Why
have a Practice website?
You are
not a commercial organisation competing for custom and you are not
selling over the Internet - so why have a website?
In its
simplest form a website is an online location where you can provide
your patients and others with useful, relevant information regarding
your practice and the services it provides.
With
the ever increasing demand for information both by patients and government
a website is an excellent place for controlling and displaying relevant
data. You can think of it as an expansion to your existing practice
leaflet. The practice leaflet is actually a good comparison to make
with a surgery website except instead of a static, paper-based method
of disseminating information, you can have a fully functioning, interactive,
dynamic website where patients and staff have instant access to live,
relevant, real time data.
What can this do for you & your patients? 
- Save
time
- Provide
up to date health information
- Improve
Practice Services
- Advertise
Practice Clinics
- Online
Practice Newsletters
- Provide
Contact Details & Practice Location
Saving
time and improving practice services are the undoubted two big benefits
of having a surgery website. How does this work? On a day to day basis
you currently experience a very high level of phone calls from patients
who need appointments, repeat prescriptions, clinical information
and much more. If all of this was available via a website with no
interaction required from your practice staff, just think of the time
benefits concerned.
A website
would become the first port of call for patients before they even
lift the telephone. A recent
study by NHS Direct showed that 55% of patients wished to be kept
up to date via email and 37% wanted information via a surgery website.
This is a large portion of your population that wants you to have
online services.
One
example of how a website can save you time and effectively money is
in considering the number of cancelled appointments that you experience
each month. A
Survey undertaken within the NHS suggests that every year approximately
10 million appointments with a GP are missed and a further 5 million
with a practice nurse. Many of these are down to simple forgetfulness
but many also result from the patient feeling better and neglecting
to notify their practice. A website can help you with this. Instead
of needing to get through on the telephone to reception during opening
hours the patient can visit your website, fill out a brief form and
click a button to send a notification of the cancellation. Simple
to do any time of the day or night.
Another
example of a time saving process which also increases your practice
services is to offer repeat prescriptions online. A patient simply
visits the website, fills in his/her details online and the information
gets delivered to your email inbox (or to a dispensary if you prefer).
The idea is to make your practice dynamic and easy for patients to
access the services you offer. There are currently hundreds of repeat
prescriptions being ordered online each week, why wait?
You can
use a website in many other ways to optimise your surgery services
and as websites are ever evolving, you can add features, content and
functionality during the future weeks, months and years.
A website
is a time-saver for your patients and by helping them to find out
what they need to know - whether it's the surgery closing time
on Wednesday afternoon, the recommended vaccinations for a trip to
Peru or the effects of dietary changes on epilepsy - you can free
time for your staff to be more productive in the practice.
Through
our Software Showcase you can save money on your website
- more
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