Matomo for healthcare
Web analytics in healthcare is sensitive, because even a search term or a page address can reveal something about a person's health. I set up Matomo so that hospitals, medical societies and medical portals understand what their visitors need without collecting health data. My projects include medical societies, specialist portals in cardiology and hospitals in Switzerland.
Sound familiar?
- 01Pageviews can reveal a lotAnyone reading pages about diagnoses or therapies may be revealing something about themselves.
- 02Search terms with diseasesSite search is valuable but often contains disease terms and sometimes names.
- 03Congresses and coursesProgramme, registration, e-learning, where do participants drop out?
- 04Member and patient portalsLogin areas should be measurable without recording people.
- 05No data to third partiesHospitals and medical societies do not want to give data to advertising or cloud services.
- 06Many offerings, one overviewSites, departments, congress and specialist portals should be analysable separately and together.
Measuring without collecting health data
Matomo measures without cookies and with shortened IP addresses. On top of that we define which pages, addresses and input are sensitive: names, patient numbers or free text are removed before they are stored, and for site search we decide whether and where search terms are stored. The legal assessment, for example for special categories of data under Art. 9 GDPR, stays with your data protection officer.
Congresses, courses and e-learning
How many visitors get from the programme to the registration, where do they drop off, which courses are completed? I measure registration journeys as funnels and courses as goals, for on-site and online formats.
Specialist portals and patient information
Which content is read, which questions remain open, which paths lead to specialist information? For specialist portals and patient information I set up reports that editorial teams can read without prior knowledge.
Hospitals with several sites
Sites, departments and career pages get their own websites or reports, with permissions per team. Each hospital sees its own numbers, and management gets an overview of all offerings.
In-house, also in Switzerland
Matomo runs in your data centre or with a provider of your choice, without third parties. For hospitals in Switzerland the documentation follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection.
Projects for, among others
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Are pageviews in healthcare health data?
They can be, for example if reading pages about diagnoses allows conclusions about a person. That is why I measure without cookies, with shortened IP addresses and without personal reference. The legal assessment is made by your data protection officer.
Can we analyse site search?
Yes, with care. We decide together whether and in which areas search terms are stored, and names or numbers are removed before they are stored.
Can a congress registration via a provider be measured?
Usually yes, by connecting both domains or server-side. I clarify beforehand with you and the provider what is possible.
Do you also work for hospitals in Switzerland?
Yes. The configuration follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, the legal assessment stays with your legal advisers.
Sounds like your project?
In an intro call we'll clarify where you stand and what comes first.
Your contactPeter Boehlke, Matomo consultant from Munich, 17 years in the Matomo team