Doctors have challenging jobs. They not only have to balance the pressures of treating a patient but also deal with the administrative tasks that come with it. In such a scenario, marketing your medical practice for the digital age becomes doubly important. Marketing is essential to creating awareness of your services and helping potential patients find you online or in local directories. It helps build trust among existing and potential patients by demonstrating that you are knowledgeable in your field and trustworthy as an expert on a particular topic. If you’re looking to market your medical practice for the digital age, this guide will help you get started.
What Does Digital Transformation Mean for Your Medical Practice?
The world has become increasingly digital. This means that how people consume information has also changed. Earlier, most people would go to a library and read books to gather information. Today, people would instead look up information on the internet. Even doctors rely on digital platforms to collect information about their field of study. This shift toward a more digitally focused society has benefited medical practitioners because it has allowed them to connect with patients on a more personal level. Before the rise of the internet, it was harder for patients to share their concerns with their doctors because they had no online forums or tools to use. With the internet and the wide range of digital tools available to people, it has become easier for patients to reach out to others and share their frustrations, challenges, and solutions.
What practices are allowed, and which practices are disallowed as per professional ethics in India?
A few practices are disallowed under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulation, 2002. These include advertising in any form, giving a guarantee, making a claim, providing details of previous successes in treatment, promising to cure, making excessive charges, or prescribing unnecessary investigations or services. Apart from these, there are certain things that every professional medical needs to keep in mind while advertising their medical practice. Your advertisements should violate any of the practices mentioned above, and you should balance them with accurate details about your services. You can find more information about the same in the Indian Medical Council Ethical Guidelines for Commercial Transactions by Doctors.
Why Is Marketing so Important in the Medical Profession?
You are mistaken if you think your patients will find you on their own. According to a study, only two out of five patients who need medical assistance visit a doctor. The rest either self-medicate or don’t get the treatment they need. In such a scenario, marketing your medical practice for the digital age becomes doubly important. It allows you to reach out to a broader audience that may not have heard of your medical practice before. Marketing also helps bring in new patients and enables you to build relationships with them before they even visit you. You have to be careful with marketing your medical practice, though. You have to make sure you don’t make false claims, use too much jargon, or pressure patients into visiting you. This is where the Indian Medical Council Ethical Guidelines for Commercial Transactions by Doctors come in handy. It helps you understand what you can and can’t do in your advertisements to promote your medical practice.
5 Ways to Market Your Medical Practice for the Digital Age
Marketing your medical practice in the digital age is all about finding the best platforms for you. You can’t just choose a random digital platform and expect it to work for you. Each one of them has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. You need to identify which one you are most comfortable with and then work towards using them for your benefit. Here are five ways to market your medical practice for the digital age
- Create a website for your medical practice.
- Write on social media.
- Write blogs.
- Host webinars.
- Get listed in online directories.
Bottom line
Marketing your medical practice for the digital age is essential to helping patients find you and build trust in you. It’s also important to know what practices you can use to advertise your medical practice and what you can’t do. If you want to promote your medical practice online, make sure you choose the right platforms.
