Does your Web site offer the healthcare information and services that consumers in your area look for?  The NRC Healthcare Market Guide can provide insight into this question.

Information on how consumers use hospital Web sites is found in three sections of the HCMG: Quality/Image, Hospital Advertising, and Internet Usage.

In the Quality/Image section, we asked respondents to name the hospital/facility Web site used most often.  The name-specific response gives you an idea of which Web sites in your area are used most by consumers. In the Hospital Advertising section, we asked respondents to name the hospital or facility's ad that comes to mind first.  We asked where the ad was read, seen or heard, with "Web site" being one of eight possible responses.  We also asked the respondent to indicate their preferred method of receiving information about hospitals, again, "Web site" was one of eight possible responses.

In the Internet Usage section, we asked respondents what general types of health information and services they've utilized on the Web/Internet in the past 12 months, and what they'd be willing to use in the future.

In the 2005/06 Healthcare Market Guide National market, 80% or more of respondents would consider using the Internet for health information and services in the future, yet only 27% to 45% have actually utilized the Web for those reasons in the past 12 months.

How does your Web site stand among your competitors?  How do consumers use information and services on the Web, and what are they willing to use in the future?  The Healthcare Market Guide can help you answer these questions.

HealthRatings.org

According to HealthRatings.org, a joint venture of Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Health Improvement Institute, health information Web sites are among the most frequently visited on the Web.

In 2005, HealthRatings.org published a list of the top 20 health information sites.  Topping the list was WebMD and the National Institutes of Health.  To view the list and read about how they rated the sites, go to:  http://www.healthratings.org