I have often talked with my clients about the Uber-ization of healthcare, or the advent of on-demand services that are compelling healthcare systems to be more responsive and transparent.
The Uber-ization of healthcare dovetails with another equally important trend: the Googling of healthcare. Dr. Google has always been an important force in healthcare, but throughout the past year, Google has been actively shaping the future of the industry. Three landmark moments stand out for me:
• In April 2015, the mobile-friendly update known as Mobilegeddon stepped up the pressure on healthcare systems to embrace the mobile age.
• The launch of the Google My Business API demonstrated vividly how location data is increasingly the foundation of location marketing.
• And now, Google is inventing the future for "near me micro-moments" by autocompleting near me searches for both mobile and desktop users, which challenges healthcare systems to be visible in the on-demand world that Uber is also shaping.
It's time for healthcare systems to strengthen their relationships with data amplifiers such as Google and Apple as those publishers shape the future of the industry.
Near Me Autocompletes
Google is encouraging the uptake of near me micro-moments by autocompleting our searches in both branded and non-branded categories.
Micro-moments, a term Google created, are "intent-driven moments of decision-making and preference-shaping that occur throughout the entire consumer journey." They occur when people start looking for things to do, places to go, and things to buy, usually by doing a search on their mobile devices.
Often, healthcare patients are looking for answers near them (e.g., "cardiologists near me"). Google understands this kind of search intent and is actually encouraging local micro-moments. Recently, I tested 142 non-branded keywords, including several healthcare keywords such as "cardiologists," "doctors," and "hospitals." When we searched for those keywords in Google (using private search), more than 90 percent autocompleted "near me" on desktop searches, and 78 percent autocompleted "near me" on mobile.
Google is anticipating that when people enter words such as "doctors" they probably intend to find something near their location, regardless of platform. And as healthcare becomes a more consumer-like experience, Google is making the patient journey a local one.
Mobilegeddon
In April 2015, Google issued a widely read report claiming that near me searches had increased 34 times since 2011, and that 80 percent of those searches were occurring on mobile devices. The same month, Google dropped the Mobile-Friendly algorithm update that nudged location marketing toward a future where we'd been heading.
Mobilegeddon expanded Google's use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal, which meant that businesses, including healthcare systems, with more mobile-friendly sites would rank higher in search results.
Google My Business API
Months after launching Mobilegeddon, Google dialed up the importance of location data management with the rollout of the Google My Business API to create and edit locations in Google My Business.
The API automates the management of location data such as name, address, and phone (NAP) information — in essence making it easier for businesses to manage their location data across the search ecosystem, ranging from Google Maps to search engine results.
The Google My Business API tells us that managing location data as a scalable asset is critical for businesses to be visible when people conduct the near me searches.
What Healthcare Systems Should Do
As Dr. Google continues to shape the healthcare journey, healthcare systems need to solve for mobile near me moments -- and location data is key.
Solve for Mobile Near Me Moments
According to Google, nearly half of patients who found hospitals on their mobile devices went on to schedule appointments, and the figure has no doubt increased since Google reported the data in 2012. Healthcare systems need to meet patients in those moments when patients are using their mobile devices to look for care.
For instance, healthcare systems need to optimize all their physician profiles for mobile searches and make sure that local pages share data that mobile searchers are more likely to seek, such as emergency care services. Healthcare systems also need to optimize their websites for mobile, including the all-important find-a-doctor locator, given how often patients go to websites for the express purpose of doing searches for in-network doctors.
Manage Location Data as a Precious Asset
Accurate location data -- such as the name, address, and phone number of a healthcare organization -- makes a healthcare system findable in the near me moments of search. Location data paired with compelling content converts these near me searches into "next moments" of forming patient relationships.
But healthcare systems face special challenges in being present through accurate location data. Large healthcare organizations that operate through campus environments have to manage a morass of different services spread out across multiple locations, each with their own names, locations, phone numbers, and hours of operation.
And healthcare businesses need to ensure that their complex networks of individual physician pages are findable and accurate, accounting for the reality that physicians operate out of different locations throughout the week.
The answer is for healthcare systems to develop sound location data management strategies that treat data as a scalable asset through ongoing management, distribution, and monitoring. Having a location data management strategy means a lot more than ensuring that your location data is accurate (as if doing so were not challenging enough). A location data management strategy also ensures that your data is accessible and findable everywhere near me searches occur.
For instance, healthcare systems need to ensure that all their location data is formatted correctly so that data syndicators such as Neustar Localeze and data publishers -- such as Google -- recognize your data and make it visible for people doing near me searches. For example, descriptions for all physicians need to include business-category level information such as "family practice physician" so that Google has an easier time finding those physicians.
A sound location data management strategy that makes your healthcare system visible for near me mobile moments ensures that you will be visible where and when people are looking for you, no matter the platform, location, or device.
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