Internet Strategy for Hospitals, Clinics, and Medical Practices

Healthcare reform and the state of our economy have increased the need for hospitals, clinics, and medical practices to use the Internet effectively. In a highly competitive environment, intelligent use of the Internet can define the difference between winners and losers.

Intelligent use begins with an understanding how people are actually using the Internet in 2011 — now that speaking with your target audiences has become at least as important as speaking to them. By using social media to interact with people in your service area and beyond, you're demonstrating that your institution is engaged and trustworthy.

We can help you update your medical practice, hospital, or clinic's Internet strategy. We particularly welcome the challenge of helping institutions that need to be more competitive as healthcare reform unfolds.

We can help you evaluate your current website so that you can be confident that it meets 21st-century standards and expectations.
We can help you develop a social media strategy that's fully integrated with your overall marketing strategy, including a social media policy that addresses your own specific situation.
We can teach you what we know about monitoring and managing your online reputation, or we can take care of reputation management for you.
We can help you and your colleagues learn how to use Twitter competently and effectively so that it can be a customer service tool that benefits your hospital, clinic, or medical practice.
If you like, we can discuss how your organization's culture may be impacting your strategy — because culture will trump strategy, every time.

Background: The Evolution of the Ways People Use the Internet

You could think of the evolutionary process this way:

During the 1990s, websites began to appear, and we surfed the Web to see what we could find.
During the 2000s, people optimized their websites for the search engines and we searched for what we were looking for.
Now we share our thoughts, opinions, and videos using social media — and we converse with family and friends, and collaborate with colleagues.
You may find my own notes on social media's place in the history of the Internet helpful.

Evolution doesn't involve one thing replacing another. We still surf and search, and that's not likely to change. But even search isn't nearly as important as it was just a few years ago.

Because people aren't using the Internet in the same way they used to, you may have to modify your Internet strategy in some fundamental ways. Just having a website, even a good one, is no longer enough. Many hospitals, clinics, and medical practices need to fine-tune their websites and intelligently incorporate social media into an integrated online and offline strategy.

Contact Tom Sherlock at tom@coloradohealthcareheritage.org to discuss how our web-based services can upgrade your Internet strategy for this new competitive environment.

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