The Challenge
Create a user-centric website for a newly formed health system that can compete with Boston’s biggest and best.
When several long-established healthcare brands with strong name recognition — and each with its own separate website — came together to form a new, comprehensive regional health system, they needed a cohesive website redesign that could attract, educate, convert and serve both new and existing patients.
The Insight
You had me at “What can I help you find?”
Patients want the expertise, technology and reputation of an academic medical center. But they don’t want to sacrifice the warm, caring, personalized attention of local healthcare. In an intuitive, guiding website experience, we needed to demonstrate South Shore Health’s surprising ability to deliver the best of both, as well as showcase all the various locations and highlight strategic partnerships.
The Research
We defined the 3 key purposes of a new website.
During our in-depth, 3-part discovery process, we found that there was a large disconnect between the “next generation” brand promise and the existing website experiences. The complex ecosystem lacked connectivity between brands, was riddled with dated or incomplete information, and the UX was so frustrating, patients we talked to avoided visiting altogether.
The Ideation
We wanted the patient to be at the center of everything.
We wanted users to feel at home with South Shore Health as part of their healthcare journey, so we placed the user at the center of the experience through useful tools, custom imagery and intuitive access to primary tasks. Our goal was to balance consumer’s top tasks and needs with highlighting South Shore Health’s medical expertise, dedication to health and wellness, and commitment to the community.
Patients and prospects with a specific need should be able to take immediate action. Our primary task bar guides users to find a doctor, research a condition/service, or look up a location.
Tech-Focused
Keeping the front end experience simple took some extra legwork on the back end.
Built in our proprietary ZenSource CMS, we needed a simple Content Management System for multiple content authors, as well as integration with HubSpot, the patient portal, donations, careers, blog, the system intranet, and e-commerce functionality. However, with six different sub-sites at the onset, first and foremost, we needed to consolidate the disparate sites and migrate content into one cohesive management system.
Smarter Experience
That complex matrix now seems a lot less complex.
Thinking beyond the main website, we considered each touchpoint of the ecosystem in order to create a singular view of the health system and unify the overall experience. For ongoing flexibility, we created an evergreen Content Management System made up of templatized modular units. The use of a global navigation mega menu provides direct access to key areas and functions with a task-aligned navigation system (i.e. Find a Doctor, Locations, Services, Wellness & Prevention, Patients & Visitors Info).
The Outcome
We now have more engaged patients, who are sure to be healthier patients.
In just 6 months post-launch, the new South Shore Health website saw dramatically improved engagement and consistency throughout the complex ecosystem. This resulted in more new patients, more appointments and, ultimately, a healthier community.
Dropping Some Data
First Six Months
132%
Increase in Click-to-Call
186%
Increase Engagement with Physician Bios
64%
Increase with Find a Doctor Engagement
22%
Increase in Overall Sessions
