A patient success story is kind of like a customer testimonial on prednisone. (Gosh, I love me a healthcare marketing joke!) Seriously though, customer success stories are effective because people connect with people. It’s not just someone in an ivory tower telling them about expensive, potentially life-altering services they have no personal experience with. (Little do they know, your office is actually in that weird, forgotten wing that’s never been renovated.)
Patient success stories demonstrate, in a relatable way, the expertise of your medical team and the benefits of a particular treatment. They put a face to what is often a fairly invisible product. After all, “health” is a pretty subjective concept.
But telling a good patient success story requires more care and effort than slapping an excerpt from a thank-you note onto your website (that’s a testimonial). Patient success stories require storytelling and some specific elements. Here’s how to put it all together.
1. Research the medical condition and treatment.
Before you begin interviewing, take some time to read up on the condition and the treatment you’ll be writing about. We know schedules are busy, but set aside time to do this at least a day before the patient interview. When the 15-minute meeting reminder pops up on your desktop is not the time to start Googling “renal cell carcinoma.”
Having a good understanding of the patient’s condition and the treatment they opted for will provide helpful context so you have more time to focus your interviews on what matters most — the patient’s experience.
2. Interview the patient.
Once you’ve taken the appropriate steps to satisfy the HIPAA requirements for contacting a patient, reach out to schedule an interview. Keep in mind that they’ve likely never done anything like this before, and your job is to make them comfortable from the get-go so they open up about their experience. While we’re always clear about our intentions, we find using language such as “discussion” or “video chat” sets a better stage for some than “interview” or “teleconference.”
We generally try to avoid sending specific questions ahead of time as we don’t want people to over-prepare or sound rehearsed. Our trick for heading that request off at the pass is adding a line to your introductory email to the effect of, “I’m looking forward to hearing about your experience at XYZ hospital! You shouldn’t need to do anything to prepare for our call. I’ll walk you through it by asking some questions around what led you to seeking care, the treatment you opted to have and how life has been since.”
Of course, if they still request to see questions ahead of time, send them.
Prepare questions that will enable you to get a full picture of the patient’s experience. You’ll want to inquire about such things as: what life was like prior to their illness, what led to the diagnosis (symptoms, a screening, etc.), how they came to seek treatment with your hospital/provider, why they decided to have the treatment they did, what their experience was like, how they’re feeling now and, most importantly, what they can do now as a result of the care they received.
3. Interview medical expert(s).
We know you’ve got to grab time on a physician’s schedule where you can get it, but when possible, we recommend conducting this interview after you’ve spoken to the patient. Since you will have already researched the topic and heard the patient’s perspective, you’ll be able to have a more focused conversation to gain clarity on the diagnosis, how exactly the treatment works and why the patient was a good candidate.
4. Outline and draft.
Patient stories are generally most effective when told as a narrative and in chronological order. Work in explanations about the medical condition, diagnostic process and treatment options along the way as space allows. But focus on the patient as much as possible, and be sure to work in human elements and relatable details, such as what they do for work, what their hobbies are, who lives with them, their favorite sports team — whatever, as long as it ties in somehow.
5. Reviews.
Accuracy is critical in all healthcare writing and especially when telling patient stories. Be sure to allow plenty of time in your schedule for both the patient and provider(s) to review the copy. We highly recommend getting approvals in writing, whether by text, email or digital signature.
Patient story checklist
Patient stories can be powerful, when written with care. Here’s a recap of the steps you’ll want to take:
- Research the medical condition and treatment you’re looking to promote.
- Follow HIPAA rules to get contact information for the patient.
- Carefully prep interview questions.
- Talk to the patient.
- Interview their physician.
- Outline your narrative and get to writing.
- Pepper in info on the condition and treatment specifics.
- Share with sources and get approval in writing before you publish.