Using Technology to Bring Public Health Services Closer to the Customer

In an era where people want what they want, when they want it, it is imperative that health departments adapt to the ever-changing public health needs of the communities that they serve.

Health departments are like most businesses and organizations today - you have to visit their physical facility in order to do business with them. This defies customers’ expectation of a 24/7/365 service.

The Internet offers businesses the ability to meet this expectation by placing their products and services online. They can do this through a full virtual experience where customers conduct business directly through the Internet on the businesses’ web sites. Health departments offer a wide variety of services that could be offered this way ranging from scheduling appointments, to applying for permits, to receiving public health information.

Integration of the virtual world with the brick and mortar world is another great way to meet customers' expectations. By first visiting a businesses’ web site to initiate a business transaction and then visiting the physical facility to conclude that transaction, the customer receives far better and faster service than if they performed all of the transactions at the physical facility. For those services that must be offered directly, this approach affords the customer the ideal alternative.

An example would be people who want a physical examination. They could go online prior to the clinic visit to schedule the appointment, and complete the health history and insurance forms. For customers, this would give them the time to make sure all the information is accurate and spend only the time necessary at the clinic to get the physical exam. To health departments this means a higher level of customer service and reduced cost.

In a test of the integration of virtual and face-to-face services, Charlotte County Health Department conducted a drive-thru flu clinic and placed the consent / health history form online. All the customers had to do was download the form, fill in their information, print it out and bring it with them. For those that did, they spent less than a third of their time waiting to get their flu vaccine, compared to those who filled out the forms onsite. What's more, the completed online forms were more accurate and complete. Of the 200 people we processed, about 50 percent used our online service.

To address the ongoing question that people of lowest financial means do not have access to the Internet, we conducted a survey over several months and found that on average 65 percent of them had Internet access. This could be having their own Internet account, or the use of family, friends, or the library.

The Internet adds another great tool for communication and service to a health department's tool chest, along with face-to-face and telephone. Charlotte County Health Department has taken this tool to better meet the needs of its customers by redesigning and expanding its web site so that nearly all public health services we offer in our brick and mortar facilities and via telephone will overtime be available through our web site. With so many people having access to the Internet and already using our web site, it becomes essential for us to continue using the best that technology has to offer. Thus, we will be in a better position to meet the ever growing customer demand for quicker access to public health information and services to be available at the time. Though we don’t have as much online as we would like to have, over time you will see more public health information and services made available on our web site. Now, people have more choices than ever in deciding how to do business with the Charlotte County Health Department.