PIONEERING THE “PATIENT-USER” EXPERIENCE ONLINE
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Best Practices from Retail Fuel New Online Approach for Norwood Hospital

(Norwood, MA) – When Steward Health Care, parent company of Norwood Hospital, set out to pioneer a new, online patient-user experience, they decided to draw inspiration not from other medical industry players, but instead from the digital presence of major retail brands. As part of the effort, Norwood Hospital now has a completely revamped online look – one tailored to make it easier for patients to access services, find information, and schedule appointments.

By partnering with technology providers who have helped build the online presence of brands like Puma, Timex, and Warner Music Group, Norwood Hospital, along with its fellow Steward hospitals, is among the first group of acute care providers in Massachusetts to offer a fully mobile-integrated website that will deliver custom content for patients based on their prior in-site visits.

“Typically, websites in the healthcare sector lag far behind other industries in embracing fundamental digital innovations,” said Kim Bassett, RN, BSN, MBA, President of Norwood Hospital. “Our revamped on line presence creates an easier and more patient-centered experience for users.”

“The audiences that matter above all for the services and information we’re offering online are our patients and potential patients,” says Colleen Walsh, Director of Digital Communications for Steward Health Care. “As a community-based health care service provider, Steward is built around our patients, and that philosophy now extends to our presence online. By providing the level of user-oriented experience that consumers have come to expect from major retail brands, Steward is leading our industry toward putting the patient first – not just through the world-class care we provide, but through how we offer access to those world-class services.”

As a result, Norwood Hospital and Steward Health Care, a national leader in health care delivery innovations, are now leading on a new front – pioneering a “patient-user experience” built to meet the highest commercial standards. Input from hundreds of patients through surveys, interviews, and usability tests helped drive the creation of the new hospital websites. The custom response patient “dial pad” is among the marquee innovations within the new www.norwood-hospital.org allowing patient-users to instantly find a doctor, make an appointment, or access medical information through the “StewardConnect” portal.

Norwood Hospital and Steward engaged two major technology partners to help create a superior patient-user experience within the market: Acquia, one of the nation’s fastest growing private technology companies and a leading provider of cloud based digital experiences (Puma, Warner Music Group, Lush, Timex, and more), and Hatch 130, a New England-based digital and creative service agency (NBA, National Grid, and more).

As part of their innovative move towards pioneering and prioritizing the patient-user experience, Steward has launched new sites across its entire network – including Norwood Hospital to introduce a seamless mobile experience for health care consumers.

This video explains more about the new Steward.org personalized content feature, while this video provides an overview of the new Steward.org.

About Norwood Hospital
At Norwood Hospital, we are committed to caring for patients as we would our own families. We are a full service, 215-bed community hospital for adults and children, and we understand the importance of delivering world class health care along with the latest advances in technology and treatment options.

We take pride in our 100-year heritage of providing health care services to Norwood and our surrounding communities. And, to meet the needs of today’s changing health care environment, we continue to grow our team of primary care physicians, highly trained specialists and treatment services.

Today, Norwood Hospital boasts a full range of patient care services, from our Small Miracles Maternity Unit to a state-of-the-art robotic-assisted orthopedic surgery program. We also offer a sophisticated cancer care program, comprehensive radiology and imaging services, and a life-saving cardiac catheterization lab. We are particularly proud to be rated among the top 5 percent of hospitals across the nation for excellence in patient safety by Healthgrades.

About Steward Health Care
Steward Health Care is the largest fully integrated healthcare services organization and community hospital network in New England. Headquartered in Boston, Steward is the fourth largest employer in MA with more than 17,000 employees in more than 150 communities. Steward is comprised of Steward Medical Group, Steward Health Care Network, and Steward Hospital Group. Steward Medical Group provides approximately 1 million patient encounters per year in 152 sites and manages homecare and hospice with 300,000 and 35,000 encounters respectively. Steward Health Care Network, a fully integrated care management company, has 3,000 physicians, with approximately 4 million patient encounters per year and affiliates or joint ventures with approximately 30 urgent care centers. Steward’s Hospital Group includes Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Norwood Hospital, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen, Morton Hospital in Taunton, and New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton. Additional information is available at www.steward.org.