iHealthBeat: Which hospitals have the best websites?
Study IDs top hospital websites
Topics: Consumer Marketing, Marketing, Online Strategy
January 26, 2012
The following is an excerpt from iHealthBeat—the Daily Briefing's sister publication, which tracks technology's impact on health care.
In 2011, more than 80% of adults reported using the Internet as a resource for health care quality information. As a result, consumers are becoming increasingly health literate and are able to understand health analytics comparing provider performance. The 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey found that 34% of surveyed consumers used Web-based tools to make hospital and physician selections.
Based on these trends, many health system websites have begun to include tools and information for patients and visitors that are designed to create a positive organizational image and provide more useful information. In so doing, hospitals increasingly are seeking to take on the role of trusted adviser that is closely aligned with the accountable care organization model being promoted through the health reform law.
The competitive advantage gained from building an effective Web presence has led researchers to establish accessibility, content, marketing and technical standards that define best-demonstrated practices. A study forthcoming in the Journal of Healthcare Management assesses U.S. hospital and health system websites' performance based on these standards and identifies the top-performing systems.
The mean overall score for the health systems studied was 6.37 on a 10-point scale, indicating that hospital and health system websites have significant room for improvement. The maximum score of any facility was 8.40, achieved by the Arizona Cancer Center's website. This organization was also in the top five for the accessibility and technology scales.
Read the rest of the article to see other top performers.
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