Surgeon runs web development agency for medical specialists

Dr Andrew Renaut is a specialist colorectal and general surgeon. Before qualifying and practising as a surgeon he was a dentist, a slightly different career path to most surgeons!

In 2010, alongside continuing to work as a surgeon, Dr Renaut set up Online Medical. The head office is in Brisbane – with clients in major metropolitan areas right across Australia. The company has now developed over a hundred websites for fellow specialists, GPs, dentists and allied health professionals.

Brisbane Business met up with Dr Renaut recently and had a chance to talk to him about Online Medical.

BB: Why did you set up the new company?
AR: At the time I’d engaged a number of web companies to design and build a website for my own practice. These website development projects unfortunately didn’t work out – an insufficient understanding of the healthcare sector and the demands that busy doctors are under made it all a very frustrating experience. I knew there had to be a better way… so I set up Online Medical – a web design and development company that aims to exceed the expectations of doctors and allied health professionals.

BB: How does Online Medical deliver on that promise?
AR: We employ talent across a number of specialist disciplines, including web designers with UX/UI specialisation, photographers, copywriters, SEO / SEM specialists. All the team are fully cognisant of the specific needs of the medical industry. In our view a medical practice website should be seen as an investment that will last several years – and the Online Medical team excel at creating bespoke websites that offer a great user experience. Our mission statement is “world class websites for healthcare professionals”, and this is reflected in everything we do across all disciplines, from technology to project management, design, development, and support. We view a high quality website as THE essential marketing tool. Importantly for doctors, it’s also an opportunity to provide comprehensive information to patients in an increasingly litigious environment. Our websites alone are enough to satisfy many practices in terms of marketing – so it should typically account for the majority of your marketing budget …our advice is don’t skimp, so you can get it right the first time!

BB: Where do you see the online world going for medical and health professionals?
AR: A website is just the beginning – we aim to guide our clients on their digital journey. In the short term we create a strong online presence for them, and make sure this allows them to best serve their patients online. In the longer term our role is to help them contend with the highly competitive world of online marketing and search engine optimisation. We can also provide a broader unbiased perspective in terms of marketing advice relating to other channels.

BB: And I’m guessing both Online Medical and you personally have pretty comprehensive websites?
AR: Absolutely! You can visit Online Medical, and my surgical site is Brisbane Surgeon – or you can just type ‘Brisbane Surgeon’ into Google and you’ll find me.

BB: Thank you Dr Renaut.