Common Patient Education Errors (and How to Fix Them with Effective Healthcare Content)
In the previous blog post I identified what patient education is and why it is such a great options for healthcare providers seeking better results in their patients health and to expand their marketing reach.
Before I discuss how to write content, and the various channels you can use to get it to your patients, I want to talk about the difficulties it poses for healthcare providers, as well as how easy it is to mess up.
The Problems with Most Patient Education
Like I said, as a healthcare provider the idea of "patient education" is not new to you. But there is a reason so many clinitians, physicians, and direct care providers to not have a multi-dimensional, patient edication content strategy.
Long story short... because its A LOT of work:
If you just hand patients a piece of paper after their appointment, technically you are engaging in patient education, but only in a superficial, "bare-minimum" way. Even if you give them significant time face to face, it still isn't enough to result in substantive change. And there are several reasons for this:
A combination of oral and physical eduction materials is often incomplete and, as a result, rarely sufficient. This causes patients to disregard their importance and throw them away or let them pile up on a desk.
Whatever you give them, if it isn't followed up, it will probably be forgotten. Studies have found that 40-80% of medical information that is provided by healthcare practitioners is forgotten by patients immediately.
Most printed material is generic, intended to meet the needs of the most people in the waiting room,. However, no one views themselves as "most people"; for example, in my brain, I am not a 33 year old copywriter, I am "Riley"... thats different! the number of patients that want their personal needs to be taken into account rather than following “one size fits all” materials is increasing.
You could extend the face to face time, but that is your most scarce resource. And the cost of strategizing, researching, designing, writing, and printing physical materials is expensive. And when new research comes out, any leftover copies you have are outdated at best and misleading at worse.
Educating your patients is more than just handing them a piece of paper, but its also more than just providing information…
Don’t Want to Write? I Can Take That Job Off Your Hands
Honest Mistakes Healthcare Providers Make Bettering Their Patient Education
1. Assuming Initial Trust
(this one is a little tricky, so bear with me...)
Many doctors and physicians believe that they should be trusted by their patients. Which makes sense if you’ve taken the Hippocratic Oath and devoted your life to medicine. But what is surprising is how many doctors and physicians are shocked or offended by distrust, skepticism, or second-guessing by the patient.
These healthcare providers might assume that their degrees reveal an expertise that is beyond reproach. Or maybe, because a person has chosen to book an appointment and see them, the health care provider assumed that the patient must also already trust them.
But these perspectives forget two things:
Especially if you are a doctor outside or standard American health care, the reason people are going to you is because some doctor(s) in the past disappointed, misled, or failed them. And those doctors might have had just as many degrees on their walls as you do.
Regardless of your expertise and credibility, from the perspective of your patients, you still need to earn the right to be heard. If you immediately begin patient education before you have earned their trust, then your direction and pleas will likely fall on deaf ears.
Fortunately, unlike in other professions, earning this trust is very easy. The issues that bring them into your office are serious and painful to warrant their free time and wallet; they want to get better, which means they want to trust you. All you have to do is listen, believe (within reason), and empathize. Once they feel heard, they will trust that your recommendations and education are specifically for THEM.
2. Not Understanding Cultural Differences
If someone walks into your office, and you accept them as your patient, then you need to be able to educate them regardless of their cultural background. It doesn't matter if you are great with one demographic…a 10/10 with patient education 30% of the time… but a 2/10 70% for all other demographics. That simply isn't going to cut it.
In the next post I’ll cover how adults learn differently than children. But while most adults learn generally the same way, there are cultural variations you have to consider. Some cultures value certain medical theories over others and might have religious convictions preventing them from following certain suggestions. Others may have a high concern for elder authority, and as a result would view it as disrespectful to ask ANY follow up questions, even if they are very confused. And finally there is a basic language barrier, which might render a lot of your patient education materials obsolete.
3. Overwhelming Patients with Information
On the one hand this might feel unfair; the whole point of patient education is to increase the persons self efficacy and medical literacy, and the only way to do that is to give them everything they need to know!
And while that is true, that doesn't mean you need to give them EVERYTHING at once. You want to give them the necessary information they need to make the immediate decision and move onto the next step. It is similar to a sales funnel, but more like an information funnel. DPC marketing expert Stephani McGirr illustrated the idea really well:
"If you think about a dating relationship, you’ve got to go on the first date, right? The goal is to get that second date and continue to build the relationship, eventually leading to what I would call a marriage proposal. But many people jump in too quickly, trying to propose on the first date. We need to create the right content and provide the next step for someone to take that next step with you, in a business relationship or, in this case, a medical relationship" (source).
Don't open the firehose: present info, let the patients digest the content, process their feelings, and ask questions. Patient education is not instantaneous... let it take time.
4. Not Acknowledging the Barriers
The patient has to count the costs if they are going to succeed... otherwise they will be surprised when they encounter difficulties and give up.
If the patient knows it will be difficult but you do not acknowledge it... then they won't take you or your plans for them seriously.
If the patient views all the rewards as distant and the costs as immediate... then the challenges will seem insurmountable and they will never even attempt to overcome them.
Getting better is not fun and games. If you do not address the obstacles in their way, those obstacles are sure to trip them up in their health journey.
5. Stopping with Onboarding
This is BY FAR the biggest mistake healthcare providers make when it comes to patient education. They spend all the effort educating to the patient into a paying customer, stick with them through treatment, but as soon as the patient is ready to part ways, they just pat them on the back and wave good bye.
No no no NO! If you have a system of patient education during their off boarding, one of three things is more than likely to happen:
They will be more likely to stay healthy
They will choose another one of your health services
They will tell others about your clinic/office/services, and THEY will become a patient as well.
This isn't sleezy car salesman manipulation... you can get these results by honestly educating and asking off boarding patients as they transition out. And if you served them well as a healthcare provider, they will be more than receptive.
6. Never Updating or Improving Content
Once you put it the hard work of writing a blog post or making a video, it is so tempting to leave it as is… indefinitely. But while “evergreen content” and “automation” can relieve you of many marketing worries, these “set it and forget it” approaches are more hopeful myth more than a proven tactic. And it comes with three huge downsides:
You May Need to Make Edits for it to Rank: Sometimes you can do everything right and a piece of content will STILL not rank. After three months or so you have to revisit the content and make sure it is performing. If not, time to make some tweaks and edits.
Its Not Up to Date: Advancements in healthcare are taking place every single day. Within a year what was once cutting edge could be considered misleading. To truly educate your patients you need to return to content every so often and make sure your claims remain accurate.
SEO likes New Content: If you are focusing on healthcare SEO practices, your great content will start to rank after 3 months or so. But then a few months after that, it risks getting beat out by better content or drop in rankings due to out of date information.
As a medical copywriter, I always point out that updating content ensures accuracy and relevance, which is vital for all providers. Just like a doctor adjusts treatment plans for better patient outcomes, updating educational materials enhances health literacy. It's like fine-tuning a diagnosis for precision.
