How practice managers can avoid the digital divide

In a digital world, accessibility is paramount – here’s how to ensure you steer clear of creating a ‘digital divide’ within your practice

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Healthcare Leader News

Without doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the use of digital technologies across public services, particularly in the healthcare sector. From virtual GP appointments to ordering prescriptions, the rise of online access has had a transformative effect on the sector.

While there are many positives reports have also highlighted a growing ‘digital divide’ between those that can comfortably access digital healthcare and those that can’t.

So, how can practice managers make sure their digital environment is available to all?

Adopt a strategic approach

Being great at digital accessibility is about the whole user journey. This requires a strategic approach to ensure that accessibility is ‘baked in’ to your processes so it is not seen as a tactical add-on. Otherwise, you will always find yourselves having to retro-fix elements of your services that don’t meet accessibility requirements, which is inefficient.

Define responsibility and get senior buy in

It is also important to have a champion at a senior level. Having a digital accessibility programme manager who can lead a project team to own, run and report progress against your strategic plan is really important. You should also ensure your plan includes adequate training, and the creation and communication of policies and processes to embed digital accessibility into your organisation’s DNA.

Embed accessibility across your organisation and with all stakeholders

Great accessibility is only possible if the whole organisation is aware of it and actively ensures it is part of the design and creation of any digital product or communication. Key to this will be taking your wider supply chain – your external digital suppliers – on this journey with you, by going beyond DTAC and ensuring digital accessibility is a key part of your procurement process and contracts. 

Focus on user experience across all digital channels

Digital accessibility can mean different things for different people across multiple user touchpoints. When looking at the healthcare sector, the public will come into contact with a service through digital appointments, websites, emails and apps, and then through digital touchpoints in the healthcare setting itself, such as self-check-in. All of these things need to be accessible to ensure a smooth end-to-end user experience.

Design for accessibility throughout your development process

Healthcare Leader’s analysis shows that there is often an ad-hoc approach to accessibility in the development of digital products. Practice managers need to ensure it is embedded throughout the development process of all products, from websites to apps to social media and PDFs, and that their accessibility is regularly monitored, checked and fixed after launch. In short, make things inclusive by design, across each product’s lifecycle.

Towards a more digitally inclusive future

The healthcare sector is becoming increasingly reliant on digital channels but there is a real danger of this exacerbating health inequalities. However, by improving accessibility in digital healthcare – starting at the design stage – digital transformation can be a force for good.