There are 83 million millennials in the U.S., and they are spending more on healthcare. Older millennials are more likely to be commercially insured, which can enhance practice profitability.
Here are eight ways to attract younger patients to your practice.
1. Encourage online reviews. Nearly half of millennials and Gen-Xers surveyed by PNC Healthcare relied on online reviews the last time they searched for a healthcare provider, compared with 40 percent of boomers and 28 percent of seniors.
2. Reach out on social media — many millennials are there. “Your online image is your website, your online reputation, and your social media presence,” the CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based Practice Builders Parham Javaherian told Medscape. “When a millennial sees that your last post was in 2014 and you have two bad reviews on Yelp, the perception is that you are not a good provider.”
3. Provide them with the technology they need. According to athenaHealth, patient portal adoption rates are highest among consumers aged 20-39 years.
4. Do not use a clipboard; allow patients to complete forms online beforehand and offer a tablet-based check-in option to expedite the registration process.
5. Create a relationship with retail clinics. In a survey of 5,000 consumers, PNC found that millennials were more than twice as likely as both boomers or seniors to visit a retail clinic, which can be a referral source.
6. Increase the transparency of your practice. More than four out of 10 millennials surveyed by PNC say that they request estimates before undergoing treatment compared with 21 percent of boomers and 18 percent of seniors.
7. Focus more on the patient experience. Millennials are more concerned with the patient experience than simply having their health needs addressed compared to boomers, according to Upali Nanda, director of research for HKS, which surveyed healthcare consumers.
8. Reevaluate your waiting and exam rooms. Updating them can improve overall patient experience and practice efficiency.
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