User Experience (UX)

New Mobile App Increases Engagement and Access

Shane Davis, director of information technology at Hardtner Medical Center

In early 2018, the team at Hardtner Medical Center was searching for an innovative way to engage patients and increase usage of its patient portal. It had tried emails, advertisements, flyers — even billboards. But one tactic it hadn’t tried yet was a mobile app. “We needed to figure out a better way to promote Read More

Hardtner Medical Center Opens New Digital Front Door in Rural Louisiana

melanie-graham-2019

// By Melanie Graham // In early 2018, the team at Hardtner Medical Center was searching for an innovative way to engage patients and increase usage of its patient portal. It had tried emails, advertisements, flyers — even billboards. But one tactic it hadn’t tried yet was a mobile app. “We needed to figure out Read More

Why Digital Accessibility Is a Crucial Component of Patient Care

“[W]e must acknowledge the unmatched role of hospitals and health systems as caretakers of our communities,” says Keir Bradshaw, executive vice president of MERGE. “Digital accessibility goes beyond mere compliance measures. It’s a way to extend care to the community just as compassionately online as we do on-site.” Read on for an excerpt of Bradshaw’s Read More

How Your System Can Leverage the Benefits of Voice

Nate Treloar, president and COO, Orbita

Over the past 25 years, healthcare marketers have experienced several waves of digital disruption, from the adoption of the web to SEO, social media, and mobile devices. The latest wave? Voice. But voice assistants are not just a trendy marketing tool — they can provide many benefits for patients, health systems, and clinicians: Patients are Read More

Digital Accessibility: Why It Should Be a Matter of Culture, Not Compliance

// By Keir Bradshaw // Statistics paint a realistic picture of why healthcare organizations need to make their websites and other digital assets accessible to those with disabilities. For starters, there’s the fact that disability affects just over one in every four people1 living in U.S. communities. From a pure business perspective, hospitals and health systems simply can’t afford to shut the digital front door on 26 percent of their potential patient populations. Then Read More

How Health Systems Can Prepare for the Voice-First Future

// By Melanie Graham // Over the past 25 years, healthcare marketers have experienced several waves of digital disruption, from the adoption of the web to SEO, social media, and mobile devices. The latest wave? Voice. But voice assistants are not just a trendy marketing tool — they can provide many benefits for patients, health Read More

How To Merge 24 Sites Across Two Separate Health Systems

Evelyn Meneghin, assistant vice president of interactive services, RWJBarnabas Health

Anyone who has worked in healthcare communications and digital marketing understands that a website relaunch project can be a daunting task. But one that involves merging 24 existing websites across two separate health systems sounds downright intimidating. In early 2017, that’s exactly what the RWJBarnabas Health web team was facing. They were on the hook Read More

What Consumers Really Want From the Healthcare Experience

Each month, NRC Health surveys American consumers about their healthcare experiences and preferences. And every month, the data seems to point to the same conclusion: Consumers want healthcare organizations to stop acting like healthcare organizations. The NRC survey polls more than 500,000 Americans and 100-plus healthcare CEOs. It also includes more than 300 face-to-face interviews Read More

Site Redesign Focuses on Accessibility for All

Spaulding Rehabilitation Network Home Page Screen Capture

When you consider accessibility at a hospital or clinic, the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network in Boston, Massachusetts, is an excellent example. The buildings where patients receive treatment are easily accessed by people of all abilities, and the staff works hard to accommodate everyone who steps through Spaulding’s doors. But accessibility is about more than just the Read More

Personalization Leads To Richer Donor Experiences

Jane Weber Brubaker

If you read any of the 2019 trends articles at the beginning of the year, chances are personalization was one of the “hot trends to watch.” But what exactly does personalization look like in a healthcare organization? If you ask 10 people, you’re likely to get 10 different answers. One thing is certain: It’s more Read More

How Do Healthcare Organizations Go Beyond Minimum Requirements to Make Digital Experiences Welcoming to People of All Abilities?

Ask the Expert with Simon Dermer, Managing Director, eSSENTIAL Accessibility // By Jared Johnson // Healthcare organizations that invest in their patients with disabilities reap significant rewards. They enjoy loyalty and high patient satisfaction from the largest minority group in the world. But doing so requires going beyond the minimum requirements for website accessibility. It Read More

Duke Health’s Ongoing Consumer Website Revitalization

Debbe Geiger, director of content strategy, Duke Health, with Chad Roberts, UX designer, Duke Health

It’s been more than five years since Duke Health relaunched its consumer website (DukeHealth.org), but the redesign process is far from over. “We planned for our website to evolve into an engaging user experience as we learned more about our audience, who they are, and why they’re coming to our site,” says Debbe Geiger, director Read More

Evolving Website Redesign: Duke Health’s Research-Driven Approach

Debbe Geiger, director of content strategy, Duke Health, with Chad Roberts, UX designer, Duke Health

// By Melanie Graham // It’s been more than five years since Duke Health relaunched its consumer website (DukeHealth.org), but the redesign process is far from over. “We planned for our website to evolve into an engaging user experience as we learned more about our audience, who they are, and why they’re coming to our Read More

How Location Details Optimize Your Digital Strategy

Katie O’Brien, director of digital strategy, UNC Health Care

Do you include your facility locations as a component of your organization’s digital strategy? If not, you could be sacrificing market share.  With a growing number of Americans turning to their mobile phones to search for healthcare providers in their area, it’s more important than ever that your website content be optimized to allow people Read More

Ochsner Launches Website with Consumers (and CTAs) in Mind

Amber Welch, director of digital content for Ochsner Health System

We recently spoke with Amber Welch, director of digital content for Ochsner Health System, about Ochsner’s recent efforts in creating its new state-of-the-art website and tracking the results. eHST: How has the consumerization of healthcare impacted Ochsner Health System and how you operate online and through your website? AW: Our online patients expect to find what Read More

Information Architecture: Keeping Your Website User-Friendly

Jillian Penrod, MPH, MSLIS, founder of Infotistas

We all have that miscellaneous drawer somewhere in our houses. While the junk drawer seems like a great way to store small, useful household items, in many cases, it’s an ineffective solution to poor organization and hoarding. The same thing happens with websites. It can be hard to figure out a designated home for a Read More