Importance of Ethical Writing in Healthcare Content
Understanding the Basics of Marketing Ethics
Historically, "ethics" and "marketing" are not common bedfellows. There is a reason the "sleazy used car salesman" is such a familiar cliche to everyday Americans.
The goals of marketing are A) increasing brand awareness and B) increaseing sales. But that doesn't mean that is all marekting is. Yet, when marketers approach those two goals with an "by any means necessary" or "at whatever cost" mentality, marketing ethics quickly go from essential... to good... to optional... to annoying... even to threatening.
And sure, there are some very unethical marketing campaigns that have soared market share, dominated industries, and made people billionaires. No one is saying unethical marketing doesn't sometimes achieve wild success!
But the keyword there is "SOMETIMES"... metaphysical, political, utilitarian, and religious considerations aside (which are SUBSTANTIAL... I just don't want to sound preachy at the moment), unethical marketing advertising and content writing is NOT guarnateed success. It can be downright dangerous...
Unethical Marketing is Dangerous to CUSTOMERS
This is obvious. Customers buy services and goods when they think the service or good will benefit them. They think it will make them happier, healthier, richer, etc. Or they buy something to fix a specific problem that NEEDS fixing.
Unethical marketing hurts them when the product/service being marketed not only fails to deliver any of those things, but also when it does the opposite; when it makes them more miserable, more sick, and more poor... or fails to fix something essential and everything else that depended on that service/product grinds to a half. And worse case scenario, not only would these things make their life worse, but they also create dependece in the customer.
Unethical Marketing is Dangerous to BUSINESSES
In the short term, unethical marketing is only dangerous to businesses if it is poorly disguised; if it is so obviously "full of sh*t" that every potential customer can detect it in a heartbeat. But if the unethical marketer is competent, then the business dangers are all delayed to the medium to long term:
It could be that the unethical marketing brings short term gains that create a false sense of scurity, compelling leadership to expand even though expected future funds will never materialize.
Or it could devastate company culture, as employees realize that they are actually harming people they intend to help.
Or it could result in lawsuits that bankrupt a company that was full of promise.
But regardless of whether any of those negative outcomes come to pass, eventually the brand will be ruined by failed promises and horrible customer experience and will have to invest enormous amounts of time and energy to repair the damage.
Examples of Unethical Marketing
Making false or unproven claims about product's benefits (ex: L'Oreal skin care)
Exaggerating the extent of your services ("puffery" ex: Activia yogurt)
Lying to customers about...
Side effects (ex: Purdue Pharma and the opiod crisis)
Deliverables (ex: most marketing agencies)
Risks: (ex: Airborne cold medicine)
Motivating customers by terrifying them ("fear based marketing")
Paying off government inspectors for a positive review (ex: "Big sugar's" war on butter)
Advertising adult products to children (ex: "camel joe")
Partnering or supporting something you actually don't know anything about (ex: "super bowl crypto commercial)
Advertising in a way that is dangerous (ex: billboards)
Failing to disclose a products addictive qualities (ex: online sports gambling)
Failing to protect customers when you have data that supports protection (ex: social media and youth).
Unfairly disparaging good competition to ruin their reputation (ex: political ads)
Making false promises about ability to deliver (ex: this watch company that has yet to contact me a year later)
Some Guidelines for Ethical Marketing
Ok... so we have covered how marketing can be icky and wicked... so what ethical considerations should all businesses share?
Obey the Law: Obviously. No lying or distorting of the facts. No illegal sharing of customer information.
Don't Manipulate: Repect your customers as human beings. Seek their good, not their harm.
Tell the Truth: I repeat... DO NOT LIE. Be honest on what your product or service does. If that's not good enough to sell, then make a better product/service!
Share as Much as You Can: The more you tell the customer, the more they are empowered and educated to make their own decision. It places responsibility in their hands.
Be Specific: This is SUPER important for branding in particular. If you are promising a particular feeling or style of living to people, then you need to be specific on what kind of people it would work for.
Don't Fear Monger: You need to help people avoid pain or bad outcomes, but that doesn't mean telling them the sky is falling down. There is a difference between a combat medic pointing at a wound and sticking their finger in it.
Be Careful with Persuasion: Persusion methods can be very, VERY powerful. They should not be thrown around willy-nilly for every single product or service. Learn from Spiderman's Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility".
You'll notice that most of these principles are the same things you would have heard a principle or motivational speaker say at Jr. High assemblies. That's because marketing is morally neutral; if you are a reasonably good person, you should have no problem marketing your product or services!
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The Unique Ethical Considerations in Healthcare Marketing
However, when it comes to healthcare marketing... specifically content marketing... there are additional considerations to keep in mind. That's because the social ramifications of false, misleading, abusive marketing advertising and content are ENORMOUS. And while I could go into a long argument as to why it is special, perhaps a few examples will get to the point:
"Snake Oil Salesmen" claiming to have an elixer that cured just about every ailment were REAL... and once people found out about that, they weren't very happy.
Coca Cola DID put cocaine in their softdrinks, intially marketing it as a medicine
Purdue Pharma killed hundreds of thousands of people claiming their pain killer was non-addictive
Bottom line: you're not selling quick-fix solutionsl we're providing information that can really affect lives. We are not just selling products; we are handling people's health and well-being... you are "doing no harm".
Compliance, Confidentiality, and Patient Privacy
In a previous post we discussed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPPA") and its regulations surrounding medical writing. Long story short: protecting patient privacy is not a suggestion; it is the law. Protecting sensitive medical information is crucial and compliance is mandatory. There are no nuances or exceptions to this rule.
Which means that you need explicit patient consent when using any sort of patient information for healthcare content writing or advertising. You need to tell your patients/clients A) what you plan to be using, B) where they will be used, and C) how long it will be used. No sneaky fine print or hidden clauses – just clear, concise language that everyone can understand... 100% transparency.
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Key Principles of Ethical Decision Making in Healthcare Marketing
Let's discuss the ethical implications in healthcare marketing. Just like a strong building needs a solid foundation, ethical marketing is built on important principles. And in healthcare, they are the four principles of bioethics, which form the framework of all ethican decisions. :
Autonomy - this means respecting patients' right to choose for themselves.
Beneficence - we should always act in patients' best interests.
Non-maleficence - we must ensure that our marketing does not cause any harm.
Justice - we need to guarantee fairness in our marketing efforts.
Should any of these principles be violated in your medical practice or in your medical content marketing, then you are most likely doing something unethical. Regarding autonomy there are two considerations: A) minors cannot make decisions apart from parental consent, and B) autonomy does not abdicate healthcare providers from responsibility.
When creating healthcare content, there are few additional ethical issues anyone in the field of medical writing needs to keep in mind:
A) Accurate Health Information
As I have discussed in my patient edication blog posts (here and here), patients can only make informed choices and consent to care if they are ACCURATELY informed. Which necessitates having accurate and reliable health information. Patients need true, real, peer-reviewed-and-approved information to make good decisions about their health.
B) Avoiding Exploitation of Sensitive Health Conditions
Providing the services and medial attention for peoples health problems is how you practice medicine. For a helathcare provider or medical writer to do this, they need to identify symptoms, discover what is not working in a person's body, and communicate the consequences if medial action is not taken. None of this is exploitive; each step is essential best practices.
Exploiting is capitalizing on their fear in order to motivate additional care or extraordinary services.
Avoiding "fear mongering" is especially important in the field of medial writing. When sick or hurting, a person is in a confused and vulnerable state. They are just beginning their health education journey are are highly suggestible to the input of an authoritative figure in the medical community. No provider or content should advantage of customers precarious emotional and physical condition by amplifying their anxieties.
It is a delicate balance... informing patients and potential patients of the dangers and risks without manipulating the human brains sensitivity to danger. Fear is a powerful motivator, but hope is too. And no healthcare content should take advantage of people’s fears or weaknesses just to earn some cash.
C) Lack of Transparency
"Honesty is the best policy" is especially true in healthcare content. Honesty, transparency, and respecting patient privacy should be the main focus of all our marketing activities. Our aim should be to help patients by giving them accurate and trustworthy information that is relevant to their concerns.
Transparency helps build trust, and trust is key to good healthcare. Keep in mind, we are not only trying to bring in patients; we want to build strong relationships based on trust and respect. And trust is not something you can just take or give; it has to be earned.
D) Using A.I. Generated Content
First of all, ai technology is a GREAT starting point. It often comes up with angles and phrases you never considered and is the instant cure to writers block. That said, the world of ai has a few downsides:
Machines do not have empathy or compassion; only humans do. Generative ai is like a doctor with the worst, most hollow bedside manners possible.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GETS BASIC STUFF WRONG ALL THE TIME... you need to double check any and every piece of medical content that was improved by even a single iota of machine learning. So, always check your sources, confirm your data, and don’t just believe everything a machine says.
No one wants to read a blog post with A.I. authorship. They want to know that there is a person speaking to them and their specific needs, not shouting info from algorithms to the masses.
In other words, you are always going to need human expertise. Human medical writers to provide a relatable, empathetic touch as well as correct any inaccuracies drawn from the abyss of deep learning.
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Conclusion: Tell the Truth... Build Trust... Gain and Keep Patients
One of the unique aspects of medial writing are the elevated ethical concerns. And navigating ethical challenges in healthcare content is not easy; it requires an adherence to HIPPA mandates and a dedication to transparency, accuracy, honesty, and patient privacy. Just like in the waiting room, the patient's needs are primary to marketing gaols.
But that doesn't mean you can't have successful marketing. You can still write amazing content that remains sensitive to their health issues, educates them on potential relief, and encourages them to reach out. High integrity, thoroughly researched, and well-written content builds trust and demonstrates your authority, increasing both customer acquisition and retention.
