The website should be the first line of defense to help patients who are trying to find information or to contact a doctor. Making it quick and easy to get one's password reset if one happens to forget it would be a very good thought. Logging into the doctor page is not as common as going to Netflix so it can slip one's mind. If the system architect decides to double-check, triple-check, and quadruple check one's identity so one finally gets to the password page, it is especially important that the system architect do at least the same number of checks to the portal code so that it actually changes the password.
Another thought on setting up an HMO website, regarding listing the doctors: Make sure to include the phone number of the doctors. Patients often want to call the doctors' offices directly.
Perhaps forcing all patients to call a common phone number that in turn will allow a clerk to contact each doctor, is important in keeping the system efficiently maintained. So, I have some suggestions for fixing the phone system. The menu tree should be as lean as possible. Avoid a choice such as, "Click 1 for San Diego and Orange Country" with the next set of choices being, "Click 1 for San Diego or 2 for Orange Country." A second approach to optimize the voice menus is to have the speaker talk faster and to remove the pauses -- especially the extra-long pause right before option "0," which finally gives one the ability to talk to a live person.
