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BUSINESS ADVISOR
Joan Dentler, MBA
When Patients Google You, What Will They Find?
Keys to creating your facility's online persona.
G
o online. Search
for your hospital
"LIKE" A social media presence
encourages positive comments and lets
you deal with negative ones quickly.
or surgery center.
Click through the pages
of results and see where
your facility is mentioned.
Any surprises? Then
search your physicians
and look at the results. Finally, visit your own website and click
around. You just simulated what many of your patients — particularly
the younger ones — do when their procedures have been scheduled
at your facility.
The new outpatient surgery consumers (see "Ready for the New
Healthcare Consumer?" January, page 10) rely more on technology to
research and decide about their care, so you can't afford anything less
than a strong and impeccable online presence. Here's why investing in
your Internet visibility is vital to your facility's successes, and which
areas to focus on.
Changing landscape
The old way: You had a website with your address, phone number,
types of procedures performed, names of physicians and, if you were
M A R C H 2013 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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