ASA April 2003 Newsletter

Why Have a Web Site?
We are frequently asked why anesthesiologists should have Web sites. One obvious benefit is advertising. Whether the target of your advertising is anesthesiologists in your area, patients seeking more information on anesthesiology or perhaps members of the press seeking information on the current nurse anesthetist scope-of-practice situation, having a simple, well-designed Web presence can help your organization present a clear and effective message.

The Web is a fluid medium, and information can be updated as often as you like. A well-designed site can provide contact information, patient information, legislative updates and a plethora of other items. Furthermore, the costs are a fraction of those for newspaper or telephone book advertisements.

In our current technological environment, there is no reason not to have a Web presence. Your competition is probably active on the Web, and being mute is no longer an option.

What to Include
Just like any other forum, before any actual pages are written, the focus and outline must be determined. The main question here is, “Who am I trying to reach, and what will they come to my site looking for?” Remember, too, that you do not have to create all of the content; you can link to outside sources (such as the ASA Web site).

It is essential to keep the main page as simple and uncluttered as possible. Elaborate animation or background audio or a difficult navigation scheme will drive visitors away and they will not come back (do you revisit those sites?). Unfortunately, graphics can bog down a page and slow page-loading to a crawl, especially for those with slow modem connections. Java scripts, animated video and pages of graphics are attractive to look at, but content is where you should concentrate.

While the focus of ASA and component society Web sites includes extensive sections on membership, education and members-only access, your Web site is more likely to include biographical information on your site members, office hours and insurance information.

Whether to include information for patients on your site is a difficult decision. Many fear that improperly presented or inaccurate information could be a legal problem, but if areas of controversy are avoided and general information only is presented, this can be a useful tool. Consider information on “how to choose an anesthesiologist,” “what is the difference between a general and regional anesthetic” and “information on epidurals for labor and delivery.” The information is already present on ASA’s site in various forms, and you can provide links to further information easily enough.

The actual content of the linked pages will vary, but providing a simple and logical structure on your main page will make your site less intimidating and easy to navigate.

How Do I Make a Page?
Now that you have determined your content, just how does one go about creating a Web page? Web pages are written in something called “hypertext markup language,” hence the “htm” or “html” at the end of many Web addresses. There are a variety of programs that will allow you to create and edit a Web page. It is generally easier to start with a “WYSIWYG” (“what you see is what you get”) editor. These may include Netscape Composer®, Adobe GoLive!®, Microsoft FrontPage® and Macromedia DreamWeaver ®. You also may be able to do Web-based site design, utilizing functions of America Online®, Netscape®, Yahoo® and similar sites to create basic pages using templates or design wizards. The main disadvantage is that these pages are very limited in terms of graphics and structure. You also can use straight text editors or word processors, but this is not recommended unless you are a masochist or a professional Web developer.

Note that professional Web design services can cost anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars — the more you do yourself, the more money you will save.

How Do I Show It to the World?
Once your site has been created, you need to put it out on the Web. “Web hosting” is the term used to describe placing your site on a server so it can be viewed on the Web. “Publishing your Web page” is a term often used by commercial Web creation software packages. Many commercial software packages allow you to move files to the appropriate locations, or it can be done manually using any FTP (file transfer protocol) client program.

There are many good ISPs (Internet service providers) from which you can choose. Folks who are just getting started should let someone else host the site. Most of the larger Internet service providers also will allow registered domain name hosting for a monthly fee. The degree of support and amount of server space available for storing pages can vary, often requiring limitations on page quantity or image sizes that can be displayed. Contact the technical support staff of your Internet support provider for more details.

If you want to create your own domain name, such as “www.mywebsite.com,” you need to check for name availability (we are not at <www.asa.org> because the American Sailing Association got to it first), then register it for a low fee ($35/year). Network Solutions® and Register.com® provide an extremely easy method of online domain name search and registration. Go to <www.networksolutions.com> or <register.com> and type in your requested domain name. If it is available, you can register it then and there. If it is not, alternate suggestions using your name will be offered.

Summary
A Web presence allows for easy, affordable and dynamic advertising in an environment where more and more people use the Web to find jobs, physicians and information. An online tutorial with links to state society pages can be found at <www.ASAhq.org/clinical/tutorial/home.htm>. For further information, feel free to contact either of the authors of this article at <roysoto@yahoo.com> or <christine@monty-doyle.com>.

Roy G. Soto, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Christine A. Doyle, M.D., is Staff Physician, O’Connor Hospital, San Jose, California.

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