Surgical ConsultingDo doctors need a website?
Answer
Yes, if you want patients to read your explanation instead of someone else’s. A hospital profile tells patients where you work. Your own site explains what you treat, how you treat it and what recovery looks like, in your words. About ten pages cover what most new patients need.
A profile page lists you. Your own site explains.
Hospital find-a-doctor pages, insurance directories and rating sites show your name, photo and address. They do not explain your patient’s condition or your operation. Patients look for those answers anyway, and without your site they read someone else’s.
Patients use it four times
- Before the visit: they read about their condition, get directions to your office and read about you.
- In the exam room: they scan a QR code from a teaching slide deck and keep the explanation they just heard.
- At home: they share what they learned at the appointment with their loved ones.
- After surgery: recovery pages answer the calls about pain, activity and wound care.
Before her operation, a patient of Dr. Rodriguez was asked by his resident whether she had any questions. Her answer: “Dr Rodriguez has a website, I don’t have any questions!”
Employed? Your own site still matters.
Your employer’s listing changes when the employer redesigns its site and disappears when you leave. A site on your own domain stays with you. Read your employment agreement and your employer’s marketing policy first, and keep the site to patient education. The AMA’s guidance: Create a personal online physician brand that works.
The smallest useful site
- A home page: what you treat, where, and how to book
- One page for each condition you see most
- What to expect at the first visit
- Recovery instructions
- About you
That is about ten pages, the size of RC’s Foundation Site: $3,500 with launch included. Every price is on the pricing page.
Questions physicians ask
How long does a site take to build?
A Foundation Site typically takes four to six weeks from intake to launch. Most of that time is your review of the drafts.
Is a Google Business Profile enough?
A Business Profile shows your address, hours and reviews in Google Maps and search results. It has a short description field, not room to explain a condition or an operation. Keep it current and link it to your site.
Want your own page checked?
Send the page patients read most. A practicing surgeon returns it marked up within two business days, at no charge.