Welcome to EMR and HIPAA

I’m still seriously considering my idea to create a clinical website wrapped in some sort of content management system. I think it’s a scalable idea that would only cost me the cost of designing a new skin/theme/look and feel for the clinic. Next week I’m going to try and make time to visit the doctor’s office that I think will fund the development of the product. Then, I’ll use that product to roll it out to other doctor’s offices.

While thinking about a clinical website for a doctor’s office I started wondering why a doctor might want a website for their clinic. Here’s just a few of the things off the top of my head.

• Market their clinic
• List their products and services
• Show staff information
• Show clinic hours
• Contact information for their clinic
• Link to their Patient Health Record (PHR)
• Provide clinic announcements
• List Health Education materials
• Promote their clinical research

I think the most powerful tool could be marketing their clinic. With the right combination of keywords and an integrated blog where you post local news items, you could find a lot of referrals. I think this could also be true for those doctors who like to sell elective procedures that have high profit margins.

Is there anything I’m missing about what a clinical website could offer a doctor’s office? I expect there are probably a number of them that I haven’t considered.