Solving the digital challenges that the healthcare sector is facing in the pandemic

As a health organisation, continued investment in your website can be expensive, time consuming, and overall seem like an exhausting ordeal. Plus, especially as a not-for-profit, it may be something you can only do with funding.

The reality is that, for many health organisations, your website ends up saving you time. If you’re getting overwhelmed with people asking the same questions, an option could be using your website as an information resource for you to refer your clients to.

How many calls do health organisations field every single day that could be answered by one page on a website? The answer is probably too many. But, even if that information is available, an excess of information and poor user experience can easily push away a patient and lead them to picking up the phone.

A good website leads the user on a journey, where they ultimately and quickly find the answer they need.

When we helped create Brighter Connections’ new website, our collective goal was to create an experience that was accessible, simple, and didn’t cause unnecessary stress. The navigation is split into three sections: About, Services & FAQs.

Then, there was a ‘Call us’ or ‘Contact us’ option front and centre.

Everything a person would need, in one glance.

When the user navigates to a Service page, the key information is highlighted in a simple yellow text box at the top. This ‘call out’ meant that users can get a summary of the page without wading through content. It’s friendly, it’s easy, and it’s helpful.

The trick to this one isn’t not answering the phone (though sometimes it might seem like the only option). The trick is, rather, to funnel your users through your website to create manageable, categorised online conversations.

The online contact is a manageable one. Used properly, it can make the lives of your staff much, much easier. Whether a contact form or a live chat, it funnels users through a contact system where you can respond to them within your own time, without being forced to answer calls 24/7.

It also means that you can easily differentiate between enquiries and delegate to the relevant person. A simple checkbox or dropdown that says what the user is looking for allows for a seamless and easy experience.

Something as simple as the below (from our client’s website Clear Health Psychology) can make the process of bringing in a new patient or client much easier.

Your website can be an excellent resource for your clients to access information about your organisation, as well as contact you.

Even if you’re not actively searching for new clients, your website’s discoverability is incredibly important to ongoing business, as well as existing clients finding you and accessing information.

Users need to know opening times, read COVID policies, and find out about Telehealth options without having to go through an overly complicated process.

Many organisations were underutilising their websites prior to the pandemic. But once business was pushed online, it became very important that all companies had easy-to-use and strong websites that you could find without difficulty.

Your business may be outgrowing your website. There’s only so many things you can tack onto an old website without throwing it all out and getting a new one.

We’ve had experience with health providers who have found that their current website simply doesn’t meet their requirements anymore, and they need a new one that both reflects their rapid growth and ever-evolving values. The modern health organisation requires:

A straightforward way for users to access Telehealth info.
Easily discoverable COVID policies.
The ability for users to book through your website or to easily navigate off to the respective booking engine.
Your website might not seem that important when you’re helping people in need, day in and day out. But if your clients aren’t finding you at all, then it’s a problem. One of our clients, Brecken Health, wasn’t appearing on Google at all for search terms around their allied health services.

They weren’t even in the top 100 for ‘Bunbury physio’. It seems minor, but it meant that that side of the business wasn’t getting the attention it needed.

Since we started working with them, Brecken has jumped up to first page for ‘Bunbury physio’, ‘Dietitian Bunbury’ and 1st place for ‘exercise physiology Bunbury’, among others. This has seen clicks through to the website from these keywords increase significantly.

People should be able to use your website easily and find it easily. No compromises.

Historically, healthcare has always been person-centred. So, the worry that moving online would take away the heart of healthcare is a reasonable one.

In an interview towards the end of 2021, Steve Gray, Chief CIO of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, said, “I’m a sceptic as to whether any of the things that have been spawned as a result of Covid, and the feeding frenzy of certain things that came up in the wake of it, actually constituted improvements.”

But the answer to these ‘non-improvements’ isn’t necessarily abandoning digital altogether. Instead, it’s about focusing on ways that you can improve the digital communication experience.

This can mean:

Making it easy for your clients to talk one-on-one, often on video call (Telehealth)
Ensuring that information is easily accessible and inclusive.
Communicating with clients and potential clients in a way that is custom to them, unique, and friendly. Chat bots have their place, but nothing replaces a human.
Make the journey comfortable and welcoming. When we designed Breast Cancer Care WA’s website, we designed it to be easy to navigate and welcoming, as if you’re returning to an old friend.

‘Where do I start?’ ‘What’s next?’ are all questions a person recently diagnosed with breast cancer might ask. The website was there to be that helping hand and a comforting source of self-education.