In 2012 a substantial majority of people in the U.S. (72%) reported having used the internet to find healthcare information in the previous 12 months. And 77% of those said they started with a search engine.

Yet, a 2015 survey of marketers working for health care organizations revealed that 90% don’t have digital skills sophisticated enough to take full advantage of this opportunity. Aids such as physician referral tracking software are foreign to many operations still not fully integrated with advancements in technology.

As the population has become more accustomed to going online to take care of personal business, they often do their research prior to making actual contact with a business or provider. Statistics show that 77% of patients used a search engine before they booked an appointment for medical care.

Primary care physicians, bogged down spending an inordinate time on paperwork and administrative duties that they could be devoting to patient care, have had to learn new ways to function in order to stay competitive. The digital age has brought advances that offer new ways to make medical care more efficient and cost-effective. The old paper filing methods cost a practice about $20.00 a document, and looking for one that’s been misfiled results in $125.00 of lost productivity. Now, employing state-of-the art management software streamlines the operation and allows the doctor(s) to see more patients.

These days, we expect to see websites for doctors, and a medical website design that offers visitors sophisticated options and easy-to-find information is more likely to bring in patients. 75% of survey respondents say they make judgments about credibility based upon that one factor. Features such as informational videos, physician referral tracking software and even blogs and reviews enhance the prospective patient’s experience and help to form a positive initial impression.

A functional website design, digital management of office operations, accounting and patient records, proprietary programs such as physician referral tracking software and awareness of the reality that we are more and more becoming a mobile society (with the number of smartphone users growing 42% a year) will make any medical office vastly more productive and responsive to those who may seek its services.