The Best of the Best on the Web

The submissions have been tallied and the judging is complete for the biannual ChiroMaster Award contest, which honors the best individual chiropractic sites on the Web. Four sites have been selected as the best of the best, worthy of the ChiroMaster distinction.

Dynamic Chiropractic created the ChiroMaster competition in 1998 to recognize doctors of chiropractic who maintain well-organized, comprehensive, patient-friendly practice Web sites. The overall goal of the contest is to help motivate DCs to design sites that are informative, comprehensive, aesthetically pleasing and consumer-friendly, all of which helps spread the chiropractic message. All sites were reviewed by our official Web site committee, which considered the chiropractic and technical value of each site, including, but not limited to the following: layout, ease of navigation, practice information, patient information, and overall effectiveness in "sharing the chiropractic story" with site visitors.

Eligible Web sites were limited to those designed and maintained by individual doctors of chiropractic, multiple doctor practices or chiropractic students. Sites maintained by chiropractic suppliers or those overtly promoting seminars or products for sale, were not eligible for the ChiroMaster contest.

So, without further ado, here are the winners of this year's ChiroMaster Award contest!

ProActive Chiropractic
([url=http://www.proactivechiropracticcare.com]http://www.proactivechiropracticcare.com[/url])

This site has a clean, attractive home page that doesn't weigh visitors down with excessive images, color or other "bells and whistles" that are tempting to include on a site, but can ultimately be distracting. Rollover buttons at the top of the page give potential patients easy access to practice information; visitors who plan on scheduling an appointment for a first visit, can download a "Patient Forms Packet," fill it out at home and bring it to their initial consultation. Also included on the site is a "Health Information" section that emphasizes the importance of chiropractic adjustments, proper nutrition, regular exercise, stress reduction and other healthy behaviors/activities.

Munderloh Chiropractic
([url=http://www.flagchiro.com]http://www.flagchiro.com[/url])

The Web site for Munderloh Chiropractic, the practice site of Dr. Timothy Munderloh, has much of the simple technical elegance of www.proactivechiropracticcare.com, making it an appealing site for visitors. It makes nice use of white space and has crisp design elements - nothing over the top or distracting to the eye. A unique feature of this site is its online shopping mechanism, which lets patients purchase a variety of products, including supplements, spine-friendly pillows and mattresses, and pain-relieving gels/roll-ons. The site also lists the insurance providers Munderloh Chiropractic accepts, including links to their respective Web sites.

Ross Health and Wellness
([url=http://www.drstevenross.com]http://www.drstevenross.com[/url])

This site has all the elements that make a site worthy of the ChiroMaster Award: comprehensive chiropractic and practice information, including information about Dr. Ross, location, office hours, testimonials, and upcoming seminars and other events. But what makes the site particularly patient-friendly is its resources section. Patients can read wellness newsletters, access other health links, review a glossary of commonly used chiropractic words and phrases, and review frequently asked questions (and answers). The crown jewel of this site is the "Interactive Spine," which allows visitors to click on various spinal segments and learn about vertebrae, nerve impulses, and anatomical locations/organs that can be affected by spinal dysfunction at specific vertebral levels.

Rochester Chiropractic Group
([url=http://www.rochesterchiropractic.com]http://www.rochesterchiropractic.com[/url])

One of the unique features of this site is its emphasis on fostering interdisciplinary cooperation. A button titled "For the Medical Practitioner" gives patients the opportunity to educate their primary care physician on chiropractic treatment and the services chiropractors provide. Based on which boxes the patient checks, a DC from Rochester Chiropractic Group will send the patient's MD literature explaining the benefits of chiropractic care; provide the information directly to the patient, so he or she can pass it on to their primary care physician; and/or contact the doctor directly to set up an interview. Among the site's other notable features are links to chiropractic resources, general practice information, and a list of conditions the group's DCs manage effectively with chiropractic care.

And there you have it: the latest winners of the ChiroMaster Award. Thanks to everyone who submitted sites for consideration, and congratulations to those who took home top honors this year. DC will begin accepting submissions for the next ChiroMaster Award contest in the fall of 2008. Look for an announcement in a future issue of this publication.