Seven strategies for building effective online relationships.

M am hospitals ami physicians today face serious financial challenges because of managed care and reimbursement short tails from programs such as Medicare. They respond to these challenges by cutting costs. But such efforts have a negative impact on staffing levels, inevitably reducing the time caregivers can spend with patients. As a result, consumers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their lack of access to physicians and other caregivers. Many, seeking information about medical conditions they or their loved ones face, turn to the Web. Smart health care organizations are following these consumers online. By using their own websites to provide information and publicize services, such organizations can establish (or reinforce) relationships that eventually lead consumers to use the services themselves.