Since 2016, the majority of physicians in the U.S. have not been independent.
Healthcare systems have been acquiring private practices aggressively for many years. O
This is supposed to be a benefit to each physician. But is it really?
5 Reasons A Hospital Employed Physician Need Their Own Website
1). Your Compensation Model Includes RVUs
Being on any type of RVU compensation model means that to some degree, you a responsible for generating the income you want.
In that case, it’s helpful to think of yourself as the business owner. Because you are. You’re the owner in the business of you.
2). The Hospital Marketing Department Is Unlikely To Promote You
If you work for a hospital system, you’ve probably heard the management team there refer to you as a “provider.”
Every physician I have ever spoken to hates that term, but in reality, that perfectly describes how the hospital views you. Another provider.
Typically, they do not have much of a stake in your personal success. Plus, their marketing department has a responsibility to promote the system, not individual physicians.
3). Having Your Own Website And Patient Flow Gives You Contract Negotiating Power
Having patients who are loyal to you, and can find you independently of the hospital system can be a tremendous asset in contract negotiations.
Especially if they potentially risk losing your volume and have you take a large number of patients with you.
4). You Will Have Freedom From the Hospital System
Building off of my last point, wouldn’t you want to have the freedom to go independent or to another hospital system if you wanted, and still have a way to take your patients with you?
Even if you never used it, it’s certainly a nice asset to have.
Having your own website and social media platform independent of the hospital system creates this freedom.
5). Patients Relate To People, Not Healthcare Systems
Aside from a few exceptions (i.e. Mayo Clinic), most patients don’t search on Google for healthcare systems to find their doctors, they look for individual physicians.
For example, I personally live in Colorado where UC Health and Centura are the two primary systems.
Here’s a comparison of average monthly searches for a primary care physician in Colorado Springs.
Centura only averages 20 searches per month, while the other two searches not caring about the healthcare combined averages 650 per month.
That’s a search differential of approximately 7,560 per year. And often times, the hospital doesn’t even rank in those searches at all!
If you were a primary care physician in Colorado Springs, where would you want to show up?
With your own website for the majority of searches, or be a part of this mess competing over only 20 searches?
This is the case in almost every speciality in every city.
There Is An Golden Opportunity For Ambitious Hospital Employed Physicians
The good news if you’re a physician who doesn’t come up in Google search results now, the door is wide open.
Patients are looking for individual physicians on
The patients are there, but you’ve got to show up on the first page of Google and provide value.