Hospital and clinic web sites in France : "Major room for improvement," according to new Basil Strategies study !

Launched at HIT France, the 1st annual hospital website barometer for France, was published by Basil Strategies.. The purpose of the study was not to create a competition amongst the hospitals and clinics but to identify best hospital web practices, measure their presence, and  guide hospitals on potential  improvements.

The study team examined 131 web sites regrouping 447 of the most reputable providers in France.  26 best practices were identified by the study team and then applied to the sites. Unfortunately, the hospitals averaged only 1 out of 2 of the best practices and suffer the consequences on a daily basis, as patients and families ring through to the switchboard or show up in person to gather information they could have found on the site. 

Just in case you're wondering, social media involvement of French hospitals was too low this eyar to figure amongst the best practices this year. Maybe 2011 !