Practice Strategies
Parents Want Physicians to Offer Interactive Websites
Busy parents want to be able to book appointments and request prescription refills using the office websites of their family’s physicians, but more than half report that their doctors fail to offer these online services, a recent survey conducted by online parenting magazine InteractiveDad.com found.
The survey of InteractiveDad.com readers revealed that 76% of parents would use their family doctor’s website to ask for prescription refills if the option were made available, with just 20% saying they would not take advantage of this option. In addition, 52% of respondents said they would prefer to book their doctor’s appointments online, compared with 44% who said they prefer to set up appointments by phone. A full 88% of the parents surveyed agreed with the statement that all doctors should have a website to better communicate with patients.
Yet when asked whether each of their family’s medical providers has an online presence, just 16% of respondents said their children’s pediatrician has a website, and 24% said their own primary care physician has a website. While some of the parents surveyed admitted they are uncertain whether their family’s doctors have websites, 56% of respondents asserted that neither their children’s pediatrician, nor their own primary care physician, has a website.
“The poll shows that busy parents want physicians and dentists to have websites to make life easier and more manageable,” said Glenn Lawrence, editor of InteractiveDad.com.
In responding to the poll, several parents said they would not consider using a physician’s practice that lacks an online presence. For example, one parent told researchers he uses web search engines to look for physicians and dentists, and he does not contact those practices that only list a phone number but no website.
Lawrence advised physicians to take advantage of services that allow practices to create customizable websites that meet patients’ needs for convenient online access.
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© 2008