Effective and detailed patient education is much more important for elective healthcare providers than for healthcare providers offering services covered by insurance.  First, with an elective procedure, patients may have a desire for a particular outcome but might not know enough about the various types of procedures that will give them the result they are seeking. They also have added pressure to make the best decision since they are outlaying their own money to pay for the procedure. Since this is usually something that is chosen by the patient rather than recommended by a physician, patients will also be especially concerned with any risks or downsides.

If you are looking for how to grow an elective healthcare practice, start with these strategies to improve your healthcare content marketing.

What content marketing means for elective healthcare

Healthcare content marketing is an important strategy to grow your elective healthcare practice, but it needs to be done right. It is all too easy for medical practitioners to fall into the habit of using medical terminology that is difficult for the average patient to understand. So, all content for medical clinics explaining procedures, options and risks needs to be written in layman’s terms. Avoid medical jargon and complicated phrasing. These articles are part of your patient education initiative and therefore need to be comprehensible and clear.

Although this content is part of your marketing, its focus should be on education, not selling. A salesy tone will erode patient trust. It is also important to be clear about any potential risks or qualifying factors ahead of time so that patients can make an informed decision. Be specific about the likelihood of adverse outcomes and how they can be mitigated and corrected.

Let patients know how much procedures cost and how many visits will be needed to get the desired result. Having a complete understanding of total cost will set patient expectations. If you have any financing or payment options, be sure to include them where you discuss pricing.

When your practice is up front and transparent about procedures, outcomes and pricing, you are building trust with your prospective patient.

Types of content that convert

• Blog posts – Blog posts can explain about different procedures and can compare different options. You can also use blog posts with before and after photos from patients so they can see what to expect.
• FAQs – Patients typically have plenty of questions and this is a great place to answer the most common questions up front. Include questions about different procedures, cost/payment/billing questions, timeline questions, certifications and experience questions and questions about where procedures will be performed (in-patient or outpatient and hospitals/clinics).
• Short videos – Videos are a highly effective content form because patients can see the doctor, get detailed information on what is done during the procedure and develop a feeling of comfort and trust with the doctor’s expertise. You can also post video testimonials from patients, further building trust.
• Downloadable guides – Downloadable guides give detailed information on procedures that prospective patients can save and print out to read at their leisure. For example, you can post a guide on “What to Expect Before and After” various procedures or a guide that compares different ways to address a particular problem such as aging skin or weight loss.

SEO for elective care

Patients’ online search differs greatly for elective vs. urgent or primary care and your medical practice marketing should take this into account. For elective care, patient search queries are highly specific, focusing on particular procedures, diagnosis or specialty. Keywords often include reviews, names of procedures and recovery outcomes. While location is somewhat important, patients are typically willing to travel a little further to go to a chosen elective healthcare practice since it is a limited time span rather than an ongoing relationship.

In contrast, queries for urgent or primary care providers are more general, including terms like “best” or “highly rated” along with a specific location or “near me.” Since patients searching for urgent or primary care typically want to see the provider within a short timeframe, the ease of making an appointment and the keywords “accepting new patients” will be important.

How to get started

Start to build out content relating to your top three services, including blog posts, FAQs, videos and guides. Include a section for each service on your website with links to relevant content in other sections of your site.

Once you have your foundational content, repurpose it for social media posts and email campaigns.

The elective healthcare provider-patient relationship is, more than nearly any other business relationship, built on a deep trust. This trust should be built little by little, from your online educational content to appointment setting to patient-doctor interaction and follow-up care.

Pro Creative can help you lay out and implement your content strategy so you can have a steady stream of patient appointments.