How do patients use a surgeon’s website?

Before the visit

Many patients search the surgeon’s name before an appointment. In Fort Worth, DrCRodriguez.com comes up when patients search for Dr. Rodriguez, and many of them arrive having already read about their condition. The pages that matter most at this stage are the condition guide, a page on what to expect at the first appointment, and directions to the office.

A patient who has read your explanation before the visit arrives with better questions, and the consultation can start further along.

In the exam room

• The web address. Dr. Rodriguez gives patients the address in the exam room, and an exam-room flyer carries a QR code to the site.
• A teaching deck. A teaching deck on the wall screen replaces the drawing on the paper towel. The last slide carries a QR code, so the patient takes that exact talk home.
• While they wait. Short waiting-room games on DrCRodriguez.com teach anatomy and myths to a patient with ten minutes and a phone.

After the visit

• Recovery pages. Pain control, activity and wound care, answered once in writing instead of by phone all day.
• Patient tools. A drain log lets a patient record output at home and bring a clean printout to the next visit. It stores entries on the patient’s own phone.
• Family. A patient forwards the link to the daughter who could not come to the appointment, and she reads the same explanation the patient heard.

Build for the three moments

A site built only to be found in search covers the first moment. It should also work on a phone in the exam room and at home the night after surgery. When you plan pages, list what a patient needs before, during and after the visit, and make sure each need has a page.

Read your analytics with these moments in mind

Every RC site has Google Analytics installed. A patient who scans a QR code in the exam room to confirm it loads, then closes the page to read later, counts as a short visit. That is expected, not a failing page. Look at which pages patients return to and how long they read, and compare clinic days with other days.

Questions physicians ask

Do patients use QR codes in the exam room?

Yes. In Dr. Rodriguez’s practice, patients usually scan the code to confirm the page loads, then come back to read it later at home.

Does the website hold any patient information?

No. RC takes on no work involving protected health information. Patient tools such as the drain log store entries on the patient’s own phone.