The foundation of patient-centric health is to provide best possible care and treatment while focusing on patients at all stages. Patients today are digital healthcare consumers and for them, the Internet has now become an indispensible part of making health decisions. For providers, an effective and impressive online presence is a new patient portal that can serve as an excellent gateway to attract new patients and more desired cases.
A website is the first thing most people search for while looking for your practice on the Internet. Having a strong online presence on social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp and profiles on physician-rating websites will only be beneficial if people are able to find you easily when they search about you or your practice over the Internet. A professional website has become a must to thrive in the competition-driven healthcare market.
Here are few simple yet profound best practices to keep in mind to make sure you have a patient-centric website:
To Facilitate Digital Patient Engagement, Move To A Responsive Mobile-Friendly Website
Responsive web design is becoming more important as the amount of mobile traffic now accounts for more than half of total Internet traffic. The use of smartphones has increased at a soaring rate and statistics show that they will further rise exponentially. Having a mobile -friendly website has become indispensible.
Keep It Fresh With Creative And Informative Content
The content of your website should be informative as well as user-engaging at the same time. Think out of the box and experiment with different content formats like infographics, presentations and patient education brochures and place them on easily visible places on the home page. Wherever possible, try to include images, infographics and videos on your website to attract more patients to it. You can also include a patient education library with accurate and unbiased scientific information for patients.
Social Media Links
On every webpage, you should provide links for the integration of social media to your website for sharing. This will serve as an important component of your online presence as it increases the chances of a post going viral and provides better online visibility.
Conduct Regular Audits And Update Important Details Regularly
Revisit all pages of your website on a regular basis and make sure you update important details. The purpose is that important details like office hours, address, practice branches and phone numbers should be easily accessed by anyone who wants to get in touch with you. Your patients will definitely appreciate the convenience of finding all these details and other things like signing up for a newsletter, reading the blog section to update their knowledge, downloading an e-book of their interest or reading your case studies whenever they desire – all at one place. You can also include an “about us” page on your website that humbly showcases your medical expertise, cases you’ve handled and the associations you are a part of.
Adopt New Strategies To Focus On Patient Health And Wellness Through Your Website Content
New digital trends are rising in healthcare and providers are leaving no stone unturned to woo patients to their practice through digital channels. As your website is an important part of your digital reputation, ensure that the website content is a healthy mix of your practice/hospital information and educational information. Develop and post content that satisfies their needs and the quest for information. You can frequently post tips and general information about health, fitness, food and well-being. Irrespective of their health issues, there are a large number of people who search for these topics for achieving better health. Often, many people prefer to read the information on a printed page, so you can offer downloadable or printable education materials, brochures and leaflets.
Your practice is a unique entity with its own unique brand strategy, goals and principles. You spent years earning that reputation for yourself. Go sky-high with a well-designed website that accurately reflects your practice and the kind of healthcare services you offer. This will ensure that your patients – current and new – get a correct impression about you, your practice and your online reputation.