By Chris Pace, VP of Healthcare Industry, SearchStax
LinkedIn: Chris Pace
LinkedIn: SearchStax
Today’s patient journey doesn’t start at your homepage; it starts in your search bar.
Whether someone’s trying to find a provider, get cost information, or understand their next step in care, search is the primary gateway. Expectations are sky-high, shaped by the search experiences people have every day with Amazon, Google and ChatGPT. If your health system can’t meet those expectations, patients will go elsewhere, quickly.
Many health systems are still treating search like an afterthought. But search isn’t just a feature. It’s navigation. It’s communication. It’s the difference between a question and an action.
The problem? Most healthcare websites weren’t built for this moment.
Patients Have Changed — Your Platform Hasn’t
Healthcare consumers are moving fast. They want answers on demand, not next week. But health systems are stuck in slow gear, constrained by monolithic platforms, rigid content structures, and slow-moving decision-making processes.
I’ve worked in this space for years and the story is often the same: smart, passionate teams who are handcuffed by outdated tech and competing priorities. When a search result can’t be updated without a dev ticket, or when measuring what patients are looking for takes a data dive, agility disappears.
And when agility disappears, so do patients.
Marketing Agility: The Missing Muscle
Healthcare marketing teams are expected to drive acquisition, elevate experience, and reduce friction across the digital journey. But too often, they’re left waiting, on tools, on timelines, and on IT.
That has to change.
Modern search puts control back in the hands of marketers and digital teams. It means being able to see what people are searching for, optimize in real time, and surface high-value content at the exact moment it matters. It means not having to choose between responsiveness and compliance or between insights and execution.
Picture this: A patient is searching for same-day urgent care on your site but is met with an outdated directory or blog post from 2019. With modern search, you should be able to see that trend in the data, promote the most relevant page, and immediately tune the results, all without opening a ticket. That agility isn’t just convenient. It’s essential.
It’s the difference between keeping pace with your patients or falling behind when it matters most.
Alignment Over Silos
Most healthcare organizations are still built in functional silos. Digital owns the website. IT owns the infrastructure. Access owns the call center. Marketing owns engagement. But to the patient, it’s all one experience.
If search is slow, disjointed or irrelevant, it doesn’t matter who’s responsible, as it hurts the entire experience.
The solution is alignment: shared KPIs, shared tools and shared accountability for digital success. When teams can see the same data and act on it together, outcomes improve. Patients find what they need. Tasks get completed. Calls go down. Loyalty goes up.
AI-Powered Expectations
Search behavior is changing, fast. Patients are no longer typing in one-word queries. They’re asking full questions, expecting personalized answers and rewarding organizations that deliver.
That’s where health systems can benefit from AI-powered features like generative answers right on their search results page. These tools use generative tech to give patients direct, trusted answers pulled from your own content. This approach is search, supercharged, and it’s what today’s digital-first consumer is already expecting.
Healthcare can’t afford to lag behind here. AI isn’t just a trend; it’s a new baseline.
The Cost of Standing Still
Let’s be blunt: Every failed search is a missed opportunity. It leads to higher call center volume, greater patient churn, and more frustration across a system already stretched thin.
With Medicaid changes, price transparency mandates, and growing consumer expectations, the stakes are rising fast. Health systems can’t afford to overlook the front door of their digital experience, and that front door is search.
This isn’t just about keeping up with the latest technology. It’s about removing friction from the patient journey, transforming passive visits into meaningful actions, and making digital access as seamless as possible. Organizations that empower their teams with the tools to act quickly and confidently will be positioned to lead.
Search is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a strategic imperative that will define how healthcare organizations deliver value, build loyalty, and differentiate themselves in 2025 and beyond.