"With over 180 million people in just the United States and Canada having access to the Internet and websites springing up at the rate of several per minute, the Internet has become a strategic tool for success/idly growing a business."
--Paraphrased from Webonomics (Evan I. Schwartz)
Make no mistake about it, the Internet is not going away. In a very short period of time, it has so firmly established itself into our very fabric that many of us cannot recall a time when it was not around. The Internet has radically changed the way we do business. People do buy things on the Web: books, office supplies, clothes, software, airline tickets, antiques, anything. They do this because it is easy; it is convenient; it is often even a cheaper place to shop. People do surf the Internet because information, never so readily available, is now just a click away: the online version of The New York Times or The Washington Post; a virtual tour of the Museo del Prado or the Musee du Louvre; Google or MySimon; and on and on. People do search the Internet for information regarding health-related issues, diseases and medical conditions, and, yes, they will seek Out physician websites to learn something about specific doctors and their areas of specialty.
The number of physicians and medical groups having practice websites is growing exponentially. Why do you suppose that is? While originally it may have been the novelty of being the "first on the block," more and more physicians have begun to see value behind the novelty. It is the value behind the novelty that this article will explore.
Building the Virtual Office
Evan I. Schwartz, in Webonomics, states that, "...no matter what any given website specializes in, this principle will always hold true: The quantity of people visiting is far less important than the quality of their experience." No truer words were ever written on the subject. How does one create a quality experience for patients and potential patients visiting your practice website? Actually, it is not that difficult to do. Schwartz continues by saying, "The name of the game for any [website]is to find a unique niche, then use the interactive features of the Web to cater to a very specific and loyal group of individuals."
A medical practice website should instantly appear to be of "value" to your patients and potential future patients through its ability to extend your practice, in terms of information arid function, over the Internet.
First Impressions
There is no doubt that your website's appearance will reflect directly upon you and your practice. Because you want visitors to feel a desire to explore your site, it must somehow "grab" them in overall layout, colors, graphics (photos), content, and be easy to navigate. As doctors, we would like to believe that consumers will evaluate our sites based on content; however, a recent study by Web-Watch (led by Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab) found that consumers with no medical training tend to judge the content credibility of medical websites based on visual design. This includes such things as layout, font size, color, and ease of use, all things which tend to make a site appear more professional.
Layout
Think logically. What are visitors expecting to see first, and how would you like to guide them through the pages of your website? Keep in mind the "quality of their experience."
There should be a sense of order to the website. The first page most visitors see is the "home" page which includes general information about the practice, the physicians, and their specialties. This "home" page (sometimes labeled, "About Our Practice") should be designed to virtually "connect" visitors to the practice. The page content should express a sense of professionalism and commitment to quality care. Since the "home" page is generally the staffing point for a tour of your practice website, it must be able to tempt visitors to go beyond it to targeted areas of the website. This takes mere website design to a website strategy level.
Site Features
Medical websites offer visitors, patients and potential patients the opportunity to get to know your practice upfront and close. Any and all pertinent information regarding your practice should be posted on the pages of your website. Expanded information may include:
* a practice mission statement
* practice policies and information (e.g., hours of business; for emergencies, call...; if you need to cancel your appointment, please...; etc.)
* physician biographies, areas of specialty, and areas of interest
* introduction of the key staff, their jobs, and methods of contacting them, if necessary
* information regarding your specialty
* information on each office location
* medical information on conditions and diseases commonly seen and treated by the practice
* announcements of new treatments, techniques or innovations performed by the physicians in the practice
* testimonials
* an online newsletter for patients and visitors to the site
* copies of articles written by the physicians either specifically for the website or published in the literature
* a list of any upcoming talks members of the practice may be giving in the community, or any lectures the physicians may be giving to professional groups
* Internet links to other medical sites selected by the physicians for their patients and visitors.
A practice website affords an excellent opportunity to improve the efficiency of practice management by incorporating:
* interactive maps and driving directions for each of the office locations
* online tentative patient appointment requests
* online requests by patients for prescription refills (secure connection)
* demographic (data entry) forms that can either be filled out online (secure connection) or downloaded to be printed and filled out prior to appointments
* a "Contact Us" e-mail service to allow questions, correspondence and feedback by patients and visitors to the site (secure connection).
A practice website may, depending on the design and hosting capabilities, allow for an online store to retail medical supplies and products to patients and visitors. As such, the website potentially may develop a new source of income for the practice: retail sales.
Add-on Features
The add-on feature capabilities of a medical practice website seem to expand every day, every week, every month. At the very least, it passively affords the practice the greatest advertising medium every devised--and at a cost significantly less than advertising in phone books, newspapers, radio or television. An online website never sleeps; it is open to provide information and limited service to all that visit on a 24 hour, 365 day basis.
How Do I Get Started?
Because your website is a reflection of your practice, it should be unique in design and style. While this does not mean that pre-designed website templates cannot be used, it does mean that your content--the information, photos, and features you include--must define you and your practice. While some practices build their websites "in-house"--maybe one of the doctors has an affinity for website design and development, or one of the staff's 15 year old daughters is a wiz at website design, having created one for her rock group--there are a plethora of companies which will provide you packages ranging from offering you minimal assistance to completely designing, developing, hosting and maintaining your site for you. It is only a matter of time and money.
If you are looking to an outside company to create your site, references, reputation, and availability of example sites are critical prior to your commitment. Generally, development of medical practice websites fall into 3 categories:
1) Templated sites with various ready-made styles to choose from (least expensive; generally limited in features; relatively quickly available)
2) Customized templated sites (more expensive with either an hourly or feature-by-feature upgrade cost for development, maintaining and hosting)
3) Custom websites (most expensive; subject to hourly design and development costs, or complete project costs; dependent on the features desired.
Depending on the company and their line of website products, templated websites do represent a reasonable choice for most practices. Consider what the website design and development packages include. Look for:
* quality, professional appearing, editable (self and custom) template site styles
* the ability to customize template sites at market rates without jumping into a totally custom site
* the availability of "multiple pages" to link to your home page
* the ability to include directions/maps, forms, multiple doctor information, e-mail mail communication, etc.
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