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.