Knock knock: CHC websites don’t exactly open the door for new patients

Out of the CHC websites surveyed

3 Things to Know:

1. Almost 40% of patients use patient portals. The trend line of patients engaging portals is escalating, which means it will soon become an expectation. As EHR acceptance (such as EPIC/MyChart) among patients grows, new patients will also expect a digital experience consistent with their needs.
2. Navigation defines content importance. Positioning a New Patient button in your site’s main navigation bar indicates that New Patients matter (on many CHC sites, New Patient info is buried). The evolution of dropdown menu items can begin with Schedule and Application Documents and grow to include Prepare for a Visit, Pay Your Bill, and Prescription Refill.
3. Actions.
   1. Keep it simple. A basic new-patient page may be as simple as a set of downloadable forms plus directions, insurance information, billing information, testimonials, and appointment scheduling.
   2. Craft a welcome message and talk about your team and your philosophy of care.
   3. Review onboarding practices – so that a new patient’s experience is being managed beyond their website experience.

About the drinkcaffeine Health Center Website Study:

• A sample of 237 Community Health Center websites nationally
• Each one evaluated on 12 essential performance criteria
• Confidence interval/Margin of Error: 5.8% with 95% confidence

When you’re ready to use data to solve healthcare communications problems, contact us.