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Position Yourself For The Future

By Jay Levine, VP of Marketing PBHS
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As seen in the March 2000 edition of the AAOMS Newsletter: Practice Management Notes


While most patients search the Internet for healthcare related content (Medline searches have increased to over 100 million searches per month from 10 million just a year ago), only a small percentage of patients are utilizing the Internet to find healthcare providers. In most cases, these patients are looking for physicians who provide elective procedures. For example, within the scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery, the search phrase "dental implants" is the most requested oms keyword on the Yahoo directory.

But just as we’ve seen tremendous growth in web based healthcare related content, we will also see the Web become a de facto provider directory. How can it not? According to Juniper Communications, if you break down media penetration in U.S. households, you will find the Internet to be the fastest growing advertising vehicle – at the expense of other media. Newspapers and yellow page advertising have lost as much as 15 percent to the Web.

Medium Household Penetration 2

* Radio 99%
* Television 98%
* Magazines 81%
* Cable 62%
* Newspapers 59%
* Internet 29%

That is why it is so important to position yourself for the future, which is just around the corner. As users become more advanced and Internet technologies become ubiquitous, utilizing the Internet to promote the practice to prospective patients is becoming more common place. < back | next >

^{1,2 Juniper Communications, eMarketer}