| Elective medical procedures including | | | | practice.Very briefly, search engine |
| cosmetic surgery and aesthetic/dermatological | | | | optimization is marketing strategy based on |
| services present a unique opportunity to | | | | targeting existing search engine traffic for |
| healthcare providers interested in marketing | | | | terms relating to specific medical |
| their services. Few insurance companies | | | | procedures. Something of a "black art" - |
| reimburse for these procedures and | | | | search engine optimization (SEO) is difficult |
| consequently patients are usually required to | | | | to implement effectively and results can vary |
| pay out-of-pocket. This shift in payment | | | | greatly between providers of SEO services, |
| process changes the market for elective | | | | however the rewards are considerable.Example: |
| procedures in a number of ways as the | | | | A prominent dermatologist recently contracted |
| patient:* - Can now choose any healthcare | | | | my firm to provide online marketing for her |
| provider they desire | | | | Los Angeles and Santa Monica dermatology |
| | | | practices. Los Angeles is widely recognized |
| * - Is more likely to comparison shop to | | | | as a destination locale for aesthetic |
| find the best/cheapest provider | | | | cosmetic procedures and this physician saw an |
| | | | opportunity to increase business by targeting |
| * - May travel significant distances to | | | | both local and national/international markets |
| visit their preferred providerAs a result of | | | | via online advertising and search engine |
| these changes, the market size for elective | | | | optimization. As of the date of this article, |
| procedures is effectively much larger than | | | | her site is ranked #1 on Google and MSN for |
| that for insurance-reimbursed services as | | | | "Los Angeles dermatologist" and she is seeing |
| patients can be sourced from outside of the | | | | a 40% increase in office appointments, all |
| provider's local geographic area. For | | | | made directly through her website.In this |
| example, skilled cosmetic surgeons are highly | | | | article I've focused mostly on cosmetic |
| sought after by patients in | | | | aesthetic services, however almost any type |
| high-socioeconomic populations and these | | | | of medical procedure where the patient is |
| patients are willing and able to travel | | | | granted some freedom in their choice of |
| significant distances in order to visit a top | | | | provider can benefit from online advertising. |
| surgeon. The large, potentially | | | | Other applicable areas include complex |
| international, population for these types of | | | | procedures relating to oncology or cardiology |
| elective procedures makes for a highly | | | | services. As more and more patients go online |
| competitive market - one that also happens to | | | | to research their healthcare options, online |
| be ideally suited to online advertising.When | | | | advertising will continue to grow as an |
| people think of online advertising they | | | | important part of any effective healthcare |
| typically think of banner advertisements, | | | | advertising campaign.Marshall Clark is |
| however new marketing strategies such as | | | | Founder and Principal Consultant of |
| search engine optimization and contextual | | | | FirstRanked Healthcare ( - a privately owned |
| advertising are currently providing better | | | | healthcare marketing agency specializing in |
| returns and, if applied intelligently, can be | | | | search engine marketing strategies for |
| far more effective at generating new patients | | | | pharmaceutical, medical device, and medical |
| and increasing business for a healthcare | | | | provider markets. |