their patient population,” she says. However, in certain more progressive clinics, EMR data is used to determine potential clinic service offerings, for example. “Using their EMR data to look at all of their patients with diabetes, for example. They would say, ‘Ok, if we have x number of patients with diabetes, and a lot of them require foot care, let’s hold a foot care clinic.’ “The other thing, and again this is relatively nascent stages, is the use of EMR data for preventative care for things like screening. How can you use your EMR to trigger you to remind a patient that they need to be screened for whatever condition?” Data is also important in providing critical information to support financial and operational decisions in practice, Laverdiere says. Collecting data for things like the number of patients completing their recommended care, patient wait times, appointment cancellations, and team meetings can all provide clinic owners insights into their day-to-day clinic operations. “These are all different things that can be collected depending on the type of system you have and help you make decisions on how to run your practice,” he says. Like Hunter, Laverdiere believes data analytics in health-care practices leaves so much to be desired and hasn’t really reached full potential – and it’s an educational process as much as it’s a technology issue. “Some chiropractors might not even think to collect that data or even look at that data. So I guess coaching comes into play there,” Laverdiere notes. 24 Canadian Chiropractor December 2017 Marketing The internet provides a vehicle for health providers to reach existing and potential patients in a whole different level. It enables engagement without necessarily having them at the clinic physically. In recent years, many chiropractors have started to embrace social media – mainly, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook – in the hopes of establishing a social media network that they can then leverage to push out their content and build up their reputation as health experts. Blogs and videos are gaining traction as the content delivery of choice for digital marketing. In the 2016 Canadian Chiropractor Trends and Practice Survey, 71 per cent of respondents maintain at least one social media account, with the majority using Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Twitter. “We are definitely seeing that the chiropractor who is going to get the most new patients is going to be the one that’s going to show up number one in Google search,” Laverdiere says. Practices need to compete for higher Google ranking, especially in larger communities where competition is higher, because when patients search online, the higher the doctor’s or clinic’s name is on that search result, the better the likelihood that patient is going to connect with that practice. Original content like videos and blogs are always going to get high index ratings by Google, and therefore have a higher chance of showing up on top of search results. “Videos are huge,” Laverdiere points out. “We’re seeing a lot of chiropractors doing this… they’re putting out little tips and that’s what patients want to see. They want to see a health tip – something that’s 20 to 30 seconds long – and they’re very, very powerful when they’re in video format.” Websites are also becoming a vehicle for health practices to deliver unique content to their audience/patients. The more dynamic and content-rich websites are the ones that will gain more eyeballs online, which can turn into new patients. Websites are no longer just static web pages that provide information about a clinic or health professional’s background, services and location. It is increasingly becoming a communication tool to provide its visitors useful content that is always fresh. This is a trend in the marketing world that is increasingly picking up in the health-care space. Tips, how-tos and short articles about specific health conditions or treatment techniques are only some of the content that doctors are putting up on their websites – and they are using their social media accounts to draw people to their content. “Chiropractors are using tools like Facebook to get their name out there,” Laverdiere says. However, the trend seems to be moving away from Facebook and toward Instagram and Twitter, he adds. The brevity and almost instantaneous response that these social media tools offer are what attracts people to them. “I think chiropractors that are relying on their Facebook business page are going to have to make some shifts and www.canadianchiropractor.ca
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