How Renown Health uses mobile technology to connect with patients

The mobile site for Renown Health in Reno, Nev. offers patients access to pertinent contact and location information on the go. Patients can to "Find a Doc," as well as look up the location of Renown services from urgent cares to the Institute for Cancer. One of the most popular features on the mobile site is the ability to look up ER wait times. Users can also reach a patient using "click to call" or send flowers and gifts.

"The demand from users for mobile-compatible sites is at an all-time high, and we want to make sure our clients are prepared to handle the traffic," says Michael Thomas, partner at Noble Studios, which designed and developed the app.

"Our strategy behind Renownmobile.org was to help Renown Health improve their patients' health care experience through design," Thomas says. "By allowing patients to view current ER wait times, for example, they are able to make more informed decisions such as plan the best route for their emergency."

The mobile site offers the convenience of making an appointment for lab services, x-ray and imaging, and doctor appointments, as well as providing a call line to Renown's Nurse Navigators, a cancer patient support network. Additionally, the Renown mobile site offers patients quick facts for everything from major medical issues such as neurological and stroke to information about healthcare reform.

According to our most recent Google Analytics report, 34 percent of visitors are accessing Renown.org using a mobile device. The analytics also show a high rate of returning users and a time on site of more than three minutes.

"Our mobile site has been live for a little over a year," said Stacy Kendall, manager of Web and emerging media at Renown Health. "We wanted to be early adopters of the mobile trend and engage with our patients viewing our site on their mobile devices. The mobile site saves patients time and improves their overall health care experience."

In addition:

• Renown and Noble started with a clean, user-friendly site and are expanding mobile features based on items users continue to navigate to the full website to find.
• The Reno-Tahoe area is a tourist destination, and Renown promotes the site at the airport so users can bookmark it as soon as they get off the plane.
• Renown and Noble used heat-mapping analytics to track what information users are looking for most.
• Renown recently added a health tracker as part of the celebration of its 150^th anniversary.

Lindsay Alford is PR and social media strategist at Noble Studios.