In the digital era, patients have the resources and savviness to take an active role in their health and wellness. According to Pew Health Online Research, 35 percent of US adults have gone online to investigate a medical condition. And of these, half followed up with a visit to a medical professional.
But with the tight restrictions placed on patient information and privacy, delivering on the promise of a customer-friendly digital experience can be difficult. So, how can healthcare organizations capture those who are primed to receive health information online?
The First Step Is Discovery.
St. Luke’s Health System, Idaho’s largest not-for-profit health system, joined forces with Extractable, a digital design agency, to answer this challenging question. They began by interviewing key stakeholders, including administrators, physicians, and clinical leaders. They also took a deep dive into website analytics, and reviewed the digital experiences of leading healthcare organizations around the world.
Most critically, research included interviews with actual patients across the state. Participants covered the gamut of St. Luke’s community—from healthy twentysomethings to patients with long-term chronic conditions—including those with varying levels of experience navigating the healthcare system. As part of the co-creation exercise, participants were asked to imagine a website’s personalized healthcare dashboard and prioritize the modules on it.
Identify Opportunities to Connect.
The exercise provided key insights that were instrumental in shaping the final digital roadmap. For example, the strategy team identified opportunities to attract more visitors to the website through search options. They selected 50 of the most common medical conditions and built dedicated landing pages for each one to capture organic search traffic and then easily connect site visitors to local providers and services.
Maximize the Digital Experience!
In an issue of SHSMD’s Spectrum newsletter, Cindy Graham, digital manager at St. Luke’s, and Mark Ryan, founder and chief analytics officer at Extractable, share tips for creating a dynamic website that drives engagement and empowers patients.
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