Hospital Websites: The 3 Pieces of Content Patients Really Care About

As you forge ahead with your hospital’s Web site, you want to create meaningful content that will attract potential patients. Get into the mind of a patient—what do patients really want to know about you? A patient who is faced with an illness is looking for high-quality care, of course. They want to know they can beat whatever it is and come out on the other side.But what, specifically, do they care about?

Most patients take these three factors into consideration when choosing a hospital:

Location 
A patient with a long-term or chronic illness may need to make multiple trips to a hospital. And they are not going to want to travel great distances. Dealing with an illness is hard enough without adding the hassle and aggravation of commuting.

For example, if someone needs outpatient chemotherapy infusions every few weeks, they want to be able to drive to the hospital, receive the infusion and return to the comfort of their home. One of the first things a patient may look for when deciding where to be treated is, “How close is this hospital to my house?” Your Web site should highlight your “convenient locations” and “free parking” (if you have it).

Parking—it may seem like a minor matter, but it is something relevant and important to a patient. Providing parking information and clear directions gives your patients peace of mind. Include driving directions on your Web site and information about parking lots (including location, hours and rates) to make your patient feel calm and reassured.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center provides detailed parking information. Phoenix Children’s Hospital includes a Google map as well. Yes, your patients can Google the direction themselves, but providing the map gives them one less thing to do, for which they will be grateful.

People will obviously travel great distances for excellent medical care, particularly if they have a rare disease or condition. However, smaller community hospitals, or newer hybrid hospitals (hospitals that started as community hospitals but have added many advanced services to meet their growing populations) can get ahead in the marketing race by demonstrating they have many of these services. 

For example, an oncologist at a major academic medical center halfway across the country may direct patients' chemotherapy regimens, but patients would rather travel for the actual infusion treatment every week at their local hospital. Take advantage of this distinction and highlight those types of services—radiation oncology, infusion services, physical and occupational therapies are services that come to mind.

Physicians

Patients want to make sure that they are in the best, most capable hands. Are the physicians at the hospital experts in their fields? Are they involved in continuing research? Is the medical team caring and compassionate? Will they explain what is wrong and the details of the procedures?

Your physicians are the heart and soul of your hospital. While of course you want to have a dedicated “About Our Physicians” page with a brief bio of your physicians, you should highlight your doctors throughout your site. For example, Memorial Sloan-Kettering  includes a picture and quote from their doctors on a scrolling marquis on the homepage. The quotes can range from highlighting their expertise, their ongoing research or their bedside manner. University of California San Francisco Medical Center includes a Q&A session with one of their physicians, allowing visitors to get to know him on a more personal level.

Services

A patient facing an illness such as cancer will need multiple types of care. From the initial diagnosis to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, a patient wants to know that all their medical needs will be taken care of in one place. Comprehensive care is key—offering your patients everything they need under one roof. At Children’s Hospital Boston, their staff extends to caring for “your family’s physical and emotional health,” providing on-site social workers and even entertainers to boost children’s spirits.

You also want to highlight your hospital’s latest innovations, whether it’s robotic surgery or a groundbreaking clinical trial for Alzheimer’s patients.

And don’t forget to include the basics. Patients want to know how you will treat their condition. The services pages at Duke Health tell patients what the procedure is, what they can expect during and after, which physicians perform this procedure and at which locations. Short, easy-to-read, provides the necessary information.

Give your patients the information they need to know. Make your information clear and accessible so patients can easily find out where you are, who will treat them and what procedures they can expect.