Health Literacy 101: Don’t Frustrate Your Site Visitors

// By Lisa D. Ellis //

Remember the last time you booked airline tickets, reserved a hotel room, or shopped online? Whether it was last week or last year, chances are that you had an excellent customer service experience. That’s because most major brands today understand the importance of catering to their online visitors and making their websites intuitive and understandable. 

The Challenge for Health Systems

Healthcare systems, on the other hand, continue to lag behind. If your organization’s website and portal aren’t user-friendly — including language, design, and functionality — consumers may find the process of navigating through your pages confusing and discouraging. You could be risking poor compliance with medical recommendations, lowering patient satisfaction scores, and sending people straight to your competitors.

Stacy Robison, MPH, MCHES, president and co-founder of CommunicateHealth, Inc.

Stacy Robison, MPH, MCHES, president and co-founder of CommunicateHealth, Inc., says, “Using your website should be as easy as booking a plane flight.” But for many healthcare organizations, there is a big gap between what they offer and the typical experience consumers have with airlines and other major brands, despite large investments of time, money, and effort to create sophisticated websites and patient portals.

Robison shared her perspectives during her presentation “Health Literacy in the Digital Age: Tips for Communicators” at the 2018 NESHCo conference in May 2018 at Southbridge, Massachusetts. In this article you’ll get eight tips to help you start bridging the gap, and a printable checklist.

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