The incredible consumer demand for online health information poses an exciting challenge and opportunity for hospitals to take more of a frontline position as expert resources. The greatest opportunities are in posting original news content on Web sites and developing a sharper interactive edge.
Nearly 18 million U.S. adults surfed for health and medical information in the past year, according to a recent study by New York-based Cyber Dialogue, an online market research firm, and Intel Corp. Online health information rivals the demand for investment information and news headlines.
Disease information and diet/nutrition top the list of online health topics in high demand - areas where hospitals clearly have the upper hand in delivering credible content.
Cancer is the most frequently sought disease category, followed by heart disease. A quarter of net surfers join an online support group, according to the report. This research is based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults.
Healthcare organizations are behind the eight ball in two key areas:
- Internet commerce and registration: Almost half of health information seekers expressed interest in purchasing online products such as pharmaceuticals, OTC drugs, medical supplies and vitamins. Also, more patients would like to cut through administrative red tape by expediting the patient registration process online with hospitals.
- Patient referrals and increasing market share: the Internet can be particularly effective at influencing patient referral decisions and generating powerful results for offline "traditional" marketing campaigns.
Although hospitals increasingly recognize the Internet as an effective marketing tool, their Web sites are typically done in an ad hoc fashion with inconsistent messages and a lack of compelling interactive communication tools, says Scott Reents, a Cyber Dialogue analyst.
HPRMN talked with online marketers who maintain two of the country's cutting edge Web sites, the Mayo Clinic's Health Oasis site at http://www.mayohealth.org, and Bayfront Medical Center at http://www.bayfront.org.
Expert Health Resource
In 1995, the Mayo Clinic developed its Health Oasis site strictly as a non-commercial health information resource. Its corporate Web site at http://www.mayo.edu promotes the clinic's services and physicians.
This strategic decision to launch two separate sites supports its mission of being a national resource for health information, providing in-depth coverage on popular health topics from heart disease and cancer to women's and children's health. The Health Oasis posts fresh daily news in its "Headline Watch" site section and generates 900,000 hits per month, according to Suzanne Leaf-Brock, who promotes the site.
The news-rich site is a key resource for journalists who retrieve Mayo Clinic research - written in a highly readable, low-tech style - in several disease categories. Staffed by four writers, the site has won several awards, including a Webby award for best health site, "Best of Show" award for international multimedia from the New York Festivals and a 5-Star award from Yahoo! The site also provides online health news to at least three major news Web sites, including U.S. News and World Report (http://www.usnews.com), CNN Interactive (http://www.cnn.com) and Microsoft's health channel (http://www.microsoft.com).
On the Interactive Cutting Edge
From the minute you click onto the Bayfront Medical Center site, in St. Petersburg, Fla., your health adventure begins. Launched last March, the site boldly positions itself as highly interactive, fresh and edgy. Each month, the site changes the educational games it offers that highlight different bodily functions.
The site also generates extensive regional media coverage when it launches a new section or feature. Its latest addition, called "Baby Patch," where pictures of newborns are posted with the parents' permission (and password-protection), netted local print and TV coverage, says Bowman. The site is regularly promoted via newspaper and billboard advertising. Earlier this year, it won a Netty Awards honorable mention from Interactive PR & Marketing News (IPRMN). IPRMN is an HPRMN sister publication.
CeCe Bowman, who promotes and maintains the site, says she reviewed several hospital Web sites before launching Bayfront's and found most of them to be an online version of hospital brochures with very low interactivity. This is where she saw the biggest opportunity for the site's competitive edge.
Recently, Bayfront became a part of the Bay Care Health System, which has 10 hospitals. Bowman will head up the Web effort for the whole system using the Bayfront site as her model.
To get the biggest bang out of your Web site, buy-in has to begin at the executive ranks, says Bowman. At Bayfront, the chief information officer and marketing director made a commitment to having a strong Web presence.
Bowman would like to take the site in the direction of "self-health" customization next year. By capturing a continuous health profile from visitors, Bowman says there are several exciting opportunities to email visitors specific information tailored to their particular health interests, including information on health events, trends and medical treatment updates.
(Cyber Dialogue, Scott Reents, 212/255-6655, ext. 114; Mayo Clinic, Suzanne Leaf-Brock, 507/284-1114; Bayfront, CeCe Bowman, 727/893-6889)
Top Online Health Topics
Web surfers have an insatiable appetite for health information, according to a recent study by Cyber Dialogue in New York and Intel Corp. In the past year, nearly 18 million adults sought online health information, representing an enormous untapped opportunity for hospital Web sites to provide credible news content.
Top online health topics in high demand by gender are:
|
|
% Male Surfers | %Female Surfers |
| Disease information | 52% | 52% |
| Diet/Nutrition | 32 | 39 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 34 | 32 |
| Women's Health | 15 | 45 |
| Fitness | 28 | 30 |
| Children's Health | 10 | 19 |
| Source: Cyber Dialogue/Intel | ||