Michael Epps Utley {kind=image/jpg}
We get it: Doctors and other medical professionals make many people anxious.
After working with more than 100 medical professionals, we know that offering valuable, meaningful content to prospective patients before they book and attend an appointment can build trust.
Let’s explore how to leverage content to put people at ease and make your healthcare practice more appealing to prospective patients.
Build Comfort With the Experience
Many people have little experience with walking into different types of medical practices, especially specialized ones. Develop checklists or experiential videos of what it is like to interact with your practice. You never know what concerns people may have. Include information about everything from how to make an appointment, where to park, what your waiting area is like, the check-in process, follow-up appointments, payments, and more. Some older patients may prefer this information in list form. Younger ones may like a more experiential video. Just build out a helpful library of “What It’s Like” content so prospective patients feel comfortable partnering with you.
Preview the Care Environment
Go beyond the basics and show patients the spaces where treatments take place. It’s one thing to get them in the door and into the waiting room. It is another to make them feel confident about moving into other spaces for surgeries, examinations, therapy, or other treatments. Images and videos can help people feel comfortable about entering spaces they have never been in.
Explain Technology and Techniques
Whether it’s MRIs, basic X-rays, blood tests, or more complex procedures or medical technologies, people won’t feel confident about undertaking necessary treatment if they don’t understand it. Develop online content, fliers, and explainer or demo videos that help patients understand what they will experience. The written word or infographics are often best for step-by-step processes, while videos can help people feel more confident about experiences like having an MRI. Take things to the next level and offer 360-degree interactive tours similar to those offered by realtors.
Explain the Recovery Journey
Few medical procedures are simple in-and-out-of-office experiences. Most require a recovery period and multiple office visits. It isn’t enough to simply explain this to patients. Many will feel more confident with a takeaway. Based on our experience, checklists and process or sequential infographics are typically effective for covering this information.
Discuss Emotional Concerns
Medicine isn’t just about experiences and procedures. It is also about emotions. People feel things about their health. It’s a good idea to develop a series of interview videos featuring members of your team that demonstrate they “get” how people feel about what they do and explain how they can feel more confident and move forward with becoming a patient and seeking treatment.
Address Common Worries
Worries are a potent form of emotion and a particular barrier to seeking treatment. Create content that specifically addresses anxieties experienced across all aspects of your patient experience. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are often a good way to help people seek information about what they are worried about. Feed them into an interactive chatbot for ease of use.
Go Beyond the Patient
Patients have families and caregivers with their own needs and concerns. Extend your content library to include materials for them, whether instructional on how to support the patient or on coping with their emotions. These extras will help caregivers and loved ones feel more confident, which in turn will help the patient feel more comfortable.
Explain Your Unique Value Proposition
Many healthcare practices look, act, and sound alike. There’s good reason for this (expectations, regulations, best practices, etc.), but it’s good to stand out (for the right reasons). Leverage content on your website to explain what makes you unique. Are you more compassionate than other similar practices nearby? Do you specialize in a particular type of service? Perhaps you focus on a specific type of patient, like children or seniors. Maybe you’re more tech-forward, or a bit old-school. Whatever your brand, make it clear on your website so prospective patients will understand why you are right for them. It will also help search engines better connect your practice to people who may need your healthcare services.
Introduce the People Offering Care
Many people are afraid of interacting with new people, especially when it comes to something as intimate as healthcare. Whether it’s the receptionist greeting them or the doctor treating them, it’s the not knowing that often prevents people from getting care. Give prospective patients an opportunity to virtually meet your team so they feel confident moving forward with them; this might be in the form of images on your website with some introductory text, or an interview video.
Earn Patient Testimonials
The best way to get prospective patients to work with you is to introduce them to patients who have achieved success with your practice. You can do this by gathering patient testimonials. Videos offer a great way to make these more personal and meaningful, but text-based reviews are valuable, too. Allow patients to tell stories that reflect the unique value your practice delivered to them. Let them say things in their own words. Just make sure you stay compliant with all applicable regulations to respect their rights and privacy.
Build an Integrated Content Library
Your initial content will likely be one-off to serve specific purposes (who you are, what you do, how to get in touch, and so on). It’s smart to eventually go above and beyond this to create a more integrated library that hangs together. For instance, whenever you or your reps receive a question about your practice, take note and add it to a living FAQ page—if one person had a question, there’s a good chance others will have it, too. It’s also smart to produce pages on every practice area, procedure, and specialty you offer, getting as specific as possible (within the bounds of healthcare marketing regulations). Prospective patients want to know if you offer the care they need. The more specific you get, the easier it will be for them to find you when searching online.
Spread the Word Through Social Media
You don’t have to wait for people to come to your website to check out your patient content. Use social media to share it more broadly. Leveraging organic and paid social media to distribute your content gives it a double purpose: to build trust with people already interested in your practice, and to generate interest among those who could need what you do.
How to Use Content to Build Patient Trust: The Final Word
You are a busy medical practitioner, not a content developer. While content should be a critical component of promoting your business, it can be challenging and time-consuming to develop. That’s why many medical professionals turn to an expert who has helped countless others create websites, blog posts, videos, and more that build patient trust. Click here to find out how you can get the same support.
