Supplement-Same-day surgery programs are surfing the Internet
Don't ignore Web, e-mail opportunities
(Editor's note: In this month's issue, we tell you how same-day surgery programs are using the latest technology available through the World Wide Web. Not only are they accessing government documents and practice guidelines from professional associations, they're developing Web pages as a marketing tool. We offer tips from the experts on developing a strong Web site and tell you how to monitor its effectiveness. In next month's issue, we'll discuss the pros and cons of using e-mail to communicate with patients and physicians.)
Do you need to review the most current government standard regarding latex allergies? Are you looking for information and price comparisons for anesthesia equipment? Where can you find examples of recommended guidelines for post-anesthesia care units in an ambulatory surgical setting?
Several years ago, you would have found all of the answers to these questions by spending time writing letters, making telephone calls, and subscribing to different consulting services that sent you updates and information. Now, you can gather all of this information by accessing the Internet from your computer.
"The Internet is a wonderful resource for ambulatory surgery program managers," says Ken Plitt, CRNA, community director for SurgiSource.com, a Mercer Island, WA-based on-line service that provides resources and networking opportunities for ambulatory surgery programs. "While hospital-based surgery programs have the additional resources of the hospital to gather information, freestanding and office-based surgery programs are more isolated by competitive forces and by financial restraints and need ways to gather information," Plitt says. "The Internet provides this access in a variety of ways."
Not only do government agencies such as the Health Care Financing Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration put a lot of their documents on-line, professional associations are also enhancing their on-line services to help day-surgery programs with credentialing and practice guidelines. (See Web addresses, p. 2.) Pharmaceutical and equipment companies are also on-line with product and pricing information, he adds.
While having the ability to gather information is helpful to day-surgery program managers, programs are just beginning to see the value of using the Internet to communicate with patients and physicians, he says. "Web pages and e-mail are becoming a preferred way to communicate with physicians' offices and the general public." (See tips for developing a Web page, p. 3.)
The costs to develop a Web site vary according to the complexity of your site and the amount of information you provide to the designer. The cost should be considered a marketing expense, says Cheryl Iverson, director of system communications for Promina Health System, an Atlanta-based system of hospitals that includes hospital-based and freestanding ambulatory surgery programs.
Same-day surgery programs within the system benefit from the Promina Web site's job bank that lists staff openings, patient education information about different medical conditions and surgical treatments, and seminar registrations if a community program's topic covers surgical treatment options. The Promina Web site (www.promina.org) also provides links to Web sites of medical staff members.
"Costs for Web site design can range from $3,000 to $5,000 for a simple site that serves as an on-line business card or brochure, to several hundreds of thousands of dollars for sites that require custom programs and a great deal of interaction with other databases," says James Sposto, president of Sposto Productions, a Web page design firm with offices in Cootztown, PA, and Memphis, TN.
The steps to create a Web page are the same steps you should take to create any marketing tool, says Iverson. "First, decide what you want to accomplish. Do you want to offer patient education or an on-line brochure, or does your CEO just want his picture on-line?" Internet browsers will re-visit or spend more time at your site if it is interactive and offers different types of information and links to other sites, she adds.
Once you have a clear idea of your goals, hire someone who really understands Web page design, suggests Iverson. "The designer should know how people access Web pages, how they browse through them, and what keeps their interest."
A less expensive alternative to hiring a consultant is to use a user-friendly software package such as FrontPage developed by Microsoft, based in Redmond, WA, to develop a simple Web page, she says. Your costs are staff time needed to set up the Web page and approximately $150 to purchase the software. The same software can be used to update your Web site, Iverson says.
Ambulatory surgery programs with a high volume of cosmetic surgery have been the most aggressive in developing Web pages, says Plitt. "Cosmetic surgery information is ideal for the Internet because the people most likely to seek information about it are younger and more likely to use the Internet," he says. "The anonymity of the Internet is also appealing when someone is considering cosmetic surgery."
Because spine surgery also attracts younger patients, an outpatient spine surgery program gave Westlake Surgical Center in Seattle a reason to enter the Internet.
"In 1997, we developed an outpatient spine program with our neurosurgeons who have done hundreds of outpatient laminectomies in our surgery center over the years," says Tony Westhoff, RN, administrator of the freestanding center. "We saw a Web page as an excellent way to give potential patients a chance to see our facility and get to know our physicians at the same time they learned about this treatment option."
The typical patient for an outpatient laminectomy is a young to middle-aged adult who is healthy, college educated, and gainfully employed. "They are the age and education level that is most likely to use the Internet," Westhoff explains.
Westlake Surgical's Web page (www.west lakesurg.com) is an on-line brochure that gives information about the procedure and about the freestanding surgery center, he explains. Links to Web pages offered by physicians on staff are available and links to the physicians' curriculum vitae are included.
"The nice thing about the Internet as a medium is that it is never finished," says Iverson. Thus, the potential uses of the Internet are unlimited, she adds. Her facilities already handle seminar registration through the Web site, and she predicts patient registration on the Internet will become commonplace in the future.
The Health Care Financing Administration currently has a demonstration project that pays specialists for tele-consults with rural physicians that involve the transmission of records as well as radiology images via the Internet, says Michelle Robinson, a HCFA spokeswoman.
As more uses for Internet transmission of medical information are found, professional associations and accreditation agencies are likely to develop guidelines, adds Iverson.
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