Today, millennials make up most of the world’s population. They are tech-savvy and have a unique set of requirements that emphasizes digital technologies. Medical practices find it more challenging than ever to attract more millennials, as they need to grasp the ever-changing world of digital technology. But it is not so difficult to make your practice attractive to millennials.
Almost 100% of millennials use the Internet daily. Whether you like it or not, you need to utilize various digital technologies, such as social media and a business website, to attract millennials to your medical practice.
Let’s talk more about the methods that can help make your medical practice more attractive to millennials
Use Flexible Online Booking And Automatic Reminders
It is no secret that millennials prefer to book appointments online rather than over a phone call. 43% of patients prefer to book their appointments online, which will increase with each passing year.
Patients prefer to book online mainly because it saves time, and self-scheduling is a growing trend. They find instant access to available booking dates desirable, with no need to discuss options in person or over the phone.
According to Televox, 43,7% of medical practices that don’t use automatic reminders face patient no-show rates of over 10%. When medical practices do use automatic reminders, the patient no-show rates of over 10% happen to only 27,6% of medical practices. The evident decrease of no-shows to appointments makes automatic reminders quite desirable to make your practice attractive to millennials.
Another prevalent problem in medical practices is staff organization. The medical/health industry isn’t well-known for providing good work-life balance to its workforce. Furthermore, work in this industry is stressful, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, it faces a severe workforce shortage. This may require one employee to perform different tasks in one shift (for example, administration and patient care), which may lead to employee burnout and less engagement with patients.
That’s where flexible scheduling comes in. This is a collaborative process that saves time for your management, as you can efficiently place your workforce where they perform the best, and say goodbye to the surprise shifts that increase employee stress levels. Flexible scheduling isn’t so prevalent in this industry due to a lack of technology adoption.
Organizing your medical staff isn’t as tricky as before, thanks to flexible shift planning tools. Online appointment booking tools can have robust features that can plan your staff shifts according to booked appointments. Such tools can give a dramatic boost to your medical practice efficiency.
Create A Functional and Professional Website
A survey by Binary Fountain concludes that 60% of patients look online before choosing a medical practice for their specific needs. That’s why you need a professional and responsive website to make your practice attractive to millennials.
The first five seconds of page-loading time have the highest impact on conversion rates. Moreover, website conversion rates fall by an average of 4,42% with each additional second of load time. After all, millennials are notorious for their lack of patience, which translates splendidly to the Internet world.
Well-made, responsive, and mobile-friendly design is all proof of a professional website and medical practice. People find web design so crucial that as much as 57% of users won’t be likely to recommend a business with poor website design, according to Sweor.
The things you can do to create and improve your medical practice website are the following:
- Check and improve load times – you can use Google PageSpeed Insights to check how fast your website is loading and address the issues accordingly.
- Responsive design – use intuitive navigation, readable fonts, and all your relevant services consistently. Make sure that your site works and looks well both on mobile and desktop variants.
- Well-structured and helpful information – just as visual design, the consistent structure of reliable medical information is equally important. You want to provide professional advice that will make millennials book an appointment at your practice.
Prioritize Your Online Presence
As we noted in our first point, it is more important than ever to have a strong online presence in the medical/health industry. That’s why you want to do your best to make your medical practice appear on the most popular search engines. The numbers back this up, as 86% of people rely on the Internet to find a local business such as a medical practice.
To improve your online presence, you want to utilize some local SEO strategies. Make sure to list your practice on Google My Business and other local directories you can find. Here, you can list your website, contact, and opening hours info. Google’s almighty algorithm will look more favorable on your business, which can put it at an advantage over your competition.
After that, you also want to optimize your medical practice website for relevant keywords. You want to do that so your target users can reach your medical practice more easily on the Internet. For example, if you have a dental practice, optimize for “dental services in x” (x is the location) for more efficient segmentation of potential patients.
Build Trust On Social Media
Building trust online is important, especially when we are online more than ever before. According to Pew Research Center, 84% of millennials use at least one social media platform.
Moreover, Points Group states that 70% of social media users choose a specific medical practice based on recommendations by social media influencers. These facts make social media an obvious choice to make your practice attractive to millennials.
Think of your target audience — the millennials. You want to brainstorm about the information they want to get from your social media profile. Envision a few topics you want to communicate with your existing and potential patients.
Find the ideal platform that’s best for you and your target audience. LinkedIn is a great social media platform to ooze with a professional flair, as you can outline your education, experience, skills, and endorsements.
Facebook and Instagram are your go-to choices if you want a higher outreach – especially with potential millennial patients – where you can create and participate in discussions, and exchange valuable information.
Related – 7 easy steps to creating a Facebook page for your Clinic
Once you have your social media profiles in place, it’s time to build a personal flair and trust level with your patients. Start engaging with the community rather than just posting.
Request feedback and encourage your patients to share their experiences on their social media. That creates a positive bounce effect after some time. Moreover, you want to be more personal and share photos and videos from your medical office. People love a bit of a personal touch.
Constantly Improve Your Online Reputation
To make your medical practice or clinic more attractive to millennials, you want to pay extra attention to the reviews you get. After all, 87% of users believe online reviews are important in the medical/healthcare industry, according to Bright Local.
In addition, Levo Health concludes that 71% of millennials will use online reviews to find the ideal medical practice for their specific needs. This outlines how maintaining a positive online reputation is more important than ever before.
To maintain and improve your online reputation, you want to encourage your patients to provide positive feedback. You can do this in person or after the appointment, with surveys or a follow-up email. If you get any negative reviews, make sure to respond to them consistently to offer your point of view. More importantly, actively keep track of the feedback you get to maintain the professional image of your medical practice.
Also, Read – Five Tips to Grow Your Medical Practice in 2022
Utilize Custom Patient Portals
Digital communication is the future in the medical/health industry, and patient portals are one of the best means of digital communication between doctors and patients. Despite their widespread availability, only 17% of millennials use patient portals.
Still, custom patient portals can be a great way to compile all the information your patients need, such as test results, personal health records, and additional forms before their appointment. Yes, patient portals have their limitations, but they are constantly becoming more patient-oriented and user-friendly.
What is more, you want to step up with the quality of your custom patient portal and include a medical billing solution. That way, you can share price estimates and accept patient payments online – something millennials will greatly appreciate.
Digital Technology Shapes The Future Of Medical Practices
As nearly 50% of people use digital technology to communicate with medical experts, it is more than evident that it is driving the medical/health industry forward.
As millennials replace the older generations, we are more influenced by technology. That’s why you should use all the digital technologies available to make your practice attractive to millennials.
Related – How to Boost Patient Numbers with Digital Marketing Techniques
About the Author:
Derek Jones (VP Enterprise Strategy, Americas)
Derek spearheads key initiatives at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets, and communication. With a focus on Healthcare, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor costs in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years of experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.
