The doctor's website - a growing need?

All companies need, at some point in their life cycle of the question as to promote himself, his message to potential customers. It is perhaps also because it is new, it was a change of ownership, a move of office location, a change of opening hours, new partners or associates in the company or new products and services are available. Physicians and medical practices are not otherwise.

A doctor or medical practice is a business, whether or not other social and charitable objectives: The company employs staff, rental of premises and businesses must pay taxes.

I write this article first hand: I helped my wife, a specialist, and his colleagues, a new medical practice and width were, in particular, online marketing and advertising. Your experience is that nearly 30% of patients come from the Internet, to a certain extent - like many other 80%. This has certainly contributed to some of the costs of high cost of putting the creation of a practice. The site is also a useful resource for patients and reduces the need for disseminating information in printed form.

Traditional techniques

The traditional emphasis of the promotion of physical medical services, printing and networking advertising. Search for a medical practice on a bustling corner, near a shopping mall or other place of high visibility, combined with clear momentum is a simple way to ensure that people know where you can find.

Print advertising can take the form of a list in the Yellow Pages or other directory Print, advertising in local newspapers and publications such as medical journals, college or newsletter medical publications.

Building a good reputation among medical colleagues, friends and other businesses is also important. In the case of experts, they need a good reputation among doctors, to ensure redirects. In the case of a new medical practice networking could be close to overburdened colleagues, perhaps too well, for their work, or colleagues, perhaps forgotten their own experience with the creation of a practice.

All these traditional (offline) techniques still important that we live in a world increasingly in line with its importance decreases gradually.

Why doctors to create Web sites?

There is no doubt that increasing numbers of patients are in line with the medium of entertainment, education, communication, and that the first number of the request for information. For many, the word "Google" a popular language, and the dictionary, and is synonymous with Internet search. With over a trillion pages on the Internet in July 2008, there is misinformation and himself the ins and niche topics.

A website gives a doctor, a relatively inexpensive (to almost zero variable costs), approximately 75% of the population, the Internet.

The support also has a series of additional benefits, like almost everywhere:

• It can be easily searched
• It allows a virtually unlimited number of space and time for staff
• It is 24 / 7
• It can be updated as things change
• It supports various forms of communication such as video and graphics, and
• You can use a two-track conversation / dialogue.

It is the potential of online media. Is rare that this potential is fully exploited by doctors.

Patients' perspective

Although the subject of a physician of the site is the doctor and his practice, the public is a site to the public and other doctors.

The public and the patients benefit, if you have a website, as you open another channel of communication. Go to your site to a patient the opportunity to learn more about you, your style of practice, philosophies and treatment before the decision for an appointment. A patient can more easily go with someone who read it and not as someone who has a name and phone number. If you do not have a site, or your site is not a favorable impression, you can never an opportunity to show the person you care experience, your knowledge and capabilities.

There are a number of possibilities, a bad impression - that they may, as the potential patient perceives noise or purpose of your site (for example, may be too aggressive or pushing surgery), or can be as simple information (for example, if you choose to practice a phone number does not), a parameter slapdash grammar and spelling, or browse a Web site difficult.

If you have a website?

There are few doctors to a website today. The default value of these sites, the other: some are no more than a short one page biography with contact information, others obviously love and over a long period with professional graphics, multimedia and patients, among other things, a complete education.

Creating a website is more a complex operation. There are many ways to do with free tools available to deal with a professional web developer for a complete solution. You can a few hundred dollars or several thousand. The key to an effective website is a clear objective and vision of what you want to achieve and time, the quality of content. It is difficult for someone who has the skills, understanding of the discipline and passion to write, in fact you and your style of practice.

Best Practice --

There is great diversity in the nature of the information and resources available on the websites of doctors today. A list of some of these. If you have a website, or even think about creating one, you can as a checklist to determine what you and the information content. They should consider carefully what your patients would be of value and what you are comfortable with. Some doctors are for the provision of basic information and some very detailed information, including information on the person, the statements of (potential) interest and prices of surgical complications.

• Contact
• Area of practice or specialty media
• Biography doctor
• measurement of card (sometimes interactive) and date of arrival
• Images and the qualifications of the personnel
• E-mail
• Pictures of Practice
• services and / or equipment
• education links or content on the conditions and treatment
• Articles
• Downloadable patient forms, for example, registration forms for new patients
• presentations at conferences
• declarations of interest
• credit card online
• Online Surveys
• online tools such as for calculating the estimate of the deadline for pregnancy
• Blogs (a sort of online journal and discussion) on the medical and non medical letters
• health messages and news magazines and media
• Subscribe to the newsletter of the practice
• Pictures and / or videos / animations of the procedure
• Review the results of the surgery / complications OP-price
• Awards, newspaper articles and TV appearances
• Print forms of patient self-management, eg, food diaries and journals

You can in the list, while many types of information straight from the Internet like, the other a new type of relationship and dialogue with a patient outside the traditional doctor-patient consultation. This offers a way of providing rich and detailed information for patients to their own comfort, but also challenges to the security of any information you communicate clearly and are not implemented, without medical supervision, or their circumstances.

Conclusion

After your own site offers a flexibility that you want, even on the Internet rather than limited by space and the format of other restrictions. In addition, the public, a central body of information relevant to your practice and where you can start a virtual report of each board.

The search for information about your colleagues are often examples of good and not both, of testing, a useful resource and effective online presence.

I invite you to search your own name or practice on the Internet and see how your patients, you will find today. Even if you do not have a website you can check that information on its way to the Internet. People may have on this information, your Internet presence. It is even incorrect.