Tech Talk

The results of our annual Technology Survey are available this month, and since so many of you have been kind enough to tell us how you’re using technology to do your job, it seems only fair to tell you how we’re using it to do ours. To wit:

You may have noticed in recent weeks some big changes to our Web site, PhysiciansPractice.com. We’ve redesigned the site with a look that’s cleaner, less cluttered, brighter, and easier to navigate. We’ve sacrificed nothing: Every article, blog post, and interactive tool that we’ve always had has been moved to the new site, or shortly will be.

What’s most exciting, though, about the new PhysiciansPractice.com is not what we’ve kept but what we’re adding - which signals the kind of information provider that Physicians Practice, as a company, is becoming.

We’re a faster and more nimble company now, much better able to respond immediately to your needs for information on topics of import.

A physician’s world once was pretty staid. Change came slowly, when it came at all.

But that world has passed. You can’t wait until next month’s issue of Physicians Practice arrives in your mailbox to learn how you might take advantage of federal stimulus dollars, or to understand how health reform will affect you. You need information now.

So the new PhysiciansPractice.com will provide you regular updates on these developments through our blog, which is the first thing you’ll see on our home page.

Don’t get me wrong: We’re not in the news business. Our goal is to help you understand the context in which things are changing so that you can respond in a way that makes sense to you, and to provide the advice you’ll need to know how to achieve the objectives you seek.

In addition to our staffers who blog daily, we’ve also recruited a host of physician writers. These are practicing docs, not academics, and they’re using the site to explain how the changing world is affecting them - and how they’re affecting it. You can contribute to the conversation, too. PhysiciansPractice.com is now a place to connect with colleagues and have your voice heard immediately. Every article and blog post includes a comment field where we expect lots of discussions and debates to break out.

We’ve also been busy building comprehensive content packages around specific topics of interest to physicians. We call them “topic recourse centers.” Internet-savvy types use the term “mashups.” Whatever you call them, they’re intended to be one-stop-shops for information on subjects physicians are wondering about. Whether you’re looking for help on legal and malpractice issues, have questions about EHRs and “meaningful use” regulations, or are wondering how much to pay staff, we’ve got you covered. These pages will change often, because the topics they cover will change and because they’ll be fed with information from around the Web, not just from Physicians Practice. So visit them regularly.

Here’s what hasn’t changed, and never will: Physicians Practice exists to provide the tools and information you need to succeed, in whatever form that works best for you today.

Creating a new Web site is like moving into a newly built home. The possibilities are endless, but a settling-in phase is inevitable. We hope you’ll be patient as we hammer out a few kinks, but I want you to think of the site as your new home, too, and take ownership of it by telling us how we can improve to make it even better. Don’t hold back. What’s missing? What’s not working as it should? What do you wish there was more of?

Feel free to ask us to develop ambitious tools and content that would really have an impact on your practice.

Bob Keaveney is editorial director for Physicians Practice. He can be contacted via e-mail at bob.keaveney@ubm.com.

This article originally appeared in the September 2010 issue of Physicians Practice.