Acquiring new health practices brings tremendous growth opportunities, but also creates significant operational challenges when it comes to digital integration. How do you effectively bring new practices into your ecosystem while also maintaining brand consistency and minimizing disruption?
Below, we outline GLIDE Health’s approach to website migration for health practice acquisitions, addressing both full rebranding and co-branded integration paths.
Integration Strategy Options
Before beginning any website migration, it’s essential to determine your integration approach:
Option 1: Full Immediate Rebranding
- New practice immediately adopts parent organization branding.
- The location’s original website is migrated to your hosting environment.
- Complete integration with your systems from day one while conforming to your distinct visual identity.
Option 2: Phased Co-Branding Approach
- Establish an initial co-branding period for a new practice to suit your schedule.
- Implement a gradual transition to full integration of your organization’s branding.
- Maintain the legacy website for new practice during transition before eventual sunset and integration.
Phase 1: Initial Discovery & Planning
The below steps are key elements of both integration strategies:
Technical Discovery
- Assess your existing hosting environment and DNS management.
- Identify custom themes, plugins, and proprietary elements needed to support website performance.
- Document all third-party integrations (such as APIs, CRMs, payment platforms, and maps).
- Verify your organization owns access to analytics platforms and other systems.
- Identify potential “technical debt” issues that need to be resolved, such as unnecessary plugins, out of date security patches, or legacy users.
Digital Asset Inventory
- Complete inventory of all practice locations and providers.
- Document current website structure and high-value legacy content.
- Identify key landing pages and forms requiring preservation or updating.
- Evaluate technical state of existing website.
Initial Brand Updates
- Create co-branded or fully rebranded logos as appropriate.
- Update website header with new branding elements.
- Add an announcement banner linking to transition information.
Parent Website Updates
- Add practice locations and providers to your organization’s main website.
- Update location maps and provider directories.
- Add practice to “Our Locations” or similar pages.
- Configure contact and appointment request forms to include new practice.
Health Organization-Specific Compliance Support
- Verify HIPAA compliance for all personal information and ensure form submissions are not being stored on the site.
- Secure PCI/DSS compliance for all payment processing.
- Conduct accessibility audit with remediation plan for all WCAG compliance improvements.
- Consider a full security audit to ensure headers, access logs, and other website details are locked down.
Phase 2: Migration Execution
For Full Rebranding Approach:
Website Migration Preparation
- Determine the most appropriate hosting solution. GLIDE Health is a WP Engine partner and can recommend a dedicated server scalable to your needs. However, for some organizations, starting on a smaller, managed service plan can be more appropriate to grow into. We can help figure out what’s right for you.
- Develop a migration timeline with minimal disruption.
- Create a comprehensive pre-migration checklist for all stakeholders. Request all tickets be reviewed and closed out if possible.
- Establish a fallback plan in case of unexpected issues during migration.
Migration Execution
- Freeze content on the original website and notify stakeholders.
- Create a new WordPress installation in a secure hosting environment.
- Migrate website content using automated tools when possible.
- Update plugins and remove unnecessary themes.
- Implement comprehensive search/replace for domain references.
- Configure DNS records to support a seamless transition.
- Implement SSL certificates and secure redirects.
Post-Migration Quality Assurance
- Conduct a comprehensive pre-launch QA audit before DNS changes.
- Verify all redirects from old URLs resolve to new URLs.
- Complete broken link audit and resolve any issues.
- Test all forms and patient interaction points on the website.
- Apply and verify analytics tracking functions properly..
- Perform security checks to ensure HIPAA compliance.
- Obtain your approval to launch the new, rebranded website.
- Notify all stakeholders once we see DNS resolution and SSL resolution.
For Phased Co-Branding Approach:
Interim Marketing Support (Months 2-3)
- Create branded landing pages to support digital marketing campaigns. (Consider if the page should be NO INDEX to exclude from search if there is duplicate content.)
- Implement short-term PPC under the same account with a new campaign.
- Configure call tracking and analytics setup.
- Manage and maintain original website with co-branding elements.
Preparation for Eventual Transition (Months 3-6)
- Complete SEO assessment of original site. If a larger new practice has higher ranking, establish a redirect and content transfer plan to prevent loss of authority.
- Create content preservation and migration strategy.
- Develop a communication plan for patients regarding transition.
Phase 3: Post-Migration Support & Optimization
For Full Rebranding Approach:
- Undergo a 30-day intensive support period with priority issue resolution.
- Train staff on new website management.
- Ongoing maintenance and support for the new website.
For Phased Co-Branding Approach:
- Website sunset and redirect implementation.
- Full content integration into your parent website.
- Monitor traffic to ensure redirects are functioning as they should.
- Decommission original hosting accounts.
Continuous Improvement Options
After we complete a successful migration, GLIDE Health offers flexible support packages to optimize your website and ensure it continues to function at its best:
- Basic Maintenance: Security updates, backup management, uptime monitoring.
- Technical Debt Reduction: Plugin optimization, user management, performance improvements.
- Full-Service Management: Content updates, form management, analytics reporting.
- Digital Marketing Enhancement: PPC account management, SEO improvements.
- Growth Package: Feature additions, patient portal integration, conversion rate optimization.
The GLIDE Health Difference
We believe your organization should maintain ownership of all your vital digital assets. Unlike other agencies, we ensure:
- You own your domain registrations and DNS.
- You control your hosting environment.
- You maintain ownership of analytics accounts.
- You have full access to all custom code and themes.
Why Choose GLIDE Health for Onboarding Your Next Practice?
- Specialized Experience: Deep understanding of your digital needs, including data privacy, HIPAA compliance, and other best practices for the health sector.
- Multi-Location Expertise: Proven experience managing digital ecosystems for organizations with multiple locations.
- Technical Expertise: SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and rigorous security protocols for payment systems.
- Proven Process: A documented, step-by-step migration methodology refined through years of migrations for multi-location health organizations like yours.
- Integration Focus: We’re dedicated to creating seamless website migrations that deliver brand consistency while preserving patient experience.
- Scalable Solutions: We set up and manage systems designed to accommodate continued growth through future acquisitions
Ready to simplify your practice acquisition digital integration? Contact GLIDE Health today for a personalized consultation.
Glide Support
Vice President
