Google My Business listings: You’ve heard the phrase and likely utilize them personally through Google Maps, but you may not know exactly what is included in a Google My Business listing. Why do they matter for emergency rooms? We'll dive in below.
Why does your business’ Google My Business listing matter, anyways? A Google My Business listing is the digital front door of your emergency room to a potential patient. It is an important first step in setting the stage for a good patient care experience, which helps increase patient satisfaction overall. We know this is often the case because the Google search “Hospitals Near Me” ranking has increased 1,561% in the last five years.
Patients often start their digital health journey with Google maps. We underestimate just how many people have a plan of action when they need in-the-moment care, leaving many of those people to use Google maps as a search engine. Proximity to their location may take precedence, but sharing the information they want to know in your Google My Business listing is a very close second.
We’ve gathered six easy steps that take minimal effort to optimize, but make a huge first impression for your Emergency Department’s Google My Business listing.
If you have not created a business profile or claimed one for your emergency department, this will be your first step. The team owning the account within your department should be available to actively manage the profile and make edits.
A fairly straightforward section. Accurately representing your hours of operation is key to communicating availability and expectations to your potential patient. This may seem obvious, but oftentimes we’ll investigate an emergency department’s GMB listing & find differing hours as soon as we reach their hospital landing page.
Directing your patient to a landing page where they can commit to showing up (read our case for online check-in here), is integral in the patient journey. Giving patients their next step in their journey to find care is not only helpful, but time saving - which is highest priority as they search for in-the-moment care.
Lead with a picture that clearly shows your emergency department front doors. Ideally, this photo would also include the words “Emergency Room,” a red cross, or some verbiage that indicates care. Also worth noting that these front doors are what people will be looking for when they show up. An image of your actual front door is a good digital front door strategy.
This is a job for the team managing your profile. Unfortunately, most emergency departments receive comments and feedback here that are out of your team’s control. You may receive bad ratings for a number of factors, but showing empathy through your emergency department’s response to those who do review your facility is a strong indication that your facility cares for patients. It may seem trivial, but showing digital empathy through comments can have a direct impact on the perception that your department is capable, reliable and compassionate. This is a strong strategy for digital health patient engagement, and could help you stand out among other emergency departments and health systems right away.
As you begin to sift through reviews and questions left on your profile, you will easily be able to gather frequently asked questions. Step into your patient’s mindset & ask the question, provide an answer and save them time from scrolling on your hospital’s website.
Your Google My Business Listing is the place many of your patients first find your healthcare facility. Empathy for your patients begins in the digital space, so use Google My Business as an extension of your brand. Utilize Google Maps to your full advantage and create a welcoming first touch point with your patient. Reach out to our team if you want to talk further about how Arriv can improve your patients' digital care in their journey.
