The Greystone.Net Blog

Adherence to best practices on the Web is critical. You’ve heard me quote Jakob Nielsen before on his #1 rule of Web usability:  “99% of the time your users spend on the Internet they spend on sites other than yours.”  That suggests that if you create a user experience that is vastly different from what your site visitors are likely to get at places like Yahoo or Amazon, you’re setting yourself up for problems.

Imagine designing a car and deciding to put the brake on the right and the gas on the left, just to be different. You’d kill people.

Similarly, many in healthcare have tried various features and functions, and the data shows clearly what works best and what doesn’t.

That’s why I’m always perplexed when somebody says best practice won’t work for them because they – or their patients – are different.

If I had a dollar for every doctor who told me that his/her patients were different and thus would never use the patient portal we launched at my last employer, I’d have a lot of dollars. If every doctor who said that took me up on my offer to bet $100 that enough of his/her patients would use it to make it worthwhile, I’d have a whole lot of dollars.

The fact remains that users of the Internet see the same Yahoo, Amazon and other leading sites regardless of what state or city they live in. Some specific details may be different, but the basic site functionality is the same.

I’m not a doctor, but I’m willing to bet that, as my friend John likes to say, the heart has four valves whether you live in Idaho or Virginia.

All of this is my rather longwinded way of saying that best practices, be they general Internet best practices or those specific to healthcare, apply regardless of your geography. And if anybody wants to take me up on that bet, you know where to find me.