Think about the last time someone found your practice online for the first time. They were probably in some discomfort, or worried about someone they care for. They weren't browsing. They had three questions, and they wanted answers quickly:
- Can this practice help with my problem?
- Will my medical aid cover it, and what will I pay?
- How soon can I be seen, and how do I book?
A practice website that answers those three questions clearly, on a phone, in under a minute, does almost everything a website needs to do. Many practice websites answer the first one vaguely, the second not at all, and the third with a phone number that rings during consultations.
Here's how to answer each.
"Can you help me?" Say what you treat, in patients' words
Patients don't search for "musculoskeletal rehabilitation". They search for "physio for knee pain", "dentist for a broken tooth", or "psychologist for anxiety in Pretoria". Your services should be described in the words they use, alongside the clinical ones.
For each main service, a short paragraph does the job: the problems it's for, what the treatment involves, roughly how long an appointment takes, and whether a referral is needed. Stick to describing what you do. Patients are reassured by clear facts, not by adjectives.
Then show who's behind the practice: each practitioner's name, profession, speciality or field of practice, qualifications and registration number, with a professional photo. Patients can check a registration; it's the most credible thing you can show them.
"Will my medical aid cover it?" Answer the money question
This is the question practice websites most often leave out, and for many patients it decides whether they phone you or the next practice. Be specific about:
- Which medical aids you're contracted with, or whether you're a designated service provider on particular networks
- How you bill: directly to the medical aid, or patients pay and claim back
- Whether you charge above medical aid rates, and that patients may have a co-payment
- What private (cash) patients pay for a standard consultation, if you're comfortable publishing it
- Your practice number. Medical schemes use practice numbers issued through the Board of Healthcare Funders' Practice Code Numbering System to process claims, and the PCNS warns that a suspended number "will impact your claims experience with Medical Schemes" (PCNS). Showing it helps patients and their schemes.
Billing arrangements change, so whoever updates the website must be the person who knows when a contract with a scheme starts or ends.
"How soon can I be seen?" Make booking easy, and say what to do in an emergency
The phone is often the worst way to book: reception is busy with patients in front of them, and many people look for help after hours. Give patients a way to request or book an appointment on the website, and say plainly how quickly you usually respond.
Two things belong near the booking button:
- What to bring and what to expect at a first appointment: ID, medical aid card, referral letter if needed, how early to arrive.
- What to do if it can't wait. A practice website is not an emergency service. Say so, and give the alternative: your after-hours arrangement if you have one, the nearest emergency unit, or the national emergency numbers (10177 for an ambulance, 112 from a cellphone).
Remember the people who refer patients to you
If you're a specialist, a physiotherapist, a dietitian or a psychologist, many of your new patients arrive because another practitioner sent them. That practitioner, or their receptionist, is also a visitor to your website, and they want different things from a patient.
Make their job easy:
- How to refer: whether you need a referral letter, where to send it (email address, not just a phone number), and what to include.
- What you see patients for, in clinical terms, so the referring practitioner can judge whether you're the right fit.
- Your waiting time for a new appointment, if it's predictable. A GP choosing between two practices for an urgent referral will usually pick the one that says it can see the patient this week.
- How you report back after you've seen the patient.
A short "For referring practitioners" section, or its own page, does all of this. It costs little to write, and it's the kind of detail that makes another practice choose you over the one down the road.
Keep your website forms short
A booking or contact form only needs what it takes to arrange the appointment: name, contact details, preferred times and the type of appointment. Leave detailed questions about symptoms and medical history for the consultation itself or your practice's own intake process. A short form is quicker for patients to complete, and it keeps personal details where they belong. Make sure you know who receives form submissions, and link to your privacy notice from the form.
The rest, briefly
- Location and access: a map, parking, whether there are stairs, and wheelchair access.
- Hours, including public holidays, kept up to date.
- Works on a phone and loads fast. Many patients will find you on a phone, possibly in a waiting room somewhere else.
- A privacy notice and cookie consent.
How SiteHub can help
SiteHub builds websites for doctors, dentists, therapists and other health practitioners around these three questions: your services in patients' words, your practitioners with their qualifications and registration details given prominent place, your medical aids and billing, and clear booking and contact information. Your .co.za domain, business email and hosting are included, and you see a live preview of the finished website before you pay anything. If you want patients to book on the website, Online Bookings is an optional add-on; the calculator shows what your setup would cost.