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For doctors trying to reach their patients online, using Google+ can provide surprising marketing benefits that help them be more “findable” on the web. Consider that 44 percent of all Internet users search online to find information about health professionals, and suddenly the importance for doctors of having a good online presence should be more clear.

In this article I’ll discuss three reasons why I think that, if you participate in Google+, the newest social network, you can improve the chances your name will come up when prospective patients search for something you’ve written about.

First, participating in Google+ gives doctors an advantage because content you share on Google+ has an “edge” against other stories. That’s right–Google (the search engine) likes stories that’ve gotten shared or +1’d on Google+ better.

For example, if a doctor writes a post about back pain and shares it via Google+, Google will favor this post in search results for topics related to back pain over comparable results not linked to a Google+ user. That’s important–because the higher up your content appears in search results, the more likely it is someone will visit your site.

Second, benefits of participating in Google+ grow as your network grows. Fellow blogger and search marketing expert Brian Whalley elaborates on what this means:

“[As you build up] a large following on Google+, content you’ve shared with your followers will also show up in those followers’ relevant Google.com searches, keeping your business top of mind and increasing its visibility among existing followers across multiple channels.”

Third, Google+ helps you stand out in search results because of the social data (such as your headshot, a link to your Google+ profile, and/or the number of people who have +1’d your article) included along with your content as another perk of participating. Social data will make people trust your content and make a searcher more likely to click it.

You might’ve read recent articles pooh-pooh’ing Google+ because there “isn’t a lot to do on it” or because people spend (waste?) less time on it than on its competitors. These articles miss the point: which is that when you use Google+, you enhance your visibility every time someone searches on Google.com. On Google+ you’re rewarded for doing your own thing.

Who cares if your patients don’t use Google+? They definitely use Google–and that’s where the results of your engagement on Google+ will show up. Establishing yourself as a trusted medical expert is only going to become more important over time. The cost of care is rising and patients even today often don’t view distance as a deal breaker if it means better treatment at lower cost. Where will patients head to find the best care out there?

More than likely, to the Web.

Katie Matlack is the Medical Market Analyst at Software Advice. She writes about healthcare marketing and health IT, including electronic health records. For a 5-step guide to getting started on Google+ today, plus a more in-depth discussion of the perks of Google+ and more resources to help you get started, please visit the original article on the Software Advice blog.

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Our Certified Nursing Assistants need care and abundant validation. They are on the front lines with patients more than anyone else – morning, noon and night. Recently one of these caregivers explained that patients often complain to her about other caregivers, saying – “So and so doesn’t do much for me.”  (We all know what that means.)

I had noticed that this CNA practices reciprocal caregiving. She often prepares herself for her patient visits by wearing bright colors and very pleasing make-up.  She is walking proof of the fact that colors carry their own vibrations. Bright colors can wake up the brain and stimulate brain activity. They help dementia patients who have been sidelined in wheelchairs break out of the “inactivity coma.”

A playful game can also help two people get in touch with each other’s energy and movement. “The Finger Dance” created by Arthur Hull, the Father of the Drum Circle, in “Drum Circle Spirit: Facilitating Human Potential through Rhythm” can be added to hand massages and music sessions.

“May I have this dance?” I ask.  Martin’s blue eyes brighten. He is laughing aloud when I stand in front of him and lightly touch his index finger to my index finger dancing with him. He leads then suddenly fakes exhaustion by collapsing his head and shoulders and dropping his hands into his lap with a loud sigh. Soon he is alert and ready for more. He turns to Sarah seated beside him in a wheelchair to continue finger dancing with a new partner. 

To finger dance with a partner: Touch your partner’s index finger with your index finger and make casual paths in the air while the person’s finger follows yours. Take turns, leading and following. Close your eyes and finger dance.

You may be meeting an elder for the first time as a dependent human being. The value of hospice home care is that the caregivers go to meet people in the context of their whole lifetime and life style. There are usually pictures of loved ones, food and drinks offered and shared – significant clues about the whole spectrum of a person’s existence. Some caregivers say they are walking on hallowed ground when they get to care for people in their own traditions at home outside the clinical setting. Look for clues that help you relate and communicate – stories, hobbies and reminiscences about both the living and those who have gone before us. You can do something for yourself and others.

By Julia Soto Lebentritt. Owner of Spontaneous Care Communications and Reciprocal Caregiving Trainings, and author of As Long as You Sing, I’ll Dance: The bond not the burden – the blessing not the burn-out of caregiving to be published in May 2012. She is a Bereavement Facilitator at the Community Hospice and can be contacted at lullabologist@aol.com