According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 86% of households have home internet and 78% of adults use the internet to find health information. This means that a lot of potential patients are looking for medical practices online.

Doctors and physicians must take a proactive approach to build and maintain their websites effectively. Numerous studies indicate that patients have an immediate reaction to medical websites. Outdated information or a poorly structured layout tends to elicit negative responses from patients, which can significantly impact your practice’s credibility.

Whether you run a small private practice or a large hospital system, you can make the experience simple and intuitive for your patients by avoiding these ___ common mistakes:

1. Information Overload

While it’s important to communicate effectively in the healthcare industry, try not to cram every piece of information onto your homepage. Instead, keep it concise and focused on conveying the right impression to visitors when they arrive at your site.

Offer a clear overview of your main products and services, using engaging callouts that cater to the everyday needs of your visitors. Utilise eye-catching images, clean fonts, and descriptive text to capture readers’ attention and guide them seamlessly through your website.

If your healthcare website handles protected health information (PHI), including personally identifiable medical or payment details, you need to ensure that your practice can handle this information securely and responsibly. 

2. Complex Navigation

The ease of finding information on your website directly impacts visitor retention. If it’s difficult for visitors to locate the information they need, they are less likely to stay on your site for long. This could result in potential patients opting not to choose your healthcare practice if they can’t readily find the information they require.

The most crucial information to make easily accessible is your contact details, including address, operating hours, and phone number. Failing to provide this essential information clearly can deter potential patients from seeking your services.

Research suggests that if visitors cannot find what they’re looking for within three clicks, they are likely to leave your website. As a medical practice, your target audience consists of patients looking for solutions to their healthcare needs—some of which may be urgent. In such cases, it’s important to avoid adding confusion by using poor navigation. Make sure the information they want is easily accessible to deliver a smooth user experience. 

3. Irrelevant Content

When people visit your healthcare website, they’re not interested in reading about your hospital’s history or mission statement. They want to know how you can help them with their health needs.

That’s why it’s important to focus on your patients in your website content. Talk about their pain points, their questions, and their concerns. Show them how you can help them live healthier lives. Your content should directly speak to those needs and empathise with their concerns, even on your “About Us” page. Avoid using self-centred messaging that can turn readers away.

For example, if you have a page about your cancer treatment services, don’t just talk about your hospital’s reputation or the latest technology you have. Talk about the fears and anxieties that cancer patients face. Share stories of patients who have been helped by your services. And make it clear how you can help patients get the support they need to fight cancer.

4. Ineffective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search engine optimisation (SEO) involves optimising a website or webpage to improve its rankings on search engine results without paid promotion. Ensuring effective SEO is important for online marketing specialists or web developers to keep your site visible to both existing and potential patients.

Pay attention to your meta titles and descriptions to improve your website’s search visibility. Make them unique and accurate for each corresponding page. The meta content displayed in search results should have clear page titles and concise descriptions that fit within the recommended character limits. 

5. Failure to Highlight Patient Reviews and Testimonials

Patient reviews and testimonials are one of the most effective ways to build trust and credibility with potential patients. They show that other people have had positive experiences with your healthcare practice, which can give potential patients the confidence to choose you.

Keep in mind that 91% of users trust online reviews and recommendations as much as recommendations from their friends. Incorporating reviews and testimonials from satisfied patients can effectively demonstrate your trustworthiness and positively influence users’ decisions.

To avoid this mistake, prominently display patient reviews and testimonials on your website, preferably on your homepage or service pages. You can use a third-party review platform to collect and showcase patient feedback. This will make it easy for potential patients to see what other people have said about your practice and help build trust and credibility.

Maximise Your Revenue by Avoiding Website Design Mistakes

As a busy healthcare professional, your focus is on providing care and support. Managing your website and maintaining a strong online presence might be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it all alone. Let Creativ Digital’s team of web design and SEO experts step in to save you from unnecessary burnout.

Our experienced team will handle your website design and development, ensuring you avoid costly web design mistakes. With our expertise, we will create an appealing online experience that attracts and retains more patients for your practice. Contact us today to improve your web presence and increase the success of your medical practice.

The post 5 Pitfalls to Avoid In Your Medical Web Design  appeared first on Creativ Digital.

In Australia, digital health technologies have been effective in improving the availability and accessibility of healthcare services and products, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest NAB Health Insights Special Report indicates that Australians have become more proactive about their health since the pandemic, leading to improvements in various aspects of preventative health engagement over the past year.

According to Market Data Forecast, the global market for patient-centric healthcare apps is projected to reach $367 billion by 2028, growing at an impressive CAGR of 35.20% from $8 billion in 2023 over the next five years.

As the healthcare industry continues to digitise, mobile apps will play an increasingly important role in providing patients with convenient, personalised, and engaging healthcare experiences. It is important to design apps that are easy to use, informative, and tailored to the specific needs of patients.

What are healthcare apps? 

Healthcare apps are software applications that run on mobile devices and can help simplify some of the challenges faced by patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare workers. These apps can make complex processes easier and more efficient for everyone involved in the healthcare process.

For healthcare workers, the app simplifies the management of extensive appointment data, making it effortless to maintain all necessary documents. This functionality reduces administrative burdens and allows healthcare workers to focus more on providing quality care.

Patients can benefit from the app’s ability to book appointments easily. With just a few simple steps, patients can schedule their appointments, eliminating the need for complex procedures and saving time.

What are the benefits of developing healthcare apps?

Medical app development has gained immense popularity because it addresses the primary needs of both patients and doctors. Some of the key benefits include:

• Overcoming Distance Barriers. While healthcare apps cannot teleport patients to doctors, they can help individuals living in rural or remote areas access high-quality services, receive professional recommendations, and make appointments without the need to visit a hospital or interact with a receptionist. Furthermore, these apps enable people to purchase medicines from the comfort of their homes.
• Reduced Costs. Introducing a mobile app in the healthcare industry is an effective solution for reducing fees for patients since many tasks can be performed directly through the app. By interacting with the hospital via the app, patients can monitor costs in real-time, allowing them to plan their budgets in advance and avoid unpleasant surprises when receiving the final bill.
• Streamlined and Secure Payment Processes. Traditional payment processes for medical expenses often involve waiting in queues to pay in cash or by card. However, healthcare apps offer the convenience of completing payments within seconds with just a few taps. These apps typically integrate secure payment gateways, ensuring the safety of users’ financial transactions. Additionally, apps send payment reminders, offer flexible payment plans, and provide notifications to ensure no payments are missed. 
• Improved Workflow for Healthcare Professionals. In the pre-digital era, medical staff had to navigate through thousands of papers, resulting in inconvenience and time-consuming processes. Nowadays, various software, including mobile apps, assist doctors and nurses in storing patient records and facilitating efficient workflow. Through healthcare apps, doctors can provide immediate recommendations for urgent cases, potentially saving lives.
• Driving IoT Healthcare Market Growth. The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly expanding across various industries, including healthcare. The IoT healthcare market is experiencing significant growth, with estimations suggesting it will reach $136.8 billion by 2021. IoT technology simplifies access to vast amounts of data through smart devices and equipment, enabling real-time tracking of patients’ vital parameters. As wearable health devices and fitness trackers gain popularity, more advanced professional devices are expected to follow suit.
• Enhanced Accuracy of Diagnosis. Better workflow leads to increased accuracy. Healthcare apps provide doctors with access to a network of healthcare data, minimising the risk of diagnostic errors. By reviewing a patient’s complete medical history, doctors can offer the most effective treatments. Additionally, machine learning technology can support doctors’ decision-making processes, reducing the likelihood of mistakes in medical diagnosis.
• Empowering Patients to Track Their Health. With a reliable app, patients can easily track their health status without the need for frequent visits to a doctor. All health parameters, including test results, can be conveniently viewed through the app, putting patients in control of their well-being.
• Introducing New Business Models. Healthcare mobile apps have brought significant changes to the industry. Patients now realise that visiting a hospital is not the only option for seeking medical advice. Apps also enable healthcare institutions to provide special offers, referral programs, discounts, and rating systems, revolutionising the way healthcare services are accessed and experienced.
• Convenience for Patients. When healthcare institutions decide to launch a mobile application, their primary focus is on providing new benefits for patients. These apps offer convenience by making it easier to find specialists, schedule appointments, access reports, gather information about diagnoses, compare prices for medicines and services, and much more. Features such as video and online chats further enhance the opportunities for communication and interaction between patients and healthcare providers.
• Building a Strong Brand for Healthcare Institutions. Launching a mobile app can significantly enhance the position of healthcare institutions among their target audience and win patient loyalty. While mobile app popularity is high, the healthcare segment still has relatively few organisations with their own apps. By offering a useful mobile app, healthcare establishments can build a strong brand and establish themselves as leaders in patient care.

Steps to build a healthcare mobile application

The development of a healthcare mobile application can be a complex process, but it can be broken down into the following steps:

1. Identify the problem. What problem are you trying to solve with your app? What are the needs of your target audience? Once you understand the problem, you can start to develop a solution.
2. Design the user interface (UI). The UI of your app is critical for user engagement. Make sure the UI is easy to use and navigate, and that it is visually appealing.
3. Create a prototype. A prototype is a working model of your app that you can use to test the functionality and usability. This will help you identify any problems with the design or the code before you launch the app to the public.
4. Develop the app. This is where the actual coding of the app takes place. You will need to hire a team of developers who have experience in building healthcare apps.
5. Test and refine the app. Once the app is developed, you will need to test it thoroughly to ensure that it is working properly. This includes functional testing, performance testing, and security testing.
6. Deploy the app. Once the app is tested and refined, you can deploy it to the app store. You will also need to market the app to your target audience.
7. Maintain the app. Once the app is deployed, you will need to maintain it on an ongoing basis. This includes fixing bugs, adding new features, and updating the app to keep it up-to-date with the latest technology.

Key features every healthcare app should have

The choice of features in healthcare apps depends on the specific category they are designed for. Generally, healthcare apps cater to three main categories: patients, professionals, and healthcare providers. Each category requires distinct features to meet their specific needs and goals.

Here are some of the features that you may want to consider for your healthcare app:

• Onboarding: The onboarding process should be easy and straightforward. Users should be able to create an account and start using the app quickly.
• User flow: The user flow should be logical and intuitive. Users should be able to find what they need without having to search for it.
• Functionalities: The app should have the essential features that your target audience needs. For example, a medical app might need to have features for scheduling appointments, viewing medical records, and communicating with doctors.
• Security: The app should be secure and protect user data. This is especially important for healthcare apps, as they often handle sensitive data.
• Design: The app should have a good design that is both functional and visually appealing.

Wrapping up

Healthcare mobile app development focuses on creating user-friendly mobile applications that offer healthcare services to both patients and healthcare providers. Patients highly value the convenience and ease-of-use provided by healthcare mobile apps.

If you are in the healthcare industry or looking to launch an app with the potential of making a significant impact, we would love to speak with you. Get in touch today to see how we bring healthcare apps to life.

The post Developing a Healthcare App that Transforms the Medical Industry appeared first on Creativ Digital.

The widespread use of cloud computing and services is critical to this transition. Microsoft defines cloud computing as the deployment of computing services via the Internet (“the cloud”) to provide scale economies, faster innovation, and access to databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence.

For years, the cloud computing industry has been quickly expanding as more businesses want to work remotely, increase productivity via automation, and save money on IT infrastructure. Read on to learn about the many benefits of employing cloud computing in the healthcare industry!

Faster updates and accessibility on hospital records

Healthcare organizations are extensive, and it is common for more than one physician or team to collaborate with a single patient. It is easier and more time-consuming to convey up-to-date patient data with further communication.

Data can be updated in real-time thanks to cloud services, and any professional may access and update it if they have authorization. As a result, everything is more simplified for medical experts and patients. They may check changes to their medicines and appointments without having to visit the hospital.

Less operating costs

Cloud computing for medical applications also eliminates a significant amount of manual work, allowing for more efficient resource allocation and fewer intermediaries. Companies spend less on administrative or similar mundane chores due to more simplified operations.

Simultaneously, cloud computing solutions in healthcare relieve the burden and provide the ability to grow when additional space is required. This is more convenient and saves the organization money, which implies lower servicing costs, improved diagnostic equipment, etc.

Secured data

Since the healthcare industry constantly interacts with data such as diagnostics, lab tests, medical history, billing information, and so on, its loss may cause irreversible harm to the company if not carefully taken care of.

Because servers can be found in different areas, the provider ensures backups in the case of cloud services. One of the key benefits of cloud computing in healthcare is security, which cloud service providers emphasize. It preserves data even during a natural catastrophe or other such occurrences.

Enhanced patient safety

A cloud-based EMR can significantly improve patient safety. Cloud EMRs can be used to review interactions between patients and their doctors at other facilities. As a result, patients can avoid taking prescription drugs they don’t need and avoid having tests they recently completed at another facility. With a cloud-based EMR solution, healthcare providers at each facility the patient visited are able to gain direct knowledge of contacts between the patient and doctors at other facilities.

Access to AI and Machine Learning

It’s challenging for human analysts and workers to sift through large amounts of digital content and information. Fortunately, they don’t have to because machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions are available.

These technologies, which are able to mine acquired data for fresh insights and information, can be useful to the healthcare sector. For instance, the Kensci company in Seattle uses machine learning to forecast illness and treatment trends. Another business, PathAI, uses technology to help pathologists diagnose cases more quickly and accurately. In addition to helping users manage enormous amounts of data, cloud computing can support the integration of artificial intelligence into standard healthcare operations.

Improved collaboration

Regardless of their location, healthcare practitioners may collaborate using cloud computing. They can contact colleagues and patients whenever they need to as long as they have access to the internet.

Furthermore, data may be sent in real-time from one system to another, making it simpler to deliver complete treatment to patients and communicate information with partner organizations. Cloud computing enables doctors and healthcare providers to collaborate and enhance patient health outcomes.

Drive medical research

Healthcare practitioners devote significant time to research to enhance their practice. Such information on surgeries and treatments may be collected via the cloud service.

Technology separates information to facilitate study and analysis. This produces case studies and a thesis for future use by other physicians. Finally, the rapid speed of innovation enabled by cloud computing drives incumbents to enhance technological solutions.

Conclusion

Cloud computing has already become popular, particularly in many industries. While some prefer to stick with conventional methods of obtaining and organizing data, it is apparent that technological advancements such as cloud computing provide significant benefits. Technology has always been the rescuer, providing a workaround for critical healthcare industry challenges. Cloud computing is one such technology. It has been used in the healthcare business for numerous years and constantly changes in response to industry developments. Cloud computing is transforming the healthcare industry on several levels, with benefits such as cooperation, scalability, reachability, efficiency, and security. 

The post The Importance of Cloud Computing in the Healthcare Industry appeared first on Creativ Digital.