Patients use iPhone for procedure information

According to Jasson Gilmore, CEO and co-founder of The Patient’s Guide network of health-related websites, the organization has seen a 94 percent increase in the use of iPhones to access information from its 30 sites over the past year.

According to Mr. Gilmore, the sites have seen a large increase in people searching for information on noninvasive body contouring procedures and tattoo removal. It’s a trend that will continue, he says, pointing to a Pew Research study indicating that 85 percent of U.S. adults own a cell phone, and 53 percent of those are smartphone users.

What’s more, 52 percent of the smartphone users admit to using their devices to gather health information. Two years ago, that statistic was only 17 percent, the Pew Research study found.

“It’s very easy now to make an iPad available in your waiting room. Set the home page to your Google account so patients in the waiting room can post positive experiences,” Mr. Gilmore says. “Or set the page to the practice’s website to encourage patients to research procedures they may be interested in. Use the fact that they’re going to be searching online anyway and allow them to learn from your website.” DT