Want to see what medical websites are out there?
Here are a few directories I have found online that list medical practitioners and their websites:
DMOZ (possibly the most definitive directory on the web with human editors. Its hierarchy is very complex but you can use it like a search engine - see eg for obstetricians and gynaecologists in Australia)
Yahoo (has the same limitations to useability of many directories but when you find the right category all you get is unique websites).
Medical Directory of Australia (run by the AMA. While the online interface looks a bit primitive this is probably the definitive list although potential patients may not search it as they may not be aware of it)
HealthDirectory.com.au (While unarguably having a commercial bent I quite like this one)
Unfortunately RANZCOG (and probably most of the other colleges) don't offer the capability to list your website in their "find a practitioner" type links. Eventually they will get around to this as they realise patients would much prefer to be able to find out preliminary information about the practice before ringing up their practice.
Another way to find what competition is out there is to do a Google/Yahoo/MSN/Sensis search on either the name of a doctor (if they know they have a website) or do a search on "General Practitioners", "Obstetricians", "Anaesthetists", etc online. Append the name of your city if you find the results are too generic eg "General Practitioners Melbourne".
With some of the integration that exists now between search engines and directories such as Yellow Pages and Google Maps you will often find results from those directories come up on your search.
Have you found a good directory that makes it easy for people to find your website and practice? Feel free to post. If I get enough info I might try to do a more detailed analysis.
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Hi Ben
ReplyDeleteGreat website and great blog. Having just moved here from the UK I appreciate how difficult it is to find the right health professional in Australia. I found Yellow Pages to be cumbersome, True Local to be inacurate and have never heard of DMOZ. Managed to find my new GP through healthengine.com.au and found this to be a particularly useful site.
Just checked out HealthEngine.com.au - very nice. It seems devoted to listing just Australian doctors rather than trying to be the answer to all searches for anything. The search function is intuitive and useful. Cheers
ReplyDeleteI agree with both sets of comments. I think there is a strong future for organisations like healthengine.com.au that can remove the clutter and provide a vetted reliable service. Hopefully we'll see more from those guys over the coming months. Having a specialist search engine for medical practitioners in Australia makes a lot of sense and over time might do away with the need for doctors to announce their website to directories that are more like link lists, are designed predominantly for other purposes or don't really show the information you are after as a consumer about choosing a doctor.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to put this together. I'm still looking for the "perfect" site, but in the meantime, healthengine looks reasonable. Here's hoping they rapidly improve it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very informative one. I found it interesting and a great source of ideas regarding online medical practice. This would bring good effect to online and medicine industry. You are really doing a great job. Thanks and keep posting.
ReplyDeleteThanks GP. Always good to get some encouragement!
ReplyDeleteIf you have any specific requests for information or suggestions for content feel free to do so. I've created a post specifically for that at - Ask a Question - also accessible from the right hand side under "Recent Comments". Cheers.