SearchStax Site Search solution gives marketers the agility they need to optimize website outcomes.
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SearchStax Managed Search offloads Solr management, giving IT teams enhanced operational agility.
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February 28, 2025
Nadjya Ghausi
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Hospital and healthcare networks are facing an important question: how much of the patient care experience happens in-person vs online?
Technology leaders are recognizing that patient behavior is changing, and healthcare organizations are accelerating investment in technology. The American Medical Association reported that the average physician has increased the number of digital tools they use at work from 2.2 in 2016 to 3.8 in 2022. Yet, while hospitals are adopting new technologies, many still underestimate how quickly patient behavior is shifting toward digital interactions.
In this article, we’ll cover the rise of the digital patient, what it means for technology leaders in both strategic and practical terms and how we see search technology for healthcare playing a role for leaders who value delivering an optimized experience at every stage of the patient journey.
Implementing a digital experience strategy for today requires understanding the digital patient of the future. It’s long been taken for granted that patient behavior is limiting the adoption of digital technology in healthcare, rather than limitations of technology itself, but that perception is shifting. The patient of tomorrow wants to use technology.
In 2018, outpatient services were reported to have reached 48% of hospital revenues, and if that growth trajectory continued, would account for the majority of revenues of the modern hospital. The rise of outpatient services means more of the relationship with the patient occurs outside the hospital, not inside the hospital. Patients are increasingly accepting the role that technology has in their journey.
From looking up medical terms, to finding the best healthcare providers, to managing appointments and prescriptions in portals, to those preferring virtual visits, many patients are increasingly comfortable with an end-to-end experience that lives online.
Today’s patient wants to take a proactive approach to managing their health, and can see technology as an ally and companion in their journey toward better health. Over half of US patients have used telemedicine services. Likewise, remote patient services are seeing increasing adoption. Critical to this experience will be a “digital patient portal,” which many healthcare organizations are already using to great effect.
The ceiling for AI to make an impact on healthcare websites is high, but there are a few areas of caution that are immediately clear.
First, any technology strategy for the digital patient must prioritize the protection of sensitive patient information. With increasing risks to personal data, healthcare organizations need to demonstrate a heightened commitment to data security by adhering to industry standards such as HIPAA, SOC-2 and GDPR.
What was good enough today may not work tomorrow. As AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, technology leaders have to ensure it’s used responsibly and ethically.
One key area where AI should be approached with caution is content generation. AI-generated medical content risks inaccuracy and misinformation, which could have serious consequences when patients rely on online resources for critical health decisions.
Technology leaders will be the first to identify that AI cannot be used to create content for their healthcare websites. Inaccuracy and AI hallucinations would pose major issues when patients need accurate information that is critical to their health. Instead, AI tools that improve content discovery/delivery without compromising the content that has been created by industry professionals and experts are the most valuable for both patients and website owners.
Smart AI features for onsite search are great examples of responsible uses of AI. As younger generations of patients tend to favor the search bar as their primary means of content discovery on your site, AI tools that help surface search results based on a deeper understanding of user intent are highly impactful for increasing user engagement.
If your website’s onsite search feature can deliver high-quality, vetted materials that patients can trust, they will increasingly turn to your website for answers and services.
Once you’ve built trust with your patients, it’s all about leaning into the first party data you gain from them during their digital journey. One of the most overlooked areas for gaining access to key first party data is your onsite search. Your visitors type exactly what they are looking for into your search bar, so you need to be equipped to listen and react to their needs.
Unlike other sources of data, search data reflects the raw and immediate questions and concerns of your patients. This information is critical to establishing a personal understanding of your patient, which creates an opportunity to further solidify their trust in your organization.
Think about it – if you land on a healthcare website, type a question or symptom into the search bar and you get a range of helpful articles, services and other resources that directly deliver upon your needs, aren’t you more likely to return and continue using their services in the future?
The importance of site search, powered by robust search analytics, is increasingly recognized by healthcare industry leaders. Centers of excellence in healthcare around the country, including Banner Health, The University of Chicago Medicine and Henry Ford Health, have made digital investments that include significant enhancements in search functionality.
Onsite search is recognized not just as a means of serving patients, but of connecting with them for a better overall experience.
Practical implementations of new technology are being successfully deployed at healthcare institutions around the world, and the results are not limited to large organizations or those with large budgets.
The University of Chicago Medicine is a prime example of how investments in search technology have successfully driven exceptional patient engagement.
They were long aware of the importance of search technology and invested in a proprietary search solution built on Solr. By the time they approached SearchStax, they felt limited in their ability to scale their Solr instance, and actively saw an opportunity to enhance the digital patient experience with a combination of both Managed Search and Site Search.
Their results paid off. By enhancing their search offerings, The University of Chicago Medicine not only deepened their relationship with patients, but also provided their marketing team with more agility to analyze and update search results without requiring any code changes by their IT team. More than just understanding patients, the investment enabled them to diagnose issues and translate insights from patient search data into a superior patient experience.
The University of Chicago Medicine also leveraged SearchStax technology to build prominent homepage features like “Find a Doctor” and “Find a Location,” which make it easier for patients to access their core services.
Onsite website search is increasingly critical in a landscape that sees more patients favoring the search bar as a direct means of finding what they need. When selecting a digital search partner, a few considerations are key:
If you want to explore more about how search technology can enhance your overall patient experience and make your site futureproof, check out our Site Search for healthcare page.
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