According to a study by Google, more than 77% of patients use search engines before booking an appointment with a healthcare provider. You can see why a strong digital presence matters for orthopedics practices looking to attract new patients.
Putting Patients First: How Marketing Enhances Orthopedic Practices & Patient Acquisition
“Farotech’s marketing strategy has contributed in impactful ways to our overall practice growth by driving new patients to the practice and helping us scale as we expand to new locations.”
Dr. David Musante
President – EmergeOrtho-Triangle Region
Why Telling Orthopedic Stories Matters
Above and beyond data and analytics, telling the story of an orthopedic practice is important for building trust, differentiating from other practices, increasing brand awareness, and engaging employees. It can help to create a deeper connection with patients and potential patients, and ultimately lead to a more successful practice.
Despite the availability of multiple healthcare options, the competition to attract patients remains fierce for orthopedic private practices, multi-specialty groups, and hospital systems. To thrive in this competitive environment, a well-crafted marketing strategy is key to differentiating yourself from the rest.
Here, we explore three of our clients’ journeys to highlight the work we’ve done to transform their marketing.
Challenge
In 2012, Rothman Orthopaedics Institute had a mere 437,387 users, with only 66% of them derived from organic traffic. Farotech was tasked with prioritizing, expanding, and revitalizing the digital presence of Rothman Orthopaedics Institute as part of its comprehensive marketing strategy to compete with other orthopedic websites.
Solution
We built a digital marketing strategy focused on four main initiatives:
- Overhaul the website’s usability
- Generate SEO-optimized content including microcontent like engaging videos, infographics, and downloadable assets
- Monitor performance metrics
- Optimize and retool based on data-driven insights
Result
Between 2012 and 2017, the number of users on the website grew by 244%, and pageviews increased by 206%. Organic traffic also increased by 279%, comprising 75% of the total 1,529,495 visitors in 2017. Subsequently, from January 1, 2019, to June 28, 2019, the website’s traffic reached 1,207,268 users, which represents a 19% increase from the previous year and a 60% increase from the same period in 2017.
Challenge
EmergeOrtho was formed when 5 different regions formed into 1. Within this new structure, they needed to rebrand under one cohesive brand and message while accelerating growth by increasing local awareness and new patient acquisitions.
Solution
Farotech’s plan included a gap assessment, a 3-year marketing strategy, and a new website. We also implemented a new patient acquisition strategy, a local SEO strategy, reputation management, content development, revamped email and social media, and paid ads.
Result
From Q2 2021, our analytics partner Liine results showed new patient acquisition increased to 4,578 leads and 2,169 booked appointments. By Q4 of 2022, there were 8,681 leads and 6,244 booked appointments. In June 2020, there were 52,950 users with a bounce rate of 50.1% and an avg. session of 1.48m. Contrast that with Jan 2023 with 119,878 users and an increase in organic growth of 79%.
Challenge
Unhappy with other vendors’ results, Town Center Orthopaedics needed visibility on their actionables and an organized editorial calendar. Their website was controlled on a proprietary platform by their vendor, which made it too locked in and inflexible without a way to measure new patient growth.
Solution
Farotech’s plan included a gap assessment to measure opportunities, an editorial calendar for proactive deliverables, a new website, a revamped Google ad strategy, best-in-class patient acquisition software, reputation management software, social media, email, and SEO strategy.
Result
By implementing patient acquisition software called Liine, Q1 of 2022 saw 1040 new leads, 624 booked appointments. By Q4 2022, leads increased to 1236, with 819 booked appointments. More top of funnel contacts increased to over 2000. Of old and new patients, newsletter subscribers and total contacts now total 25,000 currently for email campaigns. TCO now has a robust and HIPAA-compliant email strategy.
How did Farotech's reporting help Rothman Orthopaedics grow?
How has Rothman's search visibility changed since working with Farotech?
What challenges did Rothman face in the Philadelphia area?
What was the process like working with Farotech?
What role did content development play in growing your practice?
How did content help establish Rothman's thought leadership?
How did the physicians feel about working with Farotech?
EmergeOrtho Partnership Timeline
Milestones between Farotech and EmergeOrtho
Performed a Gap Assessment (November 2018-April 2019)
Launched Photography Project (Summer 2018)
Launched Patient Self-Scheduling w/ Keona (August 2019)
Patient Acquisition Software Liine Integrated (March 2020)
New HIPAA-Compliant Website Launched (May 2020)
Content Marketing Deliverables (Summer 2020)
Launched Direct Pay Services/Transparency in Healthcare Pricing (November 2022)
Software Consolidation, Improved Tracking, & Streamlined Reporting (December 2022)
Integration of Keona/Liine Complete (December 2022)
Migration Into New CRM/Marketing Automation (Projected for April 2023)
Regional Consolidation w/ Standardized Marketing Plan; New Hybrid Contract (Projected for April 2023)
FEATURES OF OUR STRATEGY
Our customized digital strategy paved the way for growth in organic traffic, keyword visibility, and overall company value.
Expansive Blogs
For patients with orthopedic conditions looking for treatments and prevention, blogs serve as a platform to educate. By building out a robust content library for EmergeOrtho, we helped them to empower patients trying to make informed decisions about their health. This helped establish the practice as an authority in the field, built trust with potential patients, increased their online visibility, and attracted more patients to the practice as they expanded to new areas.
See Example
eBook
Clearly communicating and getting orthopedic information to patients seeking care is why we take time to develop assets like eBooks. Through extensive research, expert insights, and patient success stories we offer detailed overviews of orthopedic areas of interest. By addressing common questions, dispelling misconceptions, and offering practical guidance, our eBook served as a reliable and accessible guide for EmergeOrtho patients seeking to explore their options. This drove patient engagement and fostered informed decision-making.
See Example
Infographics
Telling a story goes beyond just words on a page. Striking imagery and infographics that can quickly communicate information to patients is critical to keeping them engaged. By highlighting Chapel’s story about a severe ankle injury, we were able to communicate EmergeOrtho’s world-class approach to orthopedic care.
See Example
HIPAA Compliant Lead Nurturing
Our team seamlessly integrated LuxSci into our client's website. This allowed us to track and identify potential clients, and send out HIPAA-compliant client drip marketing emails to nurture the client while safeguarding their protected health information (PHI).
