Introducing The Healthcare Digital Index

We’ve launched something new and exciting at Medico: the Healthcare Digital Index. This initiative stems from a simple yet important conviction—patients deserve a clear, accurate, and user-friendly online experience from healthcare providers. Far too often, we see even the most capable organisations struggling to make their websites truly intuitive and informative for people seeking care.

What is the Healthcare Digital Index?

Our Healthcare Power Rankings are a new initiative designed to evaluate and compare private healthcare providers in the UK based on the quality of their digital presence. We examine everything from their website’s user experience and accessibility to how well they handle medical accuracy and content updates. By highlighting the best performers and identifying areas for improvement, we aim to raise standards across the industry, ultimately making it easier for patients to find reliable information and receive the care they need.

Why we created them?

A few months ago, we embarked on a passion project to identify and celebrate those providers who excel in creating seamless online patient experiences. At the same time, we wanted to encourage those who aren’t quite there yet to raise their game.

We know first hand how frustrating it can be when searching for healthcare information at your time of need to be met with confusing navigation, inconsistent information, and intrusive pop-ups. In a moment when you’re already feeling vulnerable, a disjointed digital journey can make you lose trust—or give up altogether. We strongly believe it shouldn’t be that way, so we decided to do something about it.

Who’s included?

We began by focusing on the top 20 private healthcare providers in the UK—organisations large enough to have substantial online operations and marketing budgets. Over time, we plan to include more providers and even extend the rankings to other verticals such as medical device companies and pharmaceutical brands. Our ultimate goal is to shine a light on best practices throughout the broader healthcare ecosystem.

What we assessed

We set out to measure each organisation against four main criteria. By assessing how providers perform across these dimensions, we get a comprehensive picture of their digital presence. We have measured:

1. Search presence

• Keyword visibility: Are they targeting the terms real patients actually use?
• Organic traffic: Does Google recognise them as a reliable source?
• Domain authority: Is there a robust link profile suggesting credibility?

2. Content quality & clinical accuracy

• Citations & references: Does the site link to reputable sources like NICE or the NHS?
• Expert validation: Are pages signed off by healthcare professionals?
• Regular updates: Medical information evolves; we check if sites are keeping pace.

3. Readability & accessibility

• Reading level: Is the content jargon-heavy, or does it feel approachable?
• Core web vitals: How quickly do pages load, and how stable is the layout?
• Accessibility standards: Are elements such as headings, alt text, and colour contrast handled properly?

4. User Experience (UX)

• Navigation & site structure: Do users know exactly where to click next?
• Design clarity: Is it visually cluttered, or are pages streamlined and easy to digest?
• Mobile responsiveness: Are smartphone users well catered for?

How we measured it all

Collecting data on a handful of pages is easy, but we wanted to go deeper. We’ve pulled in hundreds of data points for each provider, drawing on both industry-standard SEO tools and custom software we developed in-house.

A key innovation for us was building a custom GPT-based system to assess large volumes of clinical content. We fed it criteria for what “good” clinical information should look like—citing evidence-based research, matching current guidelines, providing disclaimers—and programmed it to analyse each site’s treatment and condition pages at scale. Afterwards, we rolled up these scores to give an overall picture of medical accuracy.

Why these rankings matter

Raising standards By shining a light on best practices, we hope to encourage more providers to prioritise user-focused design and accurate medical information.

Empowering patients When someone needs help, a poorly organised website can feel like a dead end. We believe better digital experiences lead to better patient outcomes in the long run.

Friendly competition We’re making these rankings public so everyone can see where they stand. We think a little rivalry can motivate improvement and, ultimately, benefit the entire sector.

What’s next?

We’re not stopping here. Our plan is to keep these rankings live, updating them regularly so we can track each organisation’s progress over time. We’ll also be adding new providers and possibly handing out awards for outstanding digital engagement.

Get in touch

At Medico, our mission is to help healthcare providers deliver a top-notch digital experience that genuinely supports patients. If you have any questions about the Healthcare Digtial Index — or you’re ready to transform your online presence — drop us a message. We’re here to help you elevate your digital footprint and make a positive impact on patient care.