Salem Clinic launched a mobile-friendly website on July 20th of this year! What does that mean? We have all viewed websites from our phones that are too small to read and difficult to navigate… so frustrating! A mobile-friendly site is one that is designed to be accessed from a phone or tablet. Buttons and font are larger; photos are fewer; available information is more concise. How does your phone know which version of your website to open? It doesn’t; the website decides what you get. Wait, what? Web programmers write code into their websites that direct users to their regular site or mobile based on one or more tests. Some redirect based on screen size; if your screen width is less than 800 pixels, you go to mobile. Other tests are more complicated.
When you access the salemclinic.org from a desktop PC, that’s exactly what you get. When you access salemclinic.org from a mobile device, you are silently redirected to m.salemclinic.org. If you’re curious, type the “m.†ahead of the address on your desktop…. you’ll be able to see the essential- only mobile version of our site. Our m. site features our locations and hours, access to MyChart, rotating patient comments and an option to redirect out to the full website. Simple.
MyChart is the patient accessible portion of the Epic electronic health record. Within MyChart, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, patients can: review test results and medications, send a message to their provider, request an appointment, view past and present appointment details, track progress on health goals and access their families’ MyChart accounts.
On October 17th, the Clinic launched a mobile-based QR scan survey. The codes are available in all exam spaces for patients to scan for access to the survey. Participants have the option to leave a comment, take a brief survey or take and in-depth survey. This is an opportunity for the Clinic to capture complaints, concerns or compliments in real time.
The Clinic provides free WiFi (wireless internet access) to patients at all Clinic locations. The network is named “guest†and it’s easy to join.
The Salem Clinic facebook page is steadily gaining momentum, with over 800 followers to date and 101 five stars (of which we could use some more, wink, wink). Patients “Check In†at our various locations everyday using their smart phones. They share with their friends and families when they are at urgent care due to an injury, when they are nervous about an MRI or excited about an OB ultrasound!
Coming Soon… Next month, the Clinic will go-live with Televox. Televox is a service that interfaces with Epic to perform automated appointment reminders calls or text messaging based on each patient’s preference. In early 2017, the Clinic will implement kiosks for self-service appointment check-in. For certain appointment types, a patient will be able to check-in through their MyChart account which will create a code to swipe on the kiosk at arrival to let nursing staff know the patient is ready to be seen.
Our strides into embracing the third screen (mobile devices) are pretty exciting! Do you have ideas for other mobile services we should offer? Text 503.931.1337 with your thoughts.
