Borrego Health Uses Yext to Keep Patients Informed — Even in Times of Uncertainty

When the COVID-19 coronavirus arrived in the United States, no industry was left unaltered. But healthcare organizations faced the unique challenge of having to simultaneously delay (and in many cases, halt entirely) elective procedures, temporarily close certain facilities, and at the same time, ramp up to provide new forms of care for patients who might have the virus. To say the least, the last few months have been a time of competing and often contradictory needs in the healthcare industry.

Borrego Health was not immune to this turbulence. The Southern California-based health system wanted to ensure that it could communicate new and changing information to its patients as quickly and as effectively as possible. It's a simple enough goal to aspire to, but incredibly complicated to execute.

Borrego Health is one of the fastest growing non-profit Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in California, serving all populations regardless of ability to pay. "We are a medical home," says Vitor Coral, Director of Marketing and Employee Engagement. "Once you become our patient, we can take care of you from your birth to when you are 100. We're a comprehensive, across-the-board healthcare organization. And as an FQHC, part of our mission is that we don't refuse service to anyone. So as long as you look for Borrego Health, we will take care of you — regardless of insurance status.

With millions of Americans having recently lost their health insurance because of pandemic-induced layoffs, the health system's insurance-agnostic care policy has made Borrego Health even more essential than ever.

Vitor's team first began working with Yext in September of 2018, using Yext Listings to update and maintain the information about its clinics and providers across the many digital services patients use to ask questions and seek care. In its first year with Yext, the health system saw a 108% increase in listing impressions and a 69% increase in listing clicks compared to the year prior.

When the pandemic struck, Borrego Health was already set up to publish updates as quickly as they came, and to alert its community about events where testing would be offered. "We frequently bring our mobile units to events," says Vitor. "We offer flu vaccinations, dental services for children, or HIV testing. Recently, we held a three-day pop-up event in Borrego Springs for COVID testing. It was a drive-thru event, and if you wanted to get screened, whether you presented symptoms or not, you could. In three days, we tested almost 200 people. And it was only in the mornings because it gets too hot in the desert. So from 7am to 11am, we got to see that many people."

Borrego Health asked Yext for help creating an improved search experience on its own website, so patients could more easily find answers to frequently asked questions, information about the pandemic and how Borrego Health would be able to assist its patients, and other important updates. Complete with a CDC plugin that surfaces the latest official information, the health system's website is now able to provide direct answers to patients when they ask questions about COVID-19.

Sam Robinson, Borrego Health's Digital Marketing Manager, has noticed a substantial improvement in the patient search experience on Borrego Health's website since implementing Yext Search. "Before we had the FAQ and search capabilities on our site, people got here and if they couldn't find what they needed, they were just leaving. Search is a much more straightforward way of looking for exactly what you need. It also gives us indicators of specific information people are looking for, and our search is getting them straight there so they can find what they need. Having that data, being able to look through our analytics and see what search queries people are asking, is immensely helpful."

As things gradually open back up, Vitor knows that patients will have more questions than ever. "As we ramp up to open our doors again, we're going to utilize our FAQs to give our patients information about the 'new' Borrego Health."

"Search is just a small step in the right direction," adds Sam. "We need to create an ecosystem around our technology. We need to continue to build out the information about our providers and clinics on our site. But also build better experiences for telehealth and a better patient portal, so our patients can do all of that from our site — from their phone or from any device that they have. Improving that patient experience and being able to give them that information quickly is really where our next chapter is headed."