Healthcare marketing statistics (2026)

Healthcare marketing now runs from the first search or AI question to the booked visit, and most of the friction sits in the middle: long waits, unanswered calls and thin reviews. This page covers budgets, channels, access, calls, reviews, patient AI use, email, SMS and video. Search-specific figures live on our healthcare SEO statistics page. Each section leads with the newest data, and every figure links to its original study.

Budgets and ad spend

Hospitals spend a small share of revenue on marketing, and paid search remains the main lever for practices. The search benchmarks below are LocaliQ's 2026 edition; see our Google Ads statistics for cross-industry figures.

• 0.47%of net patient revenue was the median hospital and health system marketing and communications budget, down from 0.51% in 2022 to 2023.SHSMD By the Numbers2024 to 2025
• $11.7 millionwas the average health system marketing and communications budget; the median was $4.85 million.SHSMD By the Numbers2024 to 2025
• 0.64%of net patient revenue marks the 75th percentile health system marketing budget, against 0.25% at the 25th percentile.SHSMD By the Numbers2024 to 2025
• $8.00average search ad cost per click for dentists, with a 10.67% conversion rate and $72.97 per lead.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
• $4.76average search ad cost per click for physicians and surgeons, with a 12.43% conversion rate and $40.04 per lead.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
• $67.36average search ad cost per lead for health and fitness, against $66.69 across all industries.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
• $33.45median search ad cost per lead for hospitals and clinics, with a $3.63 cost per click (2,838 campaigns).LocaliQ healthcare benchmarks2020 to 2021
• $116.75median social ad cost per lead for hospitals and clinics, about 3.5 times their search cost per lead.LocaliQ healthcare benchmarks2020 to 2021
• 62%of independent medical practices spend 1% to 5% of gross revenue on marketing (106 practices).Tebra practice survey2024 plans
• 31%of independent practices planned to raise their marketing budget for 2024, and 65% planned no change.Tebra practice survey2024 plans
• $29.9 billionwas spent on US medical marketing in 2016, up from $17.7 billion in 1997 (2016 dollars).JAMA, Schwartz and Woloshin2016
• $9.6 billionof that went to direct-to-consumer advertising, up from $2.1 billion in 1997.JAMA, Schwartz and Woloshin2016
• $2.9 billionwas spent advertising health services such as hospitals and clinics to consumers, up from $542 million in 1997.JAMA, Schwartz and Woloshin2016

Channels and AI use by healthcare marketers

Healthcare marketing leaders put search first, and almost all of them now use AI tools. Practice owners lean on referrals, listings and reviews.

• 98.4%of healthcare marketing leaders use AI tools to some extent, and 46.6% use them often (232 leaders).Matter Health survey2024
• 28.5%of healthcare marketers using AI say its biggest benefit is content development, ahead of spotting trends (25%).Matter Health survey2024
• 13.4%of healthcare marketing leaders named SEO and SEM as their top budget priority, the most cited area.Matter Health survey2024
• 9.9%named content marketing as their top budget priority, the same share as media buying; 8.6% named social media.Matter Health survey2024
• 94.4%of healthcare marketing leaders work with a PR or marketing agency.Matter Health survey2024
• 72%of healthcare SEO marketers were already optimizing content for AI-powered search (207 marketers).Tebra SEO survey2025
• 39%of healthcare SEO marketers use AI for keyword research, and 36% use it to create content.Tebra SEO survey2025
• 56%of healthcare SEO marketers expect SEO to matter more in healthcare over the next 5 years.Tebra SEO survey2025
• 50%of independent practices market through networking and referrals, 42% through online listings and 37% through review management.Tebra practice survey2024 plans
• 49%of independent practices planned to invest in online reviews and reputation in 2024, ahead of listings (33%) and social ads (29%).Tebra practice survey2024 plans
• 3xmore was invested in digital marketing and social ads by practices with growing revenue than by those with flat revenue.Tebra practice survey2024 plans

Patient acquisition and switching

Access is the bottleneck. Patients wait longer for a first visit than ever, and many will switch providers for a faster or easier booking. Our patient acquisition strategies guide covers the playbook.

• 31 daysis the average wait for a new-patient physician appointment across six specialties in 15 large metros, the longest since the survey began.AMN Healthcare wait time survey2025
• 48%growth in new-patient wait times since 2004, including a 19% rise since 2022 (1,391 offices called).AMN Healthcare wait time survey2025
• 23.5 daysis the average new-patient wait for a family medicine physician, up 14% since 2022.AMN Healthcare wait time survey2025
• 53%of physician offices surveyed accept Medicaid, against 82% that accept Medicare.AMN Healthcare wait time survey2025
• 59%of patients are looking to change providers (28%) or open to it (31%) (992 US adults).rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
• 25%of patients say getting a quick appointment is their biggest access hurdle, the top issue cited.Experian Health, State of Patient Access2025
• 70%of providers cite limited appointment slots as a persistent access problem, ahead of staffing (63%) and wait times (54%).Experian Health2025
• 48.4%of consumers faced barriers to getting an appointment, and that friction cut likelihood to recommend by 13.1 points.Press Ganey2025
• 9 in 10consumers say accurate online information about clinicians is a top priority, and nearly half would walk away if it is out of date.Press Ganey2025
• 93%of consumers say insurance accepted is a key factor in choosing a provider, followed by expertise (87%) and availability (84%).Kyruus Patient Access Journey2022
• 80%of consumers used two or more online resources to research a provider (1,000 consumers).Kyruus Patient Access Journey2022
• 50%of consumers who prefer online booking would switch providers to get it.Kyruus Patient Access Journey2022

Digital front door and online scheduling

Patients want to book from a phone, yet most practices still have few patients self-scheduling. Portals are the one digital channel most adults now use.

• 80%of patients want to schedule appointments from their phone, in a browser or an app (1,000+ patients).Experian Health2025
• 54%of providers offer patient self-scheduling, and another 10% plan to within six months.Experian Health2025
• 52%of patients want more digital options for managing their care.Experian Health, State of Patient Access2025
• 80%of consumers consider online scheduling essential, but only 25% rate today's online scheduling as excellent.Press Ganey2025
• 71%of medical practices have under a quarter of patients using digital self-scheduling, and only 3% have more than three quarters (244 responses).MGMA Stat poll2025
• 18%of medical group leaders say self-scheduling reduces no-shows; 39% say it does not and 43% are unsure.MGMA Stat poll2024
• 77%of US adults were offered online access to their medical records or a patient portal, up from 73% in 2022.ASTP/ONC Data Brief 772024
• 65%of US adults were offered and used a patient portal or online record in the past year, up from 57% in 2022.ASTP/ONC Data Brief 772024
• 87%of patients encouraged by their provider used the portal, against 57% of those who were not encouraged.ASTP/ONC Data Brief 772024
• 89%of patients said being able to book anytime online or on mobile is important.Experian Health2024
• 86.5%of office-based physicians used telemedicine in 2021, up from 15.4% in 2019.CDC NCHS Data Brief 4932021
• 43.3%of adults aged 65 and older used telemedicine in the past year, against 37.0% of all adults.CDC NCHS Data Brief 4452021

Phone calls and scheduling

The phone is still where many bookings happen, and it is where many are lost. Invoca's 2026 benchmarks come from call data across six healthcare sub-industries.

• 54%of inbound calls to healthcare organizations are answered by a person.Invoca healthcare benchmarks2026
• 43%of calls answered by a person are leads, and 45% of those leads convert on the call.Invoca healthcare benchmarks2026
• 43%of healthcare organizations don't ask callers to book an appointment.Invoca healthcare benchmarks2026
• 47%of calls referred by ChatGPT are leads, one of the highest lead rates in healthcare, and 41% of them convert.Invoca healthcare benchmarks2026
• 72%of calls longer than 30 seconds reach a person, against 54% of all calls.Invoca healthcare benchmarks2026
• 1 in 5consumers report long hold times when calling to book care, and nearly a third of them failed to book.Kyruus Patient Access Journey2022
• 48%of consumers preferred booking by phone and 43% online, up from 25% online in 2017.Kyruus Patient Access Journey2020
• 63%of millennials preferred to book online, against 22% of baby boomers.Kyruus Patient Access Journey2020
• 18.8%mean no-show rate across 10 clinics at a large VA medical center, at an average cost of $196 per missed visit.BMC Health Services Research2016

Patient reviews and reputation

Reviews now decide who gets the call. Press Ganey and Tebra show patients filtering on stars, recency and replies. See our online review statistics for cross-industry data and the healthcare reputation management guide for what to do about it.

• 84%of consumers would reconsider a referral if the provider is rated below 4 stars.Press Ganey2025
• 59%of consumers would delay booking if a provider lacked high-quality reviews from former patients.Press Ganey2025
• 45%of consumers say overly curated or sponsored reviews are the biggest red flag when judging a provider.Press Ganey2025
• 79%of patients read reviews before choosing a healthcare provider (3,964 US adults).Tebra Patient Perspectives2025
• 53%of patients won't consider a provider with fewer than 4 stars.Tebra Patient Perspectives2025
• 70%of patients say a provider's reply to a negative review improved their opinion of that provider.Tebra Patient Perspectives2025
• 69%of patients say positive reviews are extremely or very important to their choice of provider.Tebra Patient Perspectives2025
• 40%of patients name review sites among the most influential sources when choosing a provider.rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
• 23%of patients leave a review after every visit, up from 16% in 2025.rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
• 64.8%of healthcare consumers think provider reviews older than one year are irrelevant (1,000 consumers).Press Ganey2023
• 4.7reviews on average are read by consumers before they choose a healthcare provider.Press Ganey2023
• 83.5%of consumers with a referral still check online reviews at least occasionally.Press Ganey2023

How patients use AI for health

AI chatbots have become a regular health resource, and patients now use them to shortlist providers. Our ChatGPT statistics and AI search statistics pages track wider use.

• 1 in 4of ChatGPT's 800 million+ regular users sends a healthcare prompt every week, and more than 5% of all ChatGPT messages are about health.OpenAI, AI as a Healthcare Ally2026
• 7 in 10health conversations in ChatGPT happen outside normal clinic hours of 8am to 5pm.OpenAI, AI as a Healthcare Ally2026
• 32%of US adults used AI chatbots for physical or mental health information or advice in the past year (1,343 adults).KFF tracking poll2026
• 38%of AI health users aged 18 to 29 say having no regular provider or no appointment was a major reason for using AI, against 18% of all users.KFF tracking poll2026
• 77%of US adults are concerned about the privacy of medical information they give to AI tools.KFF tracking poll2026
• 69%of adults who use AI for health trust it for physical health information at least a fair amount, against 18% of non-users.KFF tracking poll2026
• 39%of patients who switched providers named AI tools as their top influence, ranking AI first among all sources.rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
• 43%of patients trust AI health information more than they did a year ago, while 20% trust it less.rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
• 35%of consumers who use AI for health tasks use it to find providers; 36% of consumers use AI for health tasks at all.Press Ganey2025
• 18%of people who get health information from AI chatbots rate it highly accurate, while 48% rate it highly convenient (5,111 adults).Pew Research Center2025
• 22%of US adults get health information from AI chatbots at least sometimes, against 85% from healthcare providers.Pew Research Center2025
• 6 in 10US adults were not confident that AI chatbots give accurate health information (2,428 adults).KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll2024

Email, SMS and video

Email benchmarks for healthcare beat the cross-industry average, text reminders lift attendance in controlled trials, and video and social reach most adults.

• 23.7%average email open rate for healthcare services, against a 21.5% all-industry average; the click rate is 3.0%.Campaign Monitor benchmarks2021
• 35.63%average email open rate across all industries on Mailchimp, with a 2.62% click rate.Mailchimp benchmarks2023
• 78.6%of patients attended when sent a text reminder, against 67.8% with no reminder (8 trials, 6,615 people).Cochrane review2013
• 55% to 65%lower cost per attended appointment for text reminders than phone call reminders, with the same attendance.Cochrane review2013
• 1.48pooled odds ratio for clinic attendance with SMS reminders across 8 randomized trials.Health Services Research, Guy et al.2012
• 84%of US adults use YouTube, including 95% of adults aged 18 to 29 (5,022 adults).Pew social media fact sheet2025
• 55%of US adults use social media for health information and advice at least occasionally, and 22% weekly (1,283 adults).KFF tracking poll2025
• 15%of YouTube users and 21% of TikTok users regularly get health advice from influencers on those platforms.KFF tracking poll2025
• 36%of US adults get health information from social media at least sometimes, but only 7% of them call it extremely or very accurate.Pew Research Center2025
• 49%of Hispanic adults get health information from social media at least sometimes, against 30% of White adults.Pew Research Center2025
• 13%of TikTok users have talked to a doctor because of health content they saw on TikTok, and 19% of users aged 18 to 29.KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll2024

Rank.ai data: how AI answers name businesses

Rank.ai analyzed 11,726 fresh answers from ChatGPT (gpt-4o-mini), Claude (claude-haiku-4-5) and Gemini (gemini-2.5-flash) with web search on, collected from May 7 to October 16, 2026. The 102 buyer questions were tracked by 15 Rank.ai customer accounts, mostly in B2B software, fintech, SEO and marketing services and local services; cached repeat answers are excluded. Engines were queried through each model's API with Rank.ai's own web search tool. See whether ChatGPT names your practice with the free AI grade.

• 61.0%of ChatGPT answers named no business at all, as did 61.9% of Gemini answers and 63.4% of Claude answers.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
• 21.7%of ChatGPT answers named 5 or more businesses (Claude 22.2%, Gemini 20.8%). Answers either name none or name a list.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
• 6.4%of ChatGPT answers named the customer's own brand, against 8.1% for Claude and 11.0% for Gemini.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
• 3.7%of ChatGPT answers cited the customer's own website, against 4.5% for Claude and 7.5% for Gemini.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
• 96.3%of ChatGPT answers included citations, against 94.4% for Gemini and 80.1% for Claude.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
• 4.01%of all 74,761 citations went to Reddit, the most cited site; YouTube took 2.09% and Wikipedia under 0.3%.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026

What these numbers mean for healthcare marketers

• Fix access before buying more traffic. Answer the phone, ask every caller to book, and offer online booking. Paid clicks are wasted on a missed call.
• Treat reviews as a channel. Ask every patient, reply to every review and keep the rating above 4 stars. Our Google review statistics show how ratings and recency are judged.
• Keep provider data accurate everywhere. Patients and AI tools both rely on listings, so outdated hours or insurance details cost bookings. The AI and medical SEO guide explains how AI answers pick sources.
• Use text reminders. Trials show they lift attendance at a lower cost than phone reminders.
• Check your AI visibility. Most AI answers name no business, so being on the list is worth measuring. Start with the free AI grade.

Sources and method

We used government and peer-reviewed sources first (CDC NCHS, ASTP/ONC, JAMA, Cochrane), then benchmark studies and vendor surveys that publish a sample: SHSMD, AMN Healthcare, Invoca, Experian Health, Press Ganey, Tebra, rater8, Kyruus, MGMA, LocaliQ, KFF and Pew. Vendor research is named with its sample and year, and older figures are labelled with their year. The Rank.ai figures come from our own analysis of 11,726 AI answers collected from May to October 2026. Every figure and link was checked on 2026-10-16.