Medical Center Web site offers new look, directions
Visitors to Vanderbilt University Medical Center have a new tool to help them find where they are going, thanks to the revised VUMC Web site launched this week.
MapQuest, an Internet atlas software program, has been added to the new site and will allow visitors to enter their starting address and then select the specific VUMC clinic/building to retrieve directions. Detailed directions are also available for the specific parking garages at VUMC.
Mirroring the VUMC ad campaign launched by Lewis Communications, the new site offers a new look and various content changes. Gone is the often-complained-about “bumblebee” yellow color on the homepage. Images used by Lewis Communications in the campaign are rotated on the homepage to provide a fresh look each time the site is visited.
“The new site is more appealing to the eye and much more functional for visitors,” said Terry Smith, director of VUMC’s Web Communications. “The addition of MapQuest is invaluable to people who are often confused about how to find a specific location at the medical center.”
Phase II of the MapQuest project will begin next year and will offer walking directions from the parking facilities to specific clinics and destinations at the medical center. Smith’s team is mapping the medical center reception areas on the homepage to allow people the capability of door-to-door directions.
“This feature will further help people who feel intimidated by coming to Vanderbilt,” Smith said. “This will be a great addition to patient and visitor satisfaction.”
Another future plan for the medical center homepage is the creation of a physician-disease database that links individual doctors to specific diseases. Site visitors will be able to type in a disease name and pull up a list of doctors who specialize in that particular illness.
For questions regarding the VUMC Web site, contact the Web Communications department at 343-1659.