What a tangled web

Released 09/04/2009

by Matt Jane

Matthew Jane considers the importance of practice websites

There were some interesting and slightly surprising results published this week from a survey by the Family Doctors Association.

Just over half the respondents said they were using the internet to interact with their patients. That's great you may think - but it still means that nearly half of practices are missing out on this potentially vital marketing and interaction opportunity.

The internet is now the place that people go when they want information such as phone numbers, email addresses, lists of services, locations and any other important information. Failure to exploit this channel to your patients could simply be pushing them into the grateful arms of neighbouring practices, or polyclinics.

I am not the sort of person to see my glass as half empty and the fact that over half of smaller surgeries are represented online is great news and definitely a step in the right direction. But it is a slight concern that there is still a large number missing out.

Think of the opportunities to be gained from a website. Communication with patients could be made that little bit easier and the opportunities to come from it will be increased. A presence on the world wide web is becoming increasingly expected, so it's important not to miss out.

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