Geisinger Web Gets Gold for Best e-Business Site

Nov 24, DANVILLE — Geisinger Health System's web site, www.geisinger.org, has received the 2004 eHealthcare Leadership Gold Award as Best e-Business Site and the 2004 Distinction Award for Best Healthcare Content.

Geisinger was among nearly 200 health care organizations, representing a wide industry spectrum, receiving recognition for its outstanding web site at a special presentation Las Vegas, NV, on Nov. 9 during a health care Internet and technology conference.

Sites receiving 2004 eHealthcare Leadership Awards were selected from 1,202 entries. One-hundred four individuals familiar with healthcare and the internet judged the entries.

"It's wonderful to have Geisinger named a recipient of these prestigious awards," said Mark Tomeo, content webmaster. "Winning in the e-business and healthcare content areas validates our belief that web technology improves our service to patients and makes our business practices more efficient. This award formally recognizes the progress we have made and the efforts of our employees who made this progress possible."

Geisinger's web content includes complete descriptions of its clinical services and facilities; searchable databases of clinical trials, continuing medical education offerings and job openings; portals for referring physicians to keep track of their patients and for patients to keep track of their medical records; applications to pay bills and make donations online; and thousands of pages of easily searchable articles on consumer health care topics.

The Geisinger web site conforms to and is certified as complying with the Health on the Net Foundation's principles of conduct. Geisinger's web pages were viewed 4.8 million times last year. The Geisinger web site also received a 2002 eHealthcare Leadership Award of Distinction for best health/health care content and a 2003 eHealthcare Leadership Silver Award for best e-business site.

"The number of entries and winners exceeded even last year’s record,” says Mark Gothberg, eHealthcare Leadership Awards chairman. “Leading-edge organizations are continuing to put more emphasis on e-business functions,” he notes about one trend that has gathered strength since the Awards program’s inception in 2000. “This is evident in web sites’ focus on employee recruitment, class and event registration, physician referral and appointment scheduling and even patient billing.”

The eHealthcare Leadership Awards program was developed and first presented in 2000 by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, a leading Internet resource published by Health Care Communications, Rye, NY. More information, including a complete list of winners and judges, is available at www.strategichealthcare.com.