If you are a modern-day Michelangelo with a surgeon’s scalpel but have all the verbal communication skills of Mr. Bean, you may want to hire a writer for your medical practice or other healthcare SMB.
Why Hire a Writer When I Can do the Job Myself?
The ultimate goal of any doctor-patient communication is to improve the patient’s health and medical care. Unfortunately, doctors and other medical professionals may not be as good at communication as they are in treating people or creating new medical technologies. In one survey, for example, 75 percent of the participating orthopedic surgeons thought their communications with patients were satisfactory but only 21 percent of their patients felt that way. This suggests that medical professionals may not always be communicating with patients as effectively as they think they are.
And that’s okay – your patients depend on you to help them get better, not be the “Healthcare Shakespeare of the Internet.”
If you are like thousands of other physicians, outpatient therapists, dentists, chiropractors, and administrators in medical equipment manufacturing and small to medium sized pharmaceutical companies, you simply cannot afford to devote that kind of time to creating content for your organization’s website. Professional writers have special expertise in writing clear, concise and coherent content that really communicates what you want to say to your patients.
When it is Time to Hire a Writer for Your Healthcare SMB
When it comes time to create content for your website, hire a writer with experience in writing medicine for websites. A professional writer can articulate the mission of your healthcare organization in a voice that you would use. Furthermore, many professional writers have strong search engine optimization (SEO) skills so they know how to create content that helps your website do well in search engine rankings. After all, great website content means nothing if your patients cannot find you.
Skilled medical writers keep their finger on the pulse of medicine, following sites like Medical News Today, ScienceDaily and 2 Minute Medicine to help them create blogs, articles and white papers on the latest breakthroughs in your particular field. Publishing current content on your website establishes your organization as a leader in your industry. You will find it easy to review the content for accuracy and you will likely enjoy reading the interesting industry-related news created by your writer.
Medical writers, in particular, are experts in explaining complex medical concepts in simple and engaging ways. Finding a writer with experience in your particular field is helpful but not necessary as long as you provide informative documents or links to helpful websites.
The writer you hire should have a strong grasp of medical terminology but also have great writing skills and know something about SEO. For best results, create a list of keywords, which are words that helps Google and other search engines find your website. You can use a free keyword search tool, like WordStream, to find keywords relevant to your field or ask your writer to come up with a list.
While you can hire a writer to create content for your SMB’s website, it is ultimately your responsibility to make sure the medical information on your company or practice website is accurate.
If you are a healthcare SMB hoping to create a new website or spruce up an old one, hire a writer.
Lynn H enjoys science, art, music, gardening, sports, metal detecting, and history.
