Can Your Hospital Give Empowered “Health Care DIY” Consumers What They Want?

Michael Del Gigante, President of MDG Advertising

We live in a DIY age, observes Michael Del Gigante, President of MDG Advertising. Which is why it’s no wonder that consumers have eagerly hopped aboard the “DIY health care” train.

“People are increasingly comfortable with using everything from websites to activity sensors to monitor their own health, diagnose problems, and self-treat issues without having to deal with a professional in person. The nature of health care, and consumers’ increased focus on wellness and preventive care, is fundamentally, and rapidly, changing,” Del Gigante says.

“While initially this shift may seem like a headache for health systems, that’s not necessarily the case. Consumers engaging in DIY health care still very much need the knowledge and capabilities of reliable organizations. But they often want to access this expertise in substantially different ways from how they did in the past.”

What’s the best way for health systems to leverage this trend and give consumers the experiences they want? Del Gigante offers four proven approaches.

The first is simply to provide high-quality content. “A survey conducted by Rock Health found that 71 percent of Americans adults have looked for health information online, with questions about disease symptoms and prescription drugs being the most common queries,” Del Gigante says.

That same survey revealed that, after the initial search engine research, 45 percent of searchers have taken some sort of action, such as speaking with a physician, based on the information they found online.

Digital content has become the primary gateway for consumer engagement with health systems, Del Gigante notes: “If you want to be found, it is essential to provide a wealth of high-quality, search engine-optimized information and advice online.”

For Del Gigante’s other three essential strategies for giving consumers what they want when it comes to their online DIY health care activities, read the full article now: 4 Ways Health Systems Can Capitalize on the DIY Health Care Trend.

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President