This is a blog by a former CEO of a large Boston hospital to share thoughts about negotiation theory and practice, leadership training and mentoring, and teaching.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
New BIDMC website
We have a new website for our hospital here. A lot of people worked really hard to design this and to make the transition from the old one to this one. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
Very pretty site with a lot of nice features. But not as easy to use as you might want. Huge homepage graphic pushes a lot of the important content "below the fold." Search page results are not well organized. And I looked for a very long time to find an online donation form, and when I finally found it, it said it was under construction.
I agree that the job search results are disproportionately smaller than any other text on the page. Also, the Projectix web site that I'm redirected to has "Beth Deaconess Careers" as its title. I can see leaving out the M and the C from BIDMC, but leaving out the I seems to be an error.
To those of you who have commented on the size of the type in the job search listings: our technical folks are aware of this difficulty and are adjusting the layout to make it better. Please give us a little time to work out the problems. And thanks for taking a look at the new site.
Since my mom was a BI grad, I was especially interested in the pictures. You might want to have the archivists on the staff check the dates on the first couple of pictures. The one of the nurses with the snowman appears to be from the 1940s, not 1919, while the 2nd one, which has a date of 1942, appears to be from 1919. This is based on dress and shoe styles.
Congrats on the new site. It's a beauty. I like the way it's organized, and I like the look and feel. It not only presents a great image for BIDMC but really conveys the caring side of your operations that makes BIDMC one of the stand-out medical centers.
By chance, I just looked at the 2006 National Hospital Discharge Survey results, showing, among other things, that 24% of inpatients were over the age of 75, compared to 9% in 1970. Chronically ill patients (and their younger but still elderly counterparts) are typically accompanied by a family member who is responsible for their care at home. The site assumes that the "patient" is fully able to participate in his or her own care. Certainly many people of whatever age can do so, but most people sick enough to be in a hospital, need an advocate, usually a family member. The new site, like most hospital sites, never mentions family caregivers as essential to the process of care, decision making, and follow up. They are simply "visitors." One example: the section on privacy does not mention that health care providers can share relevant medical information with people who provide or pay for care. HIPAA was not intended to, and does not, prevent communication. The site is attractive and does a good job of selling BIDMC, which is its primary purpose, but it would be even better if it acknowledged the reality of care today. Carol Levine
Some serious time and effort went into the site. It looks great! Since serious resources were put into it, my only comment is to keep it maintained. There are many out there, which have a strong caliber and look great, yet the most recent news article is from three years and the events are even older. Looks great!
I like it! But I have a friendly suggestion. The graphics and pictures on the first page are pretty, but they are annoying when you get past the first page. They take up too much space, and you have to spend time and effort to scroll down to get to the content.
The website if very nice and user friendly. My only issue is that the job search results must be font size 5, so almost impossible to read.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that too. There is a enlarge text button within the page that takes it to a more readable level.
ReplyDeleteThere was also an interesting choice with having the detail of the job listings in 3 columns that makes the job description difficult to read.
Very pretty site with a lot of nice features. But not as easy to use as you might want. Huge homepage graphic pushes a lot of the important content "below the fold." Search page results are not well organized. And I looked for a very long time to find an online donation form, and when I finally found it, it said it was under construction.
ReplyDeleteBut great videos, interactive features, etc.
I agree that the job search results are disproportionately smaller than any other text on the page. Also, the Projectix web site that I'm redirected to has "Beth Deaconess Careers" as its title. I can see leaving out the M and the C from BIDMC, but leaving out the I seems to be an error.
ReplyDeleteTo those of you who have commented on the size of the type in the job search listings: our technical folks are aware of this difficulty and are adjusting the layout to make it better. Please give us a little time to work out the problems. And thanks for taking a look at the new site.
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteSince my mom was a BI grad, I was especially interested in the pictures. You might want to have the archivists on the staff check the dates on the first couple of pictures. The one of the nurses with the snowman appears to be from the 1940s, not 1919, while the 2nd one, which has a date of 1942, appears to be from 1919. This is based on dress and shoe styles.
Congrats on the new site. It's a beauty. I like the way it's organized, and I like the look and feel. It not only presents a great image for BIDMC but really conveys the caring side of your operations that makes BIDMC one of the stand-out medical centers.
ReplyDeleteBy chance, I just looked at the 2006 National Hospital Discharge Survey results, showing, among other things, that 24% of inpatients were over the age of 75, compared to 9% in 1970. Chronically ill patients (and their younger but still elderly counterparts) are typically accompanied by a family member who is responsible for their care at home. The site assumes that the "patient" is fully able to participate in his or her own care. Certainly many people of whatever age can do so, but most people sick enough to be in a hospital, need an advocate, usually a family member. The new site, like most hospital sites, never mentions family caregivers as essential to the process of care, decision making, and follow up. They are simply "visitors." One example: the section on privacy does not mention that health care providers can share relevant medical information with people who provide or pay for care. HIPAA was not intended to, and does not, prevent communication. The site is attractive and does a good job of selling BIDMC, which is its primary purpose, but it would be even better if it acknowledged the reality of care today.
ReplyDeleteCarol Levine
Some serious time and effort went into the site. It looks great! Since serious resources were put into it, my only comment is to keep it maintained. There are many out there, which have a strong caliber and look great, yet the most recent news article is from three years and the events are even older. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteI like it! But I have a friendly suggestion. The graphics and pictures on the first page are pretty, but they are annoying when you get past the first page. They take up too much space, and you have to spend time and effort to scroll down to get to the content.
ReplyDeleteI love the new website, very user friendly!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't job postings support Firefox?
ReplyDelete