Practices hang 'shingles' on Internet web sites
The American Academy of
Orthopaedic Surgeons Bulletin. October 1998. Volume 46, No.5, page
21.
Orthopaedists reaching computer literate patients
Since launching its web site in November 1997, the Fox Valley
Orthopaedic Institute has received e-mail from around the world, much of
it in response to articles written by its surgeons and posted on the
site about topics ranging from skier's thumb to shoulder impingement
syndrome.
The Geneva, Ill. institute's foray into cyberspace has certainly
given it a global presence. But by linking the site to the local chamber
of commerce, the practice has also found a way to accomplish a more
immediate objective-an increased local presence.
More and more, orthopaedic practices are using web sites as one more
way to reach out to their patients and the public. Mary O'Brien,
practice administrator for the Fox Valley Orthopaedic Institute, said
the surgeons decided to establish the site after it became apparent that
many of the Institute's patients and potential patients were computer
literate and using the Internet to gather information.
"A lot of the patients would come in, for example, for an ACL
tear," O'Brien said. "They would say they looked it up on the
Internet and saw such and such type of treatment. We knew they were
using the Internet for research."
Donna Wood, administrative vice president of the University
Orthopaedic Clinic in Tuscaloosa, Ala., agreed. "We felt that an
increasing number of patients were obtaining health care information via
the Internet and that it was an additional media outlet where we needed
to have a presence," she said.
Web technology is "absolutely essential" in health care
now, according to Arthur Sturm, president and chief executive officer of
Sturm Rosenberg King & Co. in Chicago and author of the book New
Rules in Health Care Marketing.
"The web is being used by consumers for health care
information," said Sturm.
People are shopping around trying to find out what's available, what
procedures are being performed and who has the expertise in those
procedures. This is especially true in the specialty areas. If you're
not on the net, in the long term you are going to be at a sincere
disadvantage."
Sturm also said he expects an increasing demand from consumers who
want interactive access to their physicians. "This will include
everything from e-mails on Q & A to electronic scheduling and
electronic prescription refills," he said.
Cary Cox, head of Cox Marketing Group of Charlotte, N.C., said web
sites are the new fax machine. "Several years ago very few people
had fax machines," Cox said. "Now most businesses wouldn't be
caught without one. That's going to happen with web sites. The nice
thing is that people can get the information they need when they want
it. That's why it's growing."
Sturm said the cost of web technology is "all over the place
right now," but he said there are a lot of boutique firms that are
designing web sites relatively inexpensively. The sites for the Fox
Valley Orthopaedic Institute and the University Orthopaedic Clinic were
professionally designed with input from the physicians and staff.
Wood, of University Orthopaedic Clinic, said the web site costs less
than many of the clinic's other regular marketing endeavors, which
include newspaper and television advertising, direct mail and public
speaking by the clinic's surgeons.
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