For most adults, the use of the Internet and other electronic communications is second nature – yet when it comes to the adoption of patient portals, the majority of practices report overall averages of just 30%. Why so low? A recent survey carried out by Accenture clearly showed a high amount of interest, around 90%, in digital tools, such as portals, but patients just aren’t using them.

This week, CEO John Deutsch was quoted in an EMR Daily News article about how to get patients to log in to patient portals and keep using them to manage their health. While patient portals have become central to discussions of Meaningful Use and key tools for patient engagement, they remain vastly underutilized. EMR Daily News put forth three essential strategies for making sure that you portal successfully reaches patients.

It’s no secret that women are the primary decision-makers for consumer goods in the majority of households. And as much as 80-90% of all healthcare decisions are made or influenced by women. Yet it appears that the healthcare industry isn’t talking to women, failing to take into account their unique perspectives and experience as they develop and launch their marketing campaigns.

The ongoing transformation of the healthcare industry is constantly presenting new opportunities and challenges. The shift towards a digitally empowered generation of healthcare consumer is already underway; according to Pew Research, as much as 72% of patients routinely turn to the Internet for information about doctors, hospitals and medical treatments.

Mobile health technology is proving to be a win-win solution for patient wellness and profitability for health care organizations. The development and adoption of mobile medical apps has helped to bridge the gap between patient and provider, and there are no signs of the market slowing down. In fact, it is estimated that by the end of 2017, demand for medical apps could outpace supply by as much as one-to-five. 

The relationship between the healthcare industry and social media has historically been a complicated one – while it gave patients and practitioners a new way to connect, it also gave rise to industry-specific issues, such as privacy breaches and patient confidentiality.

Healthcare organizations may have been relatively slow to jump into digital marketing, but recent research points to hospitals now placing a greater emphasis on content marketing.

Since the amount of mobile traffic now accounts for more than half of all internet traffic (overtaking traffic from desktop computers), healthcare organizations must have a mobile strategy in place or face the risk losing business.

Email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with your patients. One study found that the average office worker spends around 3.1 hours per day reading and answering personal email. Email ad revenue has also reached $156 million per year, and for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment for businesses is $44.25.

Are you confused about Meaningful Use (MU), or having trouble meeting the requirements? Trying to understand the CMS’s EHR Incentive Program can be incredibly overwhelming. Nearly 209,000 eligible providers will be receiving Medicare payment cuts for not meeting MU, down from 257,000 previously. The eligible provider penalties range from less than $1,000 to $10,000, while the penalties for eligible hospitals are much higher.