ANN ARBOR – Government web sites outperformed private sector web sites in a healthcare benchmark report released Tuesday by Ann Arbor-based ForeSee Results.
The survey measured the customer satisfaction of nearly 40,000 visitors to healthcare web sites during the month of October. On the benchmark?s 100-point scale, government websites scored 79 (in aggregate), while pharmaceutical websites came in second at 78, hospital websites dropped a point from last year to 73, and health insurance websites also fell a point year-over-year, coming in last at 64.
?Health insurance companies have the most room for improvement and also the most to gain from focusing on the customer experience, because improvements can directly and quickly impact their bottom line,? said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results. ?Meanwhile, because of a long and focused effort on online satisfaction over nearly a decade, government-run healthcare websites are leading the pack and provide a positive example of how focusing on the customer experience has tangible results.?
ForeSee Results applies the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index to help private and public-sector healthcare organizations understand how improvements to specific aspects of the online experience (such as navigation or site performance) will positively affect overall satisfaction, which in turn increases loyalty, recommendations, and customers? likelihood to use the website instead of more costly channels. Inside knowledge into site visitors? likely future behaviors empowers organizations to prioritize site enhancements and allocate resources efficiently.
In fact, when compared to less satisfied site visitors (satisfaction of 69 and lower) highly satisfied web site visitors (80 and higher) are:
139 percent more likely to return to a website
169 percent more likely to recommend the website
153 percent more likely to use the website as their primary resource for interacting with a healthcare organization, instead of using more costly channels like call centers or office locations.
?Our country is in the middle of a passionate debate about how to improve efficiency and decrease costs without sacrificing the quality of care,? said Freed. ?Our research shows that one immediate way to have a tangible impact is to improve the way that health information and services are provided by these organizations online. These are changes that can be made at the company level, immediately, without the need for changes to policy and legislation.?
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