We live in a world that is built up on consumerism. The privatization of everything from the smallest medical practices to major medical centers has given rise to the need to take a stronger consumerist view of how we present our practices to the masses.
At a first glance, patients are more apt to take a closer look at providers based on the appearance of his or her profile than anything else. Once they establish a desire to know more, then – and only then – will many new patients start investigating credentials. This is especially true for millennials and younger baby busters. In other words, this assessment applies to the vast majority of today’s long-term patients.
The good news is that these aren’t the only criteria by which people decide who to contact. The trick is to get their attention and hold it long enough to digest the more meaningful details, like years in practice, personal accomplishments, and treatment philosophy. This is what I would like to focus in on with this article.
About That First Glance…
I’m going to spend just a brief amount of time dealing with visual content since our firm deals primarily with copywriting and written content. That said, visuals should dictate written content, not the other way around. How your caregiver profiles look will determine what they say.
For this reason, always take a professional yet personal approach to provider profiles. You don’t want things looking too stereotypically clinical, but you also don’t want to come across as too casual, either. You also don’t want to pander to stereotypes either about the type of practice or the type of patient you are attempting to attract.
Since your caregiver profiles are part of your practice’s branding strategy, there should be some uniformity in how each one is presented. Images should follow a uniform color and overall presentation scheme. All images should reflect the same basic pose and be framed about the same. There should be character limits for each section of the profile, so they look uniform. You get the idea…
What to Say in Your Profiles
From this point on, I would like to offer some ideas on what sorts of details to include in your caregiver profiles. You don’t necessarily need to include all of them, but you will want to be consistent.
As much as we don’t want patient care to turn into a popularity contest, the internet basically dictates that you drive a certain level of appeal. Keep the playing field level. Use the same headings in all your provider profiles unless your practice is split up into multiple specialties or disciplines. With that, here are a few details you can use to brainstorm winning caregiver profiles.
1. Start with the Basics
Present the headshot with the name and title of the provider and a single-line description of the provider’s area(s) of discipline:
Dr. John Adams, MD
Pediatric and Adolescent Care, Internal Medicine
Catherine McAvoy, PNP, LMHC
Behavioral Health Prescriber, Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Dr. Stephen Lewis, MD
Infant and Child Orthopedics, Orthopedic Surgery
Keep the details simple and present them in small chunks that can be read and absorbed all at once.
2. The Provider Bio
Once a new patient finds a provider with the desired credentials, he or she will then be more apt to want to learn more. The details in the bio should reflect specific details in some or all of the following areas:
• Education and Training
• Experience
• Years in Practice
• Treatment Philosophy
Be sure to also keep this section brief but make it feel personal. Avoid bullet lists when presenting the information and opt instead for one concise paragraph with a designated word or character limit. Three or four short sentences with a maximum of 500 characters should be more than enough to fill out a well-rounded bio.
“Catherine McAvoy received her master’s in Child Psychology and Adolescent Development from Tufts University in April of 1992. She has been helping children and adolescents manage a variety of mental and emotional health issues as a counselor and prescriber with HealthNet since 1994. Her approach is designed to address the unique needs of the patient while adhering to specific proven treatment and symptom management models.”
3. Past Successes
Feel free to go a bit more freeform with this section, but also keep the details simple. Some areas to address in this section include:
• What specific things has this particular provider accomplished in his or her career so far?
• What kinds of problems can a new patient expect him or her to be able to solve?
• Why did this provider choose a particular discipline?
• What about this provider’s personality or experience provides points of relatability for the patient?
“Dr. Lewis’ approach to infant and child orthopedic medicine has led to the changing of countless lives, particularly in his approach to correcting clubbed feet in children under 2 years old. He completed his postgraduate work through Duke University when, in 1987, he was offered and accepted a place in their orthopedic surgery fellowship program. 2018 marks his 30th year working with children – including his own son, Michael – who exhibit symptoms of clubbed foot and other pediatric orthopedic conditions.”
Be careful, however, with details that are too personal. The provider’s marital status is likely not going to have an impact on his or her ability to treat cancer, for example, but it might be an important detail for someone seeking a couple’s therapist. Be smart in what details you include, and anchor those details with some kind of sensical context.
The above examples provide a framework that, when implemented properly, provide new patients with the confidence that they are making an informed decision to contact a specific provider. The more people can relate to a provider, the more confidence they will have in the provider’s ability to help with whatever medical need led them to your site in the first place.
For help developing strong caregiver profiles for your medical practice, we strongly recommend working directly with people who are experienced in medical content services and medical copywriting. BeezContent works with a number of in-house and freelance content creation specialists with experience in the area of medical content creation. We look forward to having the opportunity to work with you!
