Simple Steps to Creating a Website Your Patients Will Love5

2

Having a Website Matters ................................................................................................................................ 3

Keep It Fresh ....................................................................................................................................... 5

Stay Flexible ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

Make It Actionable ......................................................................................................8

Keep It Simple and Reassuring .......................................................................................................................9

Put Yourself Out There ................................................................................................................... 11

Also from Kareo ................................................................................................................................................ 14

Table of Contents

www.kareo.com

You can’t compete in the digital age without being digital. If you don’t have a website, now is the time to get started. If you have an old, outdated website, it’s time for you too.

Your website is like a storefront. It’s the digital representation of your practice and, for many, it will be the first interaction they have with you. A Pew Research study showed that 87% of US adults use the Internet and 72% look for health information online. And, according to Google, 77% of patients used a web search before booking an appointment. If you don’t have a meaningful online presence that engages patients—and potential patients—you could be missing out on an opportunity to strengthen and grow your business.

There are five ways to ensure your website provides patients with a meaningful online experience:

1. Keep it fresh.

2. Stay flexible.

3. Make it actionable.

4. Be simple and reassuring.

5. Put yourself out there.

Using these five rules as an outline, this guide will walk you through the process of planning and implementing your website and patient portal.

THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU GET STARTED• Create a reasonable budget for the project. Expect the cost of a new website to start at about $5,000, and

annual hosting, updates, and maintenance to start at $1,000. The cost is likely to increase if you choose to add more advanced features.

• Select a web design vendor with medical practice experience. One great way to find a vendor is to look at medical practice websites online and identify the ones you like the most. You can do a search for award winning medical practice websites or search for other practices in your specialty. When you find ones you like, see if they list the designer.

Having a Website MattersHaving a Website Matters

3

4

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar Website

THINGS YOUR VENDOR CAN HELP YOU DO• Develop a project calendar like the one below for the creation and launch of your site. It should include

everything from your kickoff meeting through the go-live date for the site. Timeframes can vary widely depending on the site’s complexity, but expect to commit 3–6 months.

• Choose a web host.

• Chose and secure a domain name.

• Identify keywords and phrases.

• Develop your site map and content.

Like what you read? Look for these buttons to share content with others!

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12

Kickoff 4

Set goals & Objectives 4

Content Writing 4 4 4 4

Design Concepts 4 4

Build Architecture 4 4

Website Design 4 4 4 4 4 4

Purchase Hosting 4 4

Website Review/Approval 4 4

Set Up Google Analytics 4

Start Website Promotion 4

Launch 4

www.kareo.com

The days of static websites are long gone—or should be. Today, the best idea is to use a content management system (CMS) that enables you to have much more control over your site and easily make updates to keep the site interesting, engaging, and dynamic. This also helps with search engine optimization (SEO), which is an important way to make your site visible to online search engines.

You have a lot of options today for website development, but be cautious. Medical practice websites can be more complicated than the average small business site. Don’t take a do it yourself attitude here. It’s worth paying for a vendor that specializes in medical practice site creation. You can keep costs down by choosing prefab design elements and standard features.

GET THE MOST FROM YOUR CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMMake sure the partner you choose offers you a site that is built using a CMS, which may help you save money on the back end. A reliable partner can create the perfect site for your practice with the look and feel you want and the right content to get you started. It can also provide some best practice advice and guidelines. In addition, some offer ad-ditional services, such as physician-vetted, patient education and tools like BMI calculators. Don’t try to go “free” on a new website. This is a place where it is worth a little investment, and there are many companies that offer afford-able options for healthcare providers.

Once your site is in place, you can step in and manage the updating or addition of new content. When you do, keep these best practices in mind:

1. Make sure more than one person can make changes, so necessary changes can happen even if someone is on vacation.

2. Develop a calendar that lays out when you’ll make updates and add new content. Dynamic content helps with your SEO and engages patients.

3. Know the standards for your site and stick to them (i.e., photo types and sizes, fonts, etc.). Make sure all of your changes are consistent.

Keep It Fresh

5

Keep It Fresh

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar Website

6 Like what you read? Use this button to share content with others!

MAXIMIZE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATIONAccording to the Google SEO Starter Guide, SEO affects only organic search results, not paid or sponsored results. For most small practices, this is important because you may not have the budget for paid advertising online. Your website vendor can help with most of the SEO strategies recommended by Google to help optimize SEO.

• Create unique, accurate page titles.

• Use the description meta tag (a short summary of the page contents).

• Have simple-to-understand URLs that use words (not complex numeric structures).

• Make your site easy to navigate.

• Offer quality content and services—the more relevant and interesting, the better your search results.

- Make it easy to read (describe your practice in easy to understand language).

- Stay focused on the topic.

- Write for your audience not the search engines.

- Regularly create new, fresh content.

• Optimize the use of images (help people imagine what being a patient feels like in your office).

The other important factor you need to consider is designing your website to increase local SEO and attract local business. You want to reach and engage your community to grow your practice—not reach people 3,000 miles away! Local optimization can help you get found in local searches (i.e., Pediatrician, Iowa City). Make sure that you and your vendor cover these additional SEO tasks when setting up your site:

• Include your city name along with top keywords in website content (i.e., We are pediatricians in Iowa City).

• Include your full address on every page of your website (not just the contact us page) and make sure it is exactly the same everywhere (same words, punctuation, etc.). It needs to be consistent.

• Link your Google Maps listing to your website.

Site Navigation

Keep your navigation easy with a simple hierarchy and base the navigation on your homepage (also called the root page). Here’s a brief example:

Home Page

About Us

News & Events

Patient Resources

Services

Contact Us

www.kareo.com 7

Stay Flexible

Stay FlexibleTechnology is always changing so be sure that your site is optimized for tablets and smartphones. As smartphone usage grows, having a site optimized for mobile becomes more and more critical. A recent Manhattan Research study showed that 38% of smartphone users say their device was “essential” for finding health and medical information.

A Pew Research Internet Project looked more broadly at cell phone and smartphone usage:

90% of adults own a cell phone.

58% own a smartphone.

42% own a tablet.

More of your patients than you think are using their smartphones and other devices to search online, make plans, and get reminders. In fact, not only should your site be optimized for mobile but you should offer options like text reminders though a service like Demandforce. A study published by Informa Telecoms & Media indicated that 95% of people read text messages within 15 minutes of receiving them.

According to a survey conducted by Google and Nielsen, today’s consumers use mobile devices to shop for products and services, including healthcare. The following survey highlights illustrate this shift toward using mobile devices for research and decision making.

15+ Number of hours consumers spend per week researching on smartphones (of that, more than seven hours is spent on mobile web, not using an app).

93% of people who use mobile to do research complete a purchase of a product or service.

59% of consumers visited a business website on their mobile device.

74% searched on mobile using a search engine and 41% used a search engine for searches related to health.

As patients think of healthcare more like other consumer services, it is important to be aware of changing trends in the way patients search for services and expect to be contacted.

Mobile Health Apps Are Big Business

Both patients and clinicians are using mHealth apps on their smartphones and other devices. There are tens of thousands of these apps, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says this number will grow by 25% a year. Their research also shows that by 2018 1.7 billion people worldwide will download a health app.

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar Website

8 Like what you read? Use this button to share content with others!

Employ tools and links that enable patients to take immediate action, such as requesting an appointment, completing forms, and accessing health information on your patient portal.

The ability to book appointments online is a great feature. You may be able to add this feature to the website or it could be offered in your patient portal. One simple solution is to use a partner like ZocDoc to provide 24/7 access to online appointment scheduling both on your site and through the ZocDoc website, where your practice can be found by new patients.

Make It Actionable

Older Patients and the Net

Many providers and their staff worry that patients who are older than 65 won’t be able to engage online either through patient portals or secure email. The latest data from the Pew Research Internet Project suggest otherwise—technology adoption is steadily increasing among this group.

• 77% of seniors own a cell phone

• 59% of seniors use the Internet

• 71% of seniors who use the Internet go online daily

• 46% of online seniors use social networking sites

In addition, seniors are the fastest-growing group of social media users. Don’t count them out! They may be some of your most likely website and portal visitors.

Offering online forms is another way to offer a value added service to your patients. It is so much nicer to download a form, fill it out, and bring it with you at your convenience. Plus, if you use PDFs that can be completed electronically, they are more legible for your staff. Just remember, these forms include protected health information so should not be sent through unsecured email.

The biggest patient-centric, actionable feature is your patient portal. Ideally, it is integrated with your practice management and EHR software so that it populates with up-to-date health information and allows patients to see billing histories and make payments.

Your portal should provide secure access to:

• Clinical summaries

• Medications, laboratories, and problems

• Education and care plans

• Secure email/messaging

• Prescription refill requests

• Online statements and payments

• Downloadable medical charts

www.kareo.com

Be Simple and Reassuring

9

Keep It Simple and Reassuring

Make it easy for patients to find what they need. Don’t get carried away with complicated, fancy designs, and images—make it easy for your patients to find what they are looking for. When they get the features that they want, they are more loyal. Even better, when potential patients see tools they want, they are more likely to switch to your practice.

WEBSITE CHECKLISTUse this checklist to figure out what needs to be on your site:

4 Practice location(s), address, and phone number should be prominently displayed on a contact page, as well as every other page in a footer or sidebar.

4 Provide public email for administrative inquiries (not to be used for clinical purposes)

4 Hours, map, and other instructions. A link or connection to MapQuest, YahooMaps, or other free mapping service is also helpful.

4 If you offer same-day appointments (if not, you should!) say so prominently on your homepage.

4 After hours policy and other important policies related to responding to emails, ordering prescription refills, etc. (both through public email and your secure portal).

4 Insurance plans your practice accepts and payment options (be sure you are able to take credit card payments through your website or patient portal).

4 List your patient-centric and online services (i.e., phone and eVisits, e-Lab results, e-Prescriptions, Ask-a-Doctor email, online appointment requests, and online patient history).

4 A clear and visible link to your patient portal.

4 Patient education and links to online patient communities (if appropriate).

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar Website

TAKE IT ONE STEP FURTHERWant to go one step further? Consider these more advanced options:

• Link to review and rating sites, such as ZocDoc, and include the ability to leave a review or rating.

• Price transparency and anticipated costs.

• Provide a landing page specifically for referring physicians.

• Add widgets, like the ones from Demandforce, that automatically host reviews on your website, business profile, and Facebook page.

DON’T FORGET THE LEGAL DETAILS This is another area where a vendor that only does medical websites is a great resource. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and be sure to cover the following important information:

• Copyright

• Privacy policies

• Terms and conditions

10 Like what you read? Look for these buttons to share content with others!

www.kareo.com 11

Put Yourself Out There

There’s no point in having a website if no one can find you. You’ve put your time, money, and resources into creating the very best website possible. Now put yourself out there and start building an online presence.

LAUNCHING YOUR SITEUse this simple checklist (or be sure your vendor does) to make sure your site is ready to launch:

• Open the site in several browsers and using different devices (i.e., smartphone, tablet, etc.) to ensure it looks consistent across various environments.

• Proofread the entire site, and then proofread it again. Multiple people should review your site.

• Double check any links on your site as well. Click every one and make sure it works.

• Test any features like appointment requests, online forms, etc. to make sure they all work as well.

• Set up Google Analytics so you can track your website’s success.

TestIf you are sure the site is ready to go, do one more thing. Test it with a few selected patients. For a week, ask patients to check out your new website and give you feedback. Use that feedback to make any needed changes. If the feed-back includes major feature additions, you can make those your phase 2 additions (rolling out new features is a great marketing opportunity). You don’t have to do everything patients suggest, but consider each item seriously and thank them. You might even offer a little giveaway for anyone who provides feedback like a gift card.

Go LiveThink you’re ready to go live? Go for it! Your website is dynamic, and you can make changes. So don’t worry that there may still be something that needs work. You can keep improving and fixing things.

Put Yourself Out There

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar Website

12 Like what you read? Look for these buttons to share content with others!

PROMOTING YOUR WEBSITE

Once you go live, it’s time to promote your site—online and in the real world. Traditional MarketingMake sure you add your website address to all of your policies, forms, and handouts. This includes patient statements. Also, update any existing advertising (newspaper and other local publications, billboards, etc.). Do some additional marketing just for the new site. A simple postcard mailed to all patients and handed out at your practice is an easy and inexpensive promotional tool. Hand out the card for several months and make sure you mention the site (and patient portal) regularly to patients during their time in the office.

Online PromotionYour site should have all the necessary features to help with SEO, but you’ll still have to do a little legwork.

1. Search engine optimization and organic search. It can take a little time for your new site to get noticed by search engines and show up on search sites like Google and Yahoo. By driving traffic to your site via offline efforts you can help this process along.

2. Submit your site to search engines. Manually submitting your site to search engines can speed things up. Visit https://www.google.com/submityourcontent/website-owner/ to submit to Google. Other search engines provide similar tools.

3. Add email marketing. If you aren’t already collecting email addresses from patients, start as soon as you decide to implement your site. When the site goes live, send an email to patients—and others, such as referral sources and vendors—to let them know about the new site and the features and services it offers.

4. Google Places. Own it, update it, and add photos! This can help increase your appearance in online searches.

5. Claim your online listings. Many physicians are already listed on a wide range of physician search and rating sites. The fastest way to see where your doctors are listed is to run a Google search. Then, go to each listing and own that listing so you can make updates and add information, such as your website and email.

Put Yourself Out There

6. Create a Facebook page. Many healthcare professionals are wary of social media, but the time has come. Start with a simple Facebook page. You can promote this along with your website or as a follow up to the site launch. Make it easy for patients to like you from your website and to click through to your website from your Facebook page. To get your Facebook page up and running, consider these tips:

a. Search for local influencers and other popular local pages and like them. Hopefully, they will like you back!

b. Invite patients, vendors, and others to like you on Facebook through an email.

c. Have employees who are on Facebook promote your new page to their friends (and to like your posts).

d. Post regularly—share reminders for flu shots, general health information, events, etc.

e. Always respond to posts from others, but take personal or health-related communication offline or into a private chat.

There is a lot more that you can do on an ongoing basis around social media, online promotion, and reputation management. These suggestions are just to get you started. For more on managing your online reputation, check out Kareo’s 4 Steps to Building and Managing Your Practice’s Online Reputation.

www.kareo.com 13

Like what you read? Use this button to share content with others!

Explore more of Kareo’s brief, informative guides by visiting www.kareo.com/resources.

Meaningful Use: A Small Practice Guide (April 2014)

EHR Implementation: A Small Practice Guide (July 2013)

Selecting the Right EHR for Your Practice: A Guide for Small Practices (June 2013)

HIMSS 2013: A Small Practice Point of View (April 2013)

HIMSS 2013A Small Practice Point of View

a resource presented by

TO HIRE OR NOT TO HIRE

A BILLING SERVICE

How to Make the Right Choice for Your Practice

a resource presented by

To Hire or Not to Hire a Billing Service: How to Make the Right Choice for your Practice (February 2013)

ICD-10 Guide: A Small Practice Guide(January 2014)

10 Powerful Ways to Engage Patients in Every Aspect of Your Practice (January 2014)

Also from Kareo

14

Five Simple Steps to a Stellar Website

Watch for more coming soon!

ContributorsJessica AptmanJessica Aptman, director of communications at ZocDoc, has been with the company for more than two years. Her work focuses on reaching new audiences, as well as keeping ZocDoc’s existing patients and doctors informed, connected, and engaged. Prior to joining ZocDoc, Jessica represented a broad range of consumer technology products and services including Amazon Kindle, TurboTax, and Jawbone. She brings her consumer-focused expertise and approach to ZocDoc, applying best practices garnered through her work across other leading consumer industries to her work in the healthcare space. Follow ZocDoc on Twitter

Kacey BurrKacey Burr, channel marketing associate, has been a part of the Demandforce marketing team for more than two years. She manages corporate partnership relations, advertising, content creation, and industry events, and specializes in optimizing the Demandforce marketing and communications product for medical practices across health industries. Follow Demandforce on Twitter

Lea ChathamLea Chatham is the content marketing manager at Kareo, responsible for developing educational resources to help small medical practices improve their businesses. She joined Kareo after working at a small integrated health system for more than five years developing marketing and educational tools and events for patients. Prior to that, Lea was a marketing coordinator for Medical Manager Health Systems, WebMD Practice Services, Emden, and Sage Software. She specializes in simplifying information about healthcare and healthcare technology for physicians, practice staff, and patients. Follow Lea on Twitter

ABOUT KAREO

Kareo is the only cloud-based medical office software and services platform dedicated to small practices. At Kareo, we believe that, with the right tools

and support, small practices can do big things. We offer an integrated suite of products and services designed to help physicians get paid faster, run their

business smarter, and provide better care. Our Practice Management software, Billing Services, and free, full-featured award-winning EHR help more

than 20,000 medical providers more efficiently manage the business and clinical sides of their practice. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kareo’s mission is to help providers spend their time focused on patients, not paperwork.

For more information, visit www.kareo.com

3353 Michelson Drive, Suite 400, Irvine, CA 92612(888) 775-2736 • www.kareo.com© 2014 Kareo, Inc.

May_2014