Patients come to your practice every day with a specific need. As a medical provider, it is your goal to meet most, if not all of your patients’ medical needs. What happens when your patient has a need that is not brought up during a visit because they do not know that they should bring it up – or even worse, that you can help? This disconnect is experienced by many medical providers, however, there is a way to combat it. By using point of care marketing, you can make the most of the time patients are in your practice through education and targeted advertising.

The term “point of care” refers to the place where an individual receives medical treatment. This includes such places as hospitals, urgent care centers, physicians’ offices, medical spas and more. When you begin marketing at the point of care, you provide your patients with valuable medical information and educate them on how you can help. Over time, this increases revenue.

Let’s face it; patients spend a lot of time waiting at the doctors’ office. You can’t get more captive an audience as one waiting to be seen by the provider. This is the perfect time to educate them on the breadth of services your facility offers. Patients are 23% more likely to take action after seeing an ad at the point of care versus a print or television advertisement. This is because physicians are a trusted information resource for patients. They want to know what you recommend. In fact, according to the Archives of Family Medicine, 80% of patients want educational information provided at their physician’s office.

Marketing at the point of care can be done in a variety of ways. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through digital signage. Digital signage uses large television screens to broadcast a specific program based upon the services offered by your practice. There are several digital signage providers to choose from, each providing its own unique way of delivering educational information to patients. Such companies are typically affordable and have an excellent return on investment for the practice.

By actively engaging patients when they are the most receptive to what your practice has to offer, you open the door to another potential revenue source. Your patients become more knowledgeable on the conditions that may be ailing them and understand how your practice can help.