St. Elizabeth's Medical Center is getting a two-fold benefit from its Web site that promotes on-going clinical trials: strengthened physician relations and a national reputation for cutting-edge medical research.
The Web site's main attraction is Dr. Jeffrey Isner's gene therapy trials, a hot topic in the medical research arena that garners extensive mainstream coverage.
The clinical trials section of the Boston-based medical center's site generates 30 to 50 emails a day, according to Sonya Hagopian, St. Elizabeth's director of media relations.
"Whenever a show airs on gene therapy, [the hospital] gets hundreds of emails from as far away as London and California for more information on the research."
The site's medical research hook also is bolstering the hospital's relationship with its specialty physicians. When the site went up in August 1996, six or seven departments participated. Now the site features at least 12 specialty areas and physicians often volunteer to answer email inquiries about various medical conditions.
The site's patient-service focus earned recognition from four local and national associations.
Getting Buy-in
Initially, some of St. Elizabeth's physicians were lukewarm on the Web site idea.
They were not sold on its purpose or its chances of recruiting patients for clinical trials, says Hagopian, who led the taskforce to launch the site.
And some physicians planned to launch their own sites. Hagopian worked with the latter group of physicians, hoping to win over the skeptics once the site delivered results.
Originally, the Web site included input from physicians in cardiology, oncology, alternative medicine and women's health. The key objectives involved making the site user-friendly and conversational in tone, while featuring prominent departments on the front page and the clinical trials that were under way.
Most important, Hagopian says the taskforce agreed early on that the site wouldn't attempt to be "all things to all people." Which is why it exclusively targets current and prospective patients instead of other medical professionals - a common Web site strategy of hospitals. The Web site took three months to develop and cost $50,000. Thunderhouse, a Web design firm in Cambridge, Mass., developed the site.
From a design standpoint, the goal was to create a hospital department menu system St. Elizabeth's could easily update and customize, says Andrew Eberle, who headed the design effort at Thunderhouse.
The Juggling Act
The clinical trials section of the site generates immediate patient response. For instance, when the neurology department publicized a clinical trial recently, it found about six participants within a week. And Hagopian averages a dozen requests a day for more information about the 24 or more clinical trials promoted on the site. But Hagopian says the online demand for medical information must be handled carefully and expediently. When answering email inquiries she mentions up front that she is not a medical professional and that online information should never replace a physician consultation or hospital visit. She answers each email within 24 hours. Web site maintenance occupies 30 percent to 40 percent of Hagopian's time.
Although the site requires a major juggling act with other PR tasks, Hagopian says the effort is worth the time because of the credibility her department has with physicians, the information systems department and upper management. (St. Elizabeth's, Sonya Hagopian,617/789-2357; Thunderhouse, Andrew Eberle, 617/661-7900 )
Industry Kudos
St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, launched a patient-focused Web site that earned industry recognition on local and national fronts, including:
- A Bell Ringer Award from the Publicity Club of New England in the Online-Based Multimedia category;
- A Silver Medal from the Health Care Advertising Awards;
- A finalist standing at the American Medical Association's International Health and Medical Film Competition; and
- A merit winner at the National Health Information Awards.
Source: HCPR
Promoting Clinical Trials Online
Developing a clinical trials section on a hospital Web site can greatly enhance patient recruitment efforts and bolster ties with physicians, says Sonya Hagopian, director of media relations at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston. But the key is getting physician buy-in and immediately responding to inquiries.
Hagopian also suggests:
- Educating visitors about clinical trials, providing background on the medical condition being researched and posting the patient criteria physicians are targeting;
- Developing a task force with medical directors and chiefs of staff and incorporating their ideas into the Web site's tone and direction;
- Working with a design firm to develop a flexible site for adding medical department and hot links to these departments on the front page; and
- Identifying yourself as a PR professional when dealing with potential trial participants and emphasizing that online information should not replace a physician consultation.
Source: HPRMN