Using Your Website For Effective Patient Education
When you formulate a strong program for patient education, it will save you a lot of trouble and time in the long run. The process can appear time consuming at the beginning, but the upside is much greater.
How to effectively communicate with patients
- Talk to your patients: For a positive outcome. Good communication goes a long way and is a vital part of the patient education process. As a doctor, you must take the time to answer all the questions asked by patients and be honest about their physical condition. You must also give the patients your full attention. Remember that quality is much more valuable than quantity.
- Usage of print materials: Most patients forget 40 percent of their doctor's recommendations after a few hours. Physicians therefore, give written explanations of conditions and treatments.
- Creating print materials: When you make your personalized patient education materials, the only goal is to make such information easy to decipher. There are a few simple rules to do this, like keeping sentences short, but they should not be choppy. Liberally use personal pronouns like you and your to make patients understand that this information is applicable to them. Important list items should have bullet points and active verbs can be used to describe effect. Technical terms should not be used, or at least should be avoided.
- Video usage: Videos are ideal and more effective than written content if one has to retain information for a shorter period of time. It should only be used as a supplemental pillar of the patient education process. Keep in mind that the most slickly produced video will be ineffective if patients lack the opportunity of discussing their condition with doctors. An ideal video shows patients discussing their experiences and feelings freely, which can be excellent marketing tools.
Want To Learn More About Creating A Dynamic, User Friendly Website? Dr. Leonardo Can Help
Dr. Leonardo is a website builder designed for medical practices. In three easy steps, you can have your medical practice's website live on the Web. For more information on where to start, contact us.