Why a medical practice needs a good website
Patients look for opening hours, holidays, contact details and how to book. If they find it online, they do not need to call. Every call that disappears is extra time for patients in the waiting room.
I build websites for more than 25 doctors and practices, and I almost always hear the same thing: the phone rings all day and most questions repeat. When are you open? Are you in tomorrow? Is the doctor taking new patients? When can I collect my referral?
A good website answers these questions before the patient picks up the phone. It is not about flashy design but about keeping important information current and easy to find within seconds, even on an old phone.
What a practice website should include
Opening hours, current announcements and holidays, contact details with a map, accepted insurers, services, how to book, and an introduction of the doctor and nurse.
- Opening hours right on the first screen, including hours for blood tests or special clinics.
- Announcements: holidays, covering doctor, changed hours, vaccinations.
- Contact: phone, e-mail, address, floor, parking and a map.
- Insurers you have contracts with.
- Services and examinations with a short explanation of what to expect.
- Appointments: how to book, what to bring, how to cancel.
- Team: a photo and a few sentences about the doctor and nurse. Patients want to know who they will see.
- FAQs: new patients, referrals, certificates, paid services.
All of this should be readable for older patients too: larger text, enough contrast and a phone number you can tap.
Edit announcements and opening hours yourself
An admin panel lets you change hours or add a holiday notice in a minute, without a developer. The notice appears prominently on the home page and disappears automatically after its end date.
The most common problem with practice websites is outdated content: a holiday notice from six months ago or old opening hours. The patient then stops trusting the rest of the information too.
That is why I build a simple admin panel for practice websites. The nurse or doctor logs in, writes the notice, sets the dates and saves it. The notice shows on the home page and disappears on its own when it expires. Opening hours are changed just as easily.
What would your practice website look like?
Send me a short message and I will prepare a design within 2 working days.
Get in touchOnline appointments and prescription requests
Online booking and a prescription request form move part of the phone calls to the website. Staff handle requests when they have time, not in the middle of an examination.
Not every practice wants online booking straight away, but even a simple form can save a lot of time:
- Booking system: the patient picks a free slot and receives a confirmation. This is how patient booking works for the Gynkomed gynaecology practice.
- Prescription requests: the patient fills in name, medication and contact details, and the prescription is issued calmly later.
- Reminders: an e-mail or text message the day before reduces no-shows.
More on how such a system works is in the articles custom booking system and online booking for local businesses. For practices I also created my own service, Marxyo, a digital reception with announcements, prescription requests, reminders and bookings.
Protecting patient data
Website forms collect only what is necessary. No diagnoses or national ID numbers through a regular form. The site runs over a secure connection and has a clear privacy policy.
Health data is a special category of personal data and must be handled carefully. When designing forms I follow a few rules:
- the form asks only for data needed to handle the request,
- patients do not type diagnoses or ID numbers into free text,
- the whole site runs over encrypted HTTPS,
- the form is protected against spam and bots,
- the privacy policy is written in plain language.
How patients find you on Google
Patients search by specialty and location. A Google business profile with the same details as your website, separate pages for examinations and a fast site all help.
Most new patients start with a search: “gynaecologist”, “paediatrician”, “orthopaedist” plus the town. To appear for them, a few simple steps help:
- Google business profile with address, hours, phone and a link to your website.
- Consistent details everywhere: name, address and phone on the website, the profile and directories.
- Pages for examinations: each with its own heading and description.
- A fast mobile site: search engines prefer pages that load quickly.
- Fresh content: regular announcements show the practice is active.
I set up the search engine basics, such as titles, descriptions and a sitemap, on every website.
Design that builds trust
Calm colours, real photos of the practice and team, a clear layout and no unnecessary effects. Patients should feel they are in good hands before their first visit.
A practice website should not feel like an advert. Patients need to find information quickly and feel reassured. What helps most are your own photos of the waiting room and surgery, a smiling team and a clear structure. What makes a website good in general is covered in the article how to recognise a quality business website.
If you would like to see what a website for your practice could look like, send me a short message and I will prepare a design within 2 working days.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on the home page of a practice website?
Opening hours, the current announcement, phone number and address. Patients should see this immediately, without scrolling or clicking.
Can I change announcements and hours myself?
Yes. The site gets a simple admin panel where you change opening hours or add a holiday notice in a minute.
Can patient booking be added to the website?
Yes. You can add a booking system with confirmations and reminders, or a simpler form for appointment and prescription requests.
Is the website GDPR-ready?
Forms collect only necessary data, the site runs on HTTPS and has a privacy policy. Sensitive health data is not collected through a regular form.
Do you work with practices outside Slovakia?
Yes. I work with practices in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and beyond, and the whole collaboration happens online.
Want to solve this in your business?
Send me a short message about what you need and I will get back to you with a proposed solution.
Contact meI build custom websites, web applications and AI solutions for businesses in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and beyond. I write about how technology can save small businesses time and bring new customers.
