The Abandoned Gateway

Whether it is a patient in Kenya waiting to visit India for a knee replacement surgery or somebody in Ludhiana referred to a hospital in Delhi for advanced cancer treatment, chances are that both would do background check on the hospitals using Internet. In that case, how useful and relevant is the information provided in hospital websites? Do hospitals update their website regularly? Does the website make an attempt to simplify medical jargons? Unfortunately, the answer is in the negative for most hospitals.

Most hospitals do not consider their website as a gateway of opportunity to disseminate information or they simply fail to understand its significance as a marketing tool. Some websites are butchered by blatant spelling mistakes and have labyrinth of information which confounds patients rather than aiding them. Many a times, even after pointing out the glaring errors, we have been appalled to find the bloopers not corrected.

One finds it difficult to navigate and feels exasperated even with some of the top groups not providing ample information about its various branches in their website. Forget about updating the website about the news of launch of latest technology in their hospital, some fail to change their telephone numbers in their websites once they are altered.

Such is the abject neglect of this tool that recently a hospital group was found to refer to a particular branch as 'upcoming' in their website, when we knew it was already commissioned. When we brought it to the notice of the hospital management, they were equally stunned by the error. Later, they reasoned that as the photo of the branch was not ready, the person managing the website has written the hospital as 'upcoming.' When other industries in the service sector are actively using websites for enhancing business prospects, should the Indian healthcare industry be far behind? Besides being a cheap way of marketing your product, it's a powerful tool of communication.

With an estimated 20 to 25 per cent of the general public accessing the Internet for medical information and prospects of medical tourism getting brighter in the country, it's time that hospitals discard their indifference. Here are some tips to make your website your strength. Entrust a responsible person to check spellings and verify the usefulness of information on a regular basis. Appoint a dedicated person for managing the website. Update the news section regularly. This task can be accomplished by uploading in-house press releases or clippings of various newspapers about your hospital or both. Do not fail to mention the contact number of your corporate communication at the end of the release for further correspondence.

The website must provide phone numbers and email addresses of various departments, along with a brief profile of its top-notch consultants. This is more useful to patients than a longish note on the group's mission. Make your website more interactive. Provide on-line booking for OPDs. Often, we are told by high-profile doctors and administrators that they don't operate through emails. Worse, some even tell us that they don't have an email address. It's time that this section of people smells the coffee!

Avoid clutter. Give crisp and authentic information rather than clouding with reams which do not make sense to the layman. Reduce the number of icons which are 'under construction'—that's an irritant. Give brief notes on various diseases and treatment options or provide links of reliable websites for the same. You can tie-up with websites for the same. You can also have animated videos of various treatment options for patient education.

You can enhance patients' choice by having a virtual tour of the hospital— flaunting its plush interiors and various departments and treatment options. You can also provide views of various rooms. Do create separate sections for patient feedbacks, foreign tourists and jobs. If you have a standardised rate card for treatment, then you can display that too. It is also important to make your website look aesthetic by using vibrant colours and pictures to attract browsers.

Go ahead and embrace the change.

Rita Dutta
rita.dutta@expressindia.com