Planning for 2027: What Digital Initiatives to Prioritize in the Coming Year 

Ready or not, another new year is on its way. And with it comes a chance to rethink how your healthcare organization invests its marketing dollars to drive results. 

From connecting with consumers searching for care using artificial intelligence-powered tools to reevaluating how your current website layout works for your patients, there are plenty of ways to focus your marketing resources that will deliver the best ROI for your organization. 

As you prepare your budget and marketing plans for 2027, consider prioritizing these high-impact tactics to connect with new patients, drive growth, and create a solid digital foundation for the future. 

Generative engine optimization (GEO) 

Your organization has likely spent years optimizing your website content for Google using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. But patient search behavior has expanded beyond the traditional search engine results page, and your digital investments in 2027 need to reflect that.  

AI-powered tools increasingly answer healthcare questions directly, often within the search tool itself and without a user ever needing to click into your website. Because of that, hospitals and health systems need to think beyond rankings and focus on visibility within AI-generated responses. 

The challenge is that GEO isn’t SEO with a new name. AI tools don’t evaluate websites the same way search engines do. Instead, they synthesize information from a wide range of sources to generate answers. That means you’ll need to ensure your digital presence is both discoverable and understandable across the web. 

Where to start 

For many healthcare organizations, the best place to start is with the technical foundation of their website. Schema markup, structured data, provider information, service line content, and location details all help AI tools accurately understand who your organization is and what care you provide. If AI systems cannot confidently interpret that information, your organization may be left out of relevant recommendations entirely. 

The good news is that this does not require abandoning traditional SEO strategies. In reality, organizations that see the greatest gains will be the ones that strengthen their search fundamentals while also investing in GEO readiness. Rather than treating SEO and GEO as competing priorities, healthcare marketers should view them as complementary efforts that support discoverability wherever patients are seeking answers. 

See it in practice 

MyMichigan Health recently implemented AI-powered review summaries across its provider, location, and service line pages, enhancing the patient research experience while simultaneously improving visibility in AI-driven search results and unbranded specialty searches like “cardiologists near me.”  

After launching the AI-powered summaries, MyMichigan received citation rates of 88% on Google AI Overviews, 83% on Gemini, 81% on ChatGPT, 87% on Claude, and 82% on Perplexity. 

User experience (UX) research 

Many healthcare organizations invest heavily in website redesigns, content updates, and new digital tools based on internal assumptions about what patients want. The problem is that patients often interact with healthcare websites in ways marketers don’t expect. 

UX research helps you close that gap. 

Whether you’re evaluating provider profiles, appointment scheduling pathways, service line content, or navigation structure, UX research provides direct insight into how real users experience your website. More importantly, it shows where friction exists before those challenges impact conversions, engagement, or patient satisfaction. 

This becomes increasingly important as patient expectations continue to rise. Patients compare their healthcare digital experiences not only to other health systems but also to the seamless experiences they receive from retailers, banks, and consumer technology companies. If they cannot quickly find the information they need, they will often leave and look elsewhere. 

Where to start 

Figure out what the goal of your research will be, along with the tasks you’ll ask testers to complete and the success or fail measures you’ll use to gauge your results. Your test could include a short survey, a review of website analytics, or a qualitative usability test. 

You can pull together a testing group in a few different ways: recruiting from a patient or family advisory council, using a pool of paid testers, encouraging test sign-ups through signs posted throughout your facilities, including a sign-up link in your newsletter, or getting staff participation via your intranet. 

No matter what resources you have available, all UX testing is helpful in identifying opportunities to improve your website for the people who need it most. 

See it in practice 

We recently completed a website redesign for a major health system that included user experience research to identify the best way to restructure the site’s navigation and taxonomy. The resulting digital experience is designed to drive patient referrals, generate leads, and create a frictionless journey for users. 

Replatforming 

You might not be ready for a full healthcare website redesign in 2027, but you still want to address the issues that are making your site a pain to use for both internal admins and patients.  

Over time, a content management system that worked great for your organization gets bogged down and makes it difficult to launch content quickly, adjust technical SEO settings, optimize user experiences, or scale service line content. 

When that happens, your website becomes a barrier to growth, rather than a driver of it. 

Where to start 

Moving from a restrictive CMS to a more flexible platform should be in your 2027 plans to improve content management workflows, unlock stronger SEO capabilities, provide greater control over site architecture, and create a foundation for future growth.  

A full redesign isn’t necessary, either. Instead of starting from scratch, a replatform allows you to address the platform limitations that are preventing progress today, while giving you more flexibility to plan future website enhancements on its own timeline. 

See it in practice 

We helped CentraCare move platforms to our VitalSite® content management system following a disappointing experience with a previous digital agency. The process included an automated data feed that streamlined updates for more than 1,300 provider profiles, while VitalSite Smart Panels allowed content changes to be applied across multiple pages.  

The result is a site that’s easier to manage and more engaging for users, with a 51.4% increase in engagement rate and a 25.9% increase in active users. 

Looking ahead to 2027 

Your organization doesn’t need to chase every emerging trend to stay competitive. The hospitals and health systems that will achieve their goals in 2027 are the ones that focus on strengthening the digital foundations that directly influence patient acquisition, engagement, and conversion. 

Whether you’re planning a major digital transformation or looking for strategic improvements that fit within a constrained budget, investing in GEO, UX, and a new website platform can position your organization for stronger marketing performance in the new year and beyond. 

Planning for 2027 and looking for a digital healthcare partner that can make your goals a reality? Reach out to Geonetric today to learn more about our website design, UX, GEO, and digital marketing solutions.