American Medical News: Upgrading Physician Websites for a Post-ACA World

Medical practice websites need to become a go-to resource for patients to serve as the technology backbone to a new patient-centered model of care.

Whether a practice is launching a website or rebuilding one, thanks to a changing health care landscape of the Affordable Care Act, the websites physicians need by 2014 will look much different from the ones online today.

Today’s sites are little more than an electronic version of a Yellow Pages ad. In the near future, websites will need to do more than tell a visitor the practice’s address and phone number. They will be a key part of the physician-patient relationship.

“There’s definitely a need for docs to get more out of their websites, which typically are static and rarely change,” said Susan Tellem, RN, partner at Tellem Grody Public Relations in Los Angeles.

Because of the ACA and the meaningful use incentive program, patient engagement will be an important piece of the physician-patient relationship. In today’s technology-driven world, physician-sanctioned websites will be a necessary part of that engagement. Seventy-two percent of Internet users say they have looked online for health information, according to a February report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

A January report by Denver-based Vanguard Communications found that many practices will need to launch a site for the first time or significantly enhance the ones they have to meet these demands.

Read the full article on American Medical News