Recommended Changes
for “Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study” Web Site
A “To-Do” List for the Web
Site
External Changes:
- Benefits Home PageHomH
- Graphics
at the top of the Benefits Home page do not match those used on other
pages in the IDOP web space.
These should be reworked to match the other pages in the
space. The Adobe Acrobat download
icon is similarly misshapen.
- Health Benefits Page
- Add
new graphics to the Health Benefits page to more effectively illustrate
the questions being answered on the page. Also, place the text and graphics on the Health Benefits
page into a table to display them in a more attractive manner.
- Frequently
Asked Questions page about the different kinds of insurance (Fee-for
service v. managed care) should be included on main Health Benefits
page. These questions are
effectively answered on the CAHPS page and could be copied to a page in
the Health Benefits area.
- Make
the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAPHS) site’s link more
accessible to users coming from the Iowa Department of Personnel (IDOP)
web site. The link for the CAHPS
page is poorly placed and fails to attract the attention of people
viewing the site.
Internal Changes
to CAPHS site:
- All
Pages
- Add
some kind of background to the page
- Remove
links from the bottom part of pages on the CAPHS web site. Replace them with a navigation bar
that is consistently present on each page of the site.
- Use
a more professional looking font, avoiding rounded, mono-spaced fonts.
- Main Page
- Remove
INSIDE graphic from top of main page.
Meaning and function of this graphic are not clear to the user.
- Clean
up contact information at the bottom of the main page. Probably work toward moving it onto
its own page.
- How To Use This Report
- Indent
text under headings to more effectively offset this information from the
headings.
- Transition
from the use of graphics for headers to the use of text. This consumes less bandwidth and disk
space.
- Background on
Types of Plans and How They Work
- Modify
table to take up a larger portion of the browser window. Assure that the width of the table is
set as a percentage of total screen width, rather than a specific
quantity of pixels. This approach
balances functionality with compatibility. Perhaps reduce the font size to make better use of screen
space.
- Summary of Health
Plan Ratings
- Again,
design the table to take a specified percentage of screen space. Reduce font size.
- Are
“those who use a lot of healthcare” included in the larger group of
employees?
- Reorder
the “diamond key” at the top to match the one used on the How to Use This
Report page.
- Remove
link list from bottom of screen and replace with menu.
- Rating of Health Plan
Quality and Doctors
- The
fonts need to be changed and reduced in size to match the changes being
made on the other pages of the site.
- Add
an anchor based navigation menu at the top of the page to allow people to
directly access the information they are most interested in on each page.
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- Getting the Care You
Need When You Need It
- Add
an anchor based navigation menu at the top of the page to allow people to
directly access the information they are most interested in on each page.
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- Doctors and Medical
Care
- Add
an anchor based navigation menu at the top of the page to allow people to
directly access the information they are most interested in on each page.
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- The Health Plan
- Add
an anchor based navigation menu at the top of the page to allow people to
directly access the information they are most interested in on each page.
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- Medical Office Staff
- Add
an anchor based navigation menu at the top of the page to allow people to
directly access the information they are most interested in on each page.
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- Referral to a
Specialist
- Add
an anchor based navigation menu at the top of the page to allow people to
directly access the information they are most interested in on each page.
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- This
section could probably be shifted to the Doctors and Medical Care
section, since there is only one graph
- How the Survey Was
Done
- Change
list of links at the bottom of the page to a menu.
- Improve
page cosmetics to make the page more attractive and intuitive.
- Tell Us What You Think
- On
survey page (Tell Us What You Think) the questions should be numbered and
the answer choices indented to make things more intuitive.
- Put
links to this page on the individual information pages. Asking for their input immediately
after they find the information they are looking for is probably a more
effective approach than asking for input on the initial page.
- IDOP Web Page
- Link
title: Health Plan Ratings for State Employees
- Description
Change: Health plan ratings and information to
assist state employees in evaluating their health plan options. This information is from the Consumer
Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAPHS).
Daniel C. Davis
MHA Candidate—Health Management and Policy
Student Assistant, Public Policy Center
The University of Iowa
Daytime Phone: 936-5827
E-mail: dcdavis@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu