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More than ever before, consumers are using technology to research, find, and schedule their healthcare services online, changing the landscape of how care decisions are made. To align with growing patient preferences and healthcare decision-making behaviors, health systems must not only deliver access in accordance with consumers’ changing preferences, but also enhance and digitize their care experience to drive greater ease-of-use and contribute to even greater loyalty online and in-person. 

According to Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Lisa Badeau, “Research shows that our patients and referring providers want simple, transparent, and frictionless interactions. That means that as technology advances, so must our web journey, because when the experience we provide online is rich with information and provides valuable utility, we excel at not only attracting new patients, but at providing an outstanding experience for current patients.” 

It’s for these reasons UVA Health is today announcing its first steps in what will be a multiyear journey to enhance its online presence — a journey that will make its web properties the most sophisticated in the industry, the most adept at listening and learning from patients and referring providers, and the most responsive to their combined needs. It’s a journey that will unite our websites across the system and truly reflect our brand as one UVA Health.  

The steps announced today represent several months of work among Marketing and Strategic Communications, Patient Experience, Patient Access, and HIT — all of which worked together to fully understand the digital experience of our patients, as well as what opportunities UVA Health has to grow, advance, and improve.  

“Working together with departments across UVA Health, we have determined that many things contribute to an outstanding experience online,” said Megan Stanley, associate chief for digital marketing and engagement. “From when patients search for us on Google, to when they locate a provider within our online directory, to when they schedule their first appointment — every stop on their journey must be seamless, because it ultimately contributes to the outstanding care that they receive.”  

The First Steps in a Multiyear Journey 

To kick things off, UVA Health today released several updates to uvahealth.com and childrens.uvahealth.com, and also announced several other action items it will be focused on in the immediate future. This includes the following: 

• Homepage redesigns. On April 17, both uvahealth.com and childrens.uvahealth.com were given new, freshly designed site-wrappers and homepages that will represent the organization’s digital front door. Not only will the new pages look fresher and more modern, they also will provide a better overall navigation experience and set the stage for future redesigns across our various websites.

• New search experience. Also launching April 17 is a new search experience that will make it easier for patients to navigate our website and find the information most relevant for making decisions around their care. The enhanced website will feature a robust filtering tool that will allow patients to locate relevant content more quickly, as well as machine learning capabilities that will improve search results overtime by constantly learning from our patients’ search habits and results. While you may not notice an immediate difference in our search capabilities, the new functions will evolve quickly as more patients adopt its use. 

• Newly designed provider and location profiles. Serving as a primary way to introduce UVA Health services to potential patients — provider and location profiles are often the first impression users have of their care team. As importantly, profiles are critical to how consumers shop for their care online. That’s why they are getting an upgrade with a new design and enhanced search/filtering capabilities.  

• Open and Direct Scheduling. Patients increasingly want more flexibility with their care delivery. To achieve that, UVA Health is committed to self-scheduling capabilities, allowing patients to select their appointment time in just a few steps. To move forward, we’re pursuing two paths: Open Scheduling and Direct Scheduling. With Open Scheduling, patients who are new to UVA Health can view open slots and then schedule an appointment on a provider’s schedule, even without a MyChart account. Through Direct Scheduling, patients are allowed to schedule appointments online for providers with whom they have established relationships. 

To pilot Open Scheduling, UVA Health will launch these capabilities at six Northern Virginia primary care and pediatric clinic locations, beginning April 23. As for Direct Scheduling, UVA Health has long offered a limited set of locations and visit types and we will be expanding this offering as we move forward. Stay tuned for more information. 

• Star Ratings and Reviews. According to recent research, almost three-quarters of patients use online ratings and reviews as the very first step to finding a new provider. That’s why later this year, UVA Health will incorporate star ratings and comments on all provider and location profiles, giving patients even greater visibility and transparency into its extraordinary care delivery. These ratings and comments will be pulled from our first-party patient satisfaction data, collected by Press Ganey, then presented on physician profiles to attract new patients on their care journey. Sharing ratings and comments now represents a best practice for healthcare organizations, helping drive increased patient acquisition — and ultimately leading to greater patient satisfaction. We are excited to launch this enhancement, especially given that the vast majority of UVA Health provider reviews are significantly favorable. 

“These enhancements are the first steps we will be taking on a multiyear journey to not only attract and retain patients, but to make UVA Health the preferred provider across the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Badeau said. “Although the features launching this week are a big step forward, they represent just the tip of the iceberg of what will make all of our health system websites the best in the industry.” 

In later stages of its website evolution, a broader overhaul of all external UVA Health web properties will be taking place to ensure brand consistency and usability across all areas of its operations. In addition, the organization will look to add more tools and features for patients to use — increasing our commitment to a best-in-class digital experience.  As UVA Health pursues this work, team members will receive regular updates on how its web evolution is progressing. 

To see these latest innovations in action, visit uvahealth.com or childrens.uvahealth.com. Let us know your thoughts via our Give Feedback form.