St. Augustinus Group: getting closer to those who need them

Christian-non-profit association aims to be there for anyone in need. With more than 5,600 employees from 68 countries across 85 locations, the association is one of the largest healthcare companies in the Rhineland, specializing in somatics, psychiatry, and elderly and disabled care. The organization's guiding principle is to be there for people whenever help and support is needed – and they want that approach to extend to their digital presence, too.

The patient journey often begins online: many people search for initial information about doctors and services before making an appointment. In fact, more than 60% of respondents to a Yext study said that they search for healthcare providers using search engines such as Google or Bing.* In most cases, these searches are not branded – i.e., they do not explicitly mention a brand or a company. For example, a user might simply type "neurologist with 4-star rating in Neuss" into a search engine.

The St. Augustinus Group relies on Yext to make sure they surface in branded and unbranded searches — so that they can help patients find the services they need.

"We maintain close contact with our patients, residents, clients, guests, and visitors and are by their side wherever they need us. And this applies online too," says Christina Jacke, Head of Marketing, Communications and CSR. "Yext has helped us create a digital infrastructure so that people can find the correct information when they search for our services online."

Human interaction is crucial in the healthcare sector, which is why the website and telephone hotline are still the group's primary channels for initiating and maintaining contact. To retain people's trust in the long term, it is important that a telephone number is displayed accurately right across the relevant platforms on the web — and that incorrect information is promptly corrected. "In the past, duplicate listings with inaccurate information could sometimes be found online, such as telephone numbers that patients then dialed in vain. Yext allows us to keep our online presence consistent and correct, and that means we can also be found online more quickly," is how Christina Jacke summarizes the benefits.

"Companies risk losing their customer's trust with incorrect online listings," explains Tobias Dahm, Senior Vice President EMEA Central at Yext. "With a well-maintained online presence, this risk can be avoided with little effort, thus strengthening their online reputation." Yext's Duplicate Suppression detects, highlights, and deletes duplicate listings, resulting in a consistent online presence.

All of the organization's information (including information about doctors and specialist departments, opening hours, addresses, information on Covid-19, services and contact details) has now been compiled into a database – known as the Knowledge Graph. The next step will be to display this on 200+ platforms such as Google, Bing or other relevant business directories, social networks, and voice assistants.

"A significant argument in favor of working with Yext was the number of publishers," explains Patrick H. W. Festag, Senior Manager of Digital at the St. Augustinus Group. "In addition to the usual platforms like Google and Facebook, publishers in the healthcare network are even more important for us, especially with regard to patient reviews. The fact that Yext is investing in this sector won us over."

A recent representative survey by the digital association Bitkom shows that good online reviews are important to patients when choosing a doctor. A third (34%) of all patients in Germany read reviews when choosing a provider**. Working with Yext ensures the St. Augustinus Group is responding to this behavior and can now see an overview of the reviews posted online. Reviews are also added to the Knowledge Graph and can be answered by the relevant specialist departments. "In this way, we are treating our patients with respect, responding to their concerns, and strengthening the bond between us," says Festag.

Implementation of the Yext solution went smoothly: "The customer success team was very hands-on right from the start. They gave us the time we needed and answered all our questions. This resulted in a successful partnership that we hope will continue in the future," says Festag of the collaboration so far.

(*) Healthcare Such Trends in Germany, Yext study (2017)

(**) A third of all people read online reviews before visiting the doctor, Bitkom (2021)