could answer any patient question. “I wanted everything I could think of to be included. I wanted the web site to cater to our patients’ needs so they did not need to work to find out what they wanted to learn.”
As a result, the site includes a wide
variety of features. There are what Edwards describes as basic but essen- tial items such as contact information and directions. The site also provides patients with the ability to pay a bill online, complete pre-admission and pre-registration forms and find a phy- sician by specialty and symptom. “Patients are looking for their own specialists,” he says. “Years ago, you went to wherever your primary care physician sent you. That is not neces- sarily the case these days. People often do their own research and are now questioning why they need to have an outpatient procedure in a large hospi- tal, so we wanted to make it easy for visitors to research our physicians.” The Stony Point web site also includes information on out-of-pocket costs. “This was something that was unheard of a few years ago. Stony Point was one of the first ASCs in the US to post costs on its web site,” Edwards says. The site offers patients the option
of having the web site’s content read aloud to them, he says. “We are pre- dominantly an ophthalmology group, so we often have people with vision issues. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to navigate our site through the use of this speaking capa- bility as well as large text.” The new web site is paying divi- dends for the ASC, Edwards says. “We have seen about a 75 percent increase in web traffic since its launch. We are getting a lot more traffic for physician searches and educational content.” Pinnacle III’s redesigned ASC web sites share many of the same features found on the new Stony Point Surgery
Eight Components of a Great ASC Web Site
Your web site is a direct reflection of your surgery center, so spend the time necessary to get the right look, feel and information available through it, advises Erica Palmer, president and founder of erio marketing. Here, she recommends eight features that every ASC web site should include and explains the reasons why.
1. Professional, welcoming and visually appealing homepage. This is your virtual lobby and the first impression patients, families, surgeons and your community will have of your ASC.
2. Contact information on every page. This will make it easy for patients to find your building and reach you.
3. Intuitive navigation. You want to make sure visitors can quickly find the information they are looking for.
4. Patient resource center. By providing information on the experience patients can expect at your ASC, billing information, answers to frequently asked questions and other important topics of interest to patients, you will help put them at ease.
5. Patient interaction. Providing a contact form and allowing patients to fill out paperwork securely online will streamline operations and reduce delays.
6. Consistent branding. Improve your brand strength and credibility by making sure your logo, fonts and colors are consistent from page to page.
7. Surgeon headshots and bios. These let patients research their surgeon in advance. They also help keep surgeons feeling valued and acknowledged.
8. Mobile and tablet responsiveness. Optimize the patient experience by having your web site’s design adjust to the electronic platform it is being viewed on.
ASCs need a web presence to stay relevant, keep their patients and surgeons satisfied and successfully compete with hospitals.”
—Erica Palmer, erio marketing
Center web site, including a responsive design, says Mongoven. “One of our key design compo-
nents was responsiveness” she says. “The design changes based on how a user accesses the site—from a com- puter or mobile device—to maintain viewing integrity. We also felt it was important to ensure web site visitors could access all the necessary infor- mation from the homepage, including online bill pay, patient forms and an ability to complete their online medi- cal history securely prior to surgery.”
Trista Sandoval, director of facil-
ity marketing, physician relations and business development for Pinnacle III says, “Within six months of the launch of the new web sites, mobile traffic increased 150 percent. We anticipate growth in mobile usage as smartphone use continues to increase. For one of our managed facility’s web sites, 80 percent of all site visitors are new and many are visiting for the first time from their mobile devices.” The wisest ASCs also make sure people know about their web sites,
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