I had the most interesting conversation yesterday about social media and the reason it grew so quickly initially was because it was language based. People can write or tell a story much easier than they can draw one. As technology has improved though, the social media platforms became more visual mediums- photos and videos. People now tell their story through their own lens and in their own words. Thank you @amara_rose for the mindbender. The evolution of patient education needs to take a similar arc. From the beginning of time, the health care provider has been lecturing the patient on how to live healthier. Sometimes they use charts and graphs. And other times they use clinical vide
If you work in the public speaking arena, one of the first pointers is that a person needs to be hear a message 3-5 times to remember it and 7-10 times before they act on it. That is one of the reasons that advertisements use similar themes, colors, and verbiage across their platforms- a TV commercial, billboard and banner ad all have the same look and feel. The hope is that a potential client will see the imagery in the store and make a purchase. The same tactic needs to be used for patient education. Consistent messages need to be driven home to a patient dozens of times, because they are not trying a new brand of gum, but rather breaking a lifelong habit like smoking, eating sugar, liv
Many people in the medical profession believe in the if you open an office, people will come. That may be the case in underserved areas where any healthcare is a premium. But in competitive markets, that is not the case. You need to give patients specific reasons on why to allow you to treat them including what you do, how you do it, and why the patient should care. Traditional advertising is a great way to start this. You should invest in a strong website that not only gets you placed in top searches, but also is also a strong information resource on your practice. Not a generic, cookie cutter site that does not explain what makes you different. You also need some print advertising, m
We all get busy and absorbed by our everyday tasks. This is especially true for medical practices that focus on a specialty like cardiology or oncology. You have such a specific job that sometimes you start to view your patients in a vacuum. You ask how can we fix their immediate issue and you start to ignore the other factors that could help their overall health. But you need to remember that your goal is making that patient's overall health better. You need to cure their current disease but also work with them to boost their immune system, get them to live and eat cleaner, and prevent other issues from popping up. This is an exhaustive task in which you need to work with your colleagu
