Practice Management Update
With Little Effort, Web Sites Can Educate, Attract Patients

Travel to the Web site of a pain specialist in Florida and feel better instantly. Orange and
gold tones of a sunset blanket a photograph of a beach scene, complete with palm trees
bracketed by quiet surf and smooth sand. A click of a mouse adds the sounds of the ocean
and seagulls to complete the mood.

But this site isn't just pretty; it's informative, too. Visitors can learn about procedures used
to relive pain, various types of pain, and the background of the doctor herself, Lynne
Columbus, D.O., a solo practitioner in Palm Harbor, Fla. Columbus is so convinced of the
value of a Web presence that she has two sites, in fact. One she set up own:
www.gulfcoastpain.com and another she maintains through Medem, Inc., a secure communicates network firm at www.gulfcoastpain.yourmd.com.
 
"I've had the original Web site for three years now, and it is linked to my Medem Web site,"
says Columbus who adds, "I've gotten so much use from them."

The daughter of a surgeon, Columbus recalls from her childhood the rapport and respect
her father had from his community. She sees an Internet presence as a way to reestablish
that personal connection.

"Because of managed care organizations, the time we are allotted to talk to patients is really
shortened to the point where patients really hunger for more information about what is going
on with them and about the procedures they may be undergoing," Columbus says, "I think
this is closing a gap that exists now between patients and their physicians."

Take a Plunge or Just a Dip

Physicians can enter the Internet Age with just their toes, or get in up to their heads.
Among the firms that offer Web site hosting, Medem, which Columbus uses, makes
having a home page easy: the firm has a basic template for pages and does not charge
any fees, in most cases.

"With our Web site you can get the whole thing up and running in 20 minutes," says
Edward Fotsch, MD, Medem's chief executive officer. "If you are capable of ordering
a book from Amazon, you can build a Web Site." About 83,000 physicians have a site
through Medem, Fotsch says. He estimates that number will grow to 200,000, out of an
estimated 770,000 physicians in the United States.

Medem was founded in 1999 by seven medical societies, including the American Medical
Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Web Sites can help physicians accomplish the three things vital to staying in practice:
see patients, make money, and not get sued.

In addition to its basic Web Site services, since May the company has offered physicians
the technology to securely communicate with patients and others and to charge for such
virtual visits. About 8,000 physicians, including Columbus, have registered to use this service.
And there are other such firms, including Healinx, Inc., that offer secure communications
(see story in the May issue, page 1).

Physicians with little Internet experience may be most comfortable with a Web site that is
static and serves mostly to inform; these typically don't have interactive features such as
allowing prescription refills, appointments, or online consultations. About 90 percent of
Medem's physicians have such sites.

As Fotsch puts it, Web sites can help physicians accomplish the three things that are vital
to staying in practice: "See patients, make money, and not get sued." This is especially true if
the interactive options are utilized, but this is not mandatory, of course.

Online consults are seen as a method to generate income while staying out of legal trouble.
Malpractice carries are increasingly supporting the use of the Web and secure
communications as a way of reducing physician exposure by improving care and documenting
interventions in a way that can't be done with phone calls.

"You can have a Web site without secure messaging," Fotsch notes. "Physicians can build
their own Web sites. At a high level they build them to get access to new patients and to
provide information to existing patients." 

What Medem Offers

Medem Web pages contain certain standard information, beginning with the physician's name
and a unique "care philosophy." In Columbus' case, it stresses that she uses "the very latest
in pain management technologies."

Next is the office address with links to maps, a listing of specialties and accepted insurance
plans, and then a heading called :Patient Education Resources," which has items from various
medical associations and governmental agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, that are relevant to patients.

Along the right side of the page are customized messages that can be altered; they may
reflect seasonal problems a practice is seeing, or announce new office hours or associate
who may have joined a practice, for example.

Having a Medem Web site may help attract patients in several ways. All physicians are
listed in the AMA's Physician Finder database; those with a Medem Web site will have
a direct link to their homepage in the association's online directory.

In addition, Fotsch has forged agreements with health plans to include links to physicians'
Web addresses in their online provider directories. This allow prospective patients to visit
a site before they select a physicians, and an attr4active Web site that offers convenient features like online scheduling of refills just might win them over.

Site Draws Patients

Columbus hired a private firm to help develop her personal Web site. She wrote most of
the text that appears and chose the graphics.

Columbus estimates she spends about $1500 a year to maintain the site, which includes
paying for the domain name and to be included in search engines.

In return, the internet brings her two to three new patients a week. Increasing her practice
is important for a clinician like Columbus who counts on referrals. She also uses the sites
to introduce herself to referring physicians.

Because many of her patients are on long-term pain therapies, her personal Web site
includes information about what side effects can be expected. There are separate sections
for new patients and existing patients.

Columbus has found she can easily communicate with her elderly patients' family members,
who may be living far from their snow bird parents, and with patients who may be traveling.

"It is the best thing any doctor could have done, and should do."

Columbus has also conducted a half-dozen online consultations, for which she has been
reimbursed. She answers e-mails herself, and does not find this takes much time. Plus, it
makes her happy when patients e-mail her to express their gratitude for her sites. "I really
enjoy and appreciate the availability of the online site and online communication,"  one patient
wrote. "To me it is a great time-saver." Another wrote, "It is the best thing any doctor could
have done, and should do."

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More Articles About Gulf Coast Pain Management
Dr. Lynne Carr Columbus, D.O.

 

When one clearly understands pain;
when one absolutely knows
the proper treatment, then one can offer
to any patient
personal pain management that works.
This is my specialization.

-Lynne Carr Columbus, D.O.