exposure to other patients who are ill.

As a provider of healthcare, you may also benefit from incorporating telemedicine into your practices’ plan. These benefits can include some of the following:

A potential jump in revenue.
Improved office productivity.
An answer to the competitive threat of retail health clinics and on-line only providers.
Better patient follow up.
Less missed appointments and cancellations.
Giving your patients peace of mind during the coronavirus pandemic.

Telemedicine Marketing Campaigns & The Coronavirus

Healthcare marketing coronavirus strategies/services can be provided by our team at Prescription PR. With the presence of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare practitioners across the world are scrambling for effective methods to help combat the virus and keep their patients safe. Simultaneously, small businesses are also impacted by the coronavirus, due to a series of limitations that have now been placed on our society to help mitigate the virus’ spread. Factoring in our current situation as a civilization, how concerned should you be over your practices’ ability to survive in this now daily-changing predicament?

The need for healthcare in industries unrelated to COVID-19 treatment such as physical therapy, podiatry, sports medicine, and others is still a necessity for plenty of patients. The fact of the matter is that your typical patients who need help recuperating from an ACL tear, have bunions that need to be removed, or require strength training are still in need of their personalized healthcare as well. The question becomes, what are you doing to help keep your practice both in business and growing

Prescription PR, one of Long Island’s top healthcare marketing firms, works closely with medical practitioners who also operate as private, small business owners. We understand that these individuals could be facing challenges as a result of the pandemic, which is why we extend free consultation services to those who require guidance during these trying times. Presently, we are also extending information, strategy, and tips to our current clientele to help keep them in operation. Our thoughts on COVID-19 and how it can affect your healthcare practice (particularly for health care practices) are conveyed in this article, highlighting our telemedicine marketing campaigns.

What Are The Most Recent Developments Regarding The Coronavirus?

Naturally, information regarding the virus, its spread, and the efforts made by those in power are changing daily. We are giving you the most up to date information in this article as of March 18th 2020. The first reporting of cases by WHO occurred in late December 2019/early January 2020 out of Wuhan, China. On January 30th, the United States confirmed the first case of person to person transmission of the coronavirus. On March 11th, President Trump declared several travel restrictions (primarily from Europe) to help slow the spread of Covid-19. Two days later on March 13th, the coronavirus pandemic was declared a national emergency.

How Are Small Businesses Being Restricted Due To COVID-19?

Since then, local businesses including some healthcare practices have been limited as a result. These restrictions include limiting the number of people in social gatherings to a mere ten, and other large areas of a typical congregation are being forced to shut down. The president has also acknowledged that the economy will likely take a large hit due to these conditions.

How Does The Coronavirus Affect My Healthcare Practice?

For the most part, all aspects of healthcare have been taking a hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This was made evident by the surgeon general advising that all elective surgeries be postponed. The idea behind this plan is that inevitably, we will run out of hospital beds that are necessary for patients who have been infected. Along with the social limitations, healthcare practices could face concerns over patient volume and keeping themselves in business.

Keeping Your Patients Informed – Use Telemedicine Marketing Campaigns

Throughout all this chaos, the important aspect to keep in mind is that your patients’ needs should always come first. Advising them on all facts in regards to the virus could be critical. Because of the outpouring of information, some novel myths in regards to COVID-19 have been generated. As a healthcare professional, you must keep yourself informed on the facts while also conveying that information to both your patients and the general population. Something as simple as a headline on your websites’ homepage could certainly suffice.

Using Newsletters To Provide Patient Updates

Secondly, you must inform your patients on what’s being done at your location to help keep patients healthy and safe. If you’re ramping up your sanitary efforts, let them know. Truthfully, all healthcare practices should be taking a copious amount of time to keep their practices clean and sanitized. Again, a headline on the website regarding your efforts should do the job. For a more personal approach, newsletter marketing is an outstanding way to keep your patients informed. Newsletters are sent out to patients (whom you have emails) to inform them on any topic concerning your practice. The events surrounding the coronavirus bring this service to the forefront of necessity. Prescription PR offers newsletter marketing for our clients, and we have been sending these informational pieces out to patients on their behalf.

Social Media & Blog Updates For Your Patients

Finally, newsletters aren’t the only option for getting information out to your patients. Social media is also critical at this juncture, especially for those who are constantly refreshing their feeds for more facts regarding COVID-19. We advise you to keep your patients informed on your offices’ combative efforts through your social media accounts. Blog updates (if you have a blog page on your site) can also provide more detailed information. You can include facts about the virus, your offices’ combative efforts, and any other general information that couldn’t all fit into one singular social post.

Keeping Your SEO Efforts

In general, one of the most crucial aspects of modern day healthcare marketing revolves around the SEO industry. Search engine optimization is utilized to help keep your practices’ website at the very top of Google. This allows your practice to become more visible online and therefore increase your chances of obtaining new patients through the internet. Now more than ever, the need for SEO is critical. Maintaining yourself at the top of Google search results can help keep your practice in business and potentially be your only primary source for acquiring new patients.

Some Final Thoughts To Consider:

This is a trying time for everyone in our society. No one is exempt. The need for leadership during these times is vital, especially from those in the healthcare industry. We advise you to keep your message and values in mind and reinforce yourselves as a practice that puts your patients first.
Take advantage of any down time. Perhaps pursue innovations or ideas that you had in the past. The fact of the matter is that most businesses are going to see a decline. Instead of sitting and waiting for things to pick up, plan your strategy for the future and consider all options for growth.
If you have a marketing company that you work with, stay in touch with them. They’re here to help you and to keep you in business. Now more than ever, you need them to help keep your practice running.

Telemedicine

Are you a healthcare practice that can execute their treatment plans virtually? Telemedicine could be an option to explore. Virtual appointments allow you to give treatment to your clients while avoiding any of the actual person to person contact. If this is feasible for your operation, we strongly advise you to consider this option for your patients. They may feel more comfortable conducting treatment while also maintaining the social distancing initiative.

Prescription PR

Our team here at PPR wants to help the public, our clients, our employees and anyone else that has been affected by the spread of COVID-19. We hope that this article will help those who are in need and give them some needed guidance during these trying times. Should you want more information regarding our marketing services and how we can help your practice during this pandemic, please schedule an appointment or give us a call at 631-392-4255.

Thank you and please stay safe and healthy.