I’m Human. Are You?

First published on eHealthcare Strategy & Trends

When I began freelancing in the early 90s, a fax machine was the only so-called “digital” equipment I had. When I had conference calls, I put my dog in the other room so my clients wouldn’t know I was working from home. Obviously, times have changed.

Technology is ubiquitous. And it seems to me that in many cases, personal interactions have suffered with its growth.

As I ponder the effects of a digitized world, I wonder about its consequences on healthcare consumers.

At WriterGirl, we create content for healthcare consumers across the country. When we write, we think about the person on the other end. What is bringing them to this piece of content? Is our language plain enough to help them make decisions when faced with serious or scary health challenges? Is our tone welcoming?

It seems to me that hospitals and health systems have an unrivaled opportunity to treat every interaction with a healthcare consumer — virtual or otherwise — as a chance to communicate with a person. After all, no matter the method, all communication is still a one-to-one, person-to-person exchange.

Make Technology an Enabler, Not a Disabler 

With technology permeating healthcare, it’s easy to forget there’s a real person on the other side of the screen. From e-scheduling and virtual visits to online bots confirming a person’s status as a human being, people are met with technology at every step in their healthcare journey.

Technology is prevalent in direct patient care, and clearly helps to improve outcomes in most cases. But a recent situation gave me pause.

A friend of mine spent some time in the hospital recovering from surgery. For some reason, the electronic record denied him a common, over-the-counter pain reliever. By the computer’s calculation, he had taken too many milligrams in the previous 12-hour period.

The problem was, he hadn’t even come close to meeting his max dose. This became clear once pen was put to paper, but it took three shift changes, several “hands-in-the-air reactions,” and, ultimately, permission from an actual human being to override the computer and correct the issue.

If technology can so easily strip away the decision-making power of someone providing care, just imagine what it can do to a healthcare consumer seeking information.

Align Tech and Content to Empower

Hospitals and health systems have a great opportunity to make technology an enabler for their employees and patients.

In today’s digital environment, this begins long before a person is sitting in an exam room. A healthcare consumer’s first stop is often the internet.

A 2018 study conducted by Hopelab and Well Being Trust showed that 87 percent of teens and young adults had gone online in search of health information.

If your web content doesn’t use the language searchers use, they won’t find your page. And if medical information in your online health library doesn’t match guidance in your recent blog post, then what’s a consumer to believe?  

Healthcare content and how it is shared has great potential to empower consumers in their decision making. Done wrong, it can disable them or send them elsewhere.

Just Press Zero

Back in my early freelancing days, I wrote an article about “surfing the web.” Someone had to explain to me what that was before I could write it. My son, on the other hand, grew up with technology at his fingertips.

I recently overheard him navigate a pharmacy phone tree. It was a first-time experience for him, and he listened carefully to all the options.

My instinct in similar situations is just to press zero. I’m willing to hold to speak with a live person. This certainly could be a generational thing.

It may be easy to draw on generational differences when developing communications plans or predicting decision-making and behaviors. But not so fast.

A recent Harvard Business Review article suggests generational differences may be smaller than we think. It’s our beliefs about these differences, the authors say, that get in our way. 

Is Healthcare Technology Building a Wall?

There’s no doubt that tech holds promise for improving relationships with patients. Online messaging and telehealth offer unprecedented access to healthcare. But as someone who believes in the power and importance of relationships, I can’t help but wonder how often these tools come across as cold and leave patients disappointed. 

Deloitte’s 2018 Survey of U.S. Healthcare Consumers offers some insight into the realities of virtual care.

Of the 4,530 survey takers, nearly a quarter said they had participated in a virtual visit, and even more (57 percent) would be willing to try it out. But of those who opted out of virtual visits, 28 percent blamed their decision on the loss of a personal connection with their doctor. 

Patients want to know that there’s a living, breathing, and — most important — caring person on the other end of whatever tool they are using to connect or gather information. This is as true in online medical charts as it is in emails, on websites, and on social networking platforms.

It’s easy for marketing and communications teams — especially those that are understaffed and underfunded — to fall into the trap of speaking to their audience in the same way, across all platforms. In some cases, we see that marketers have fallen into the feedback loop of speaking to themselves, which can unintentionally build a wall between the organization and the people they serve.  

So What’s a Marketer to Do?

Has technology tied our hands? I don’t like to think so. I believe we can remove the shackles while keeping the myriad benefits. But we must hold on to the human touch — always. 

Tech-based tools and online platforms are here to stay. We can’t — and shouldn’t — wish them away. We should use them to our advantage to inject the human touch. Here are a few ways I think we can improve:

Take advantage of tech’s more “humanizing” offerings

• Tell a story. Many social media platforms now offer visual “story” areas. Try using story these spaces to create a more candid glimpse of your organization. Showcase your employees or create a virtual walk-through of a new space.
• Use video. Better yet, use live video. Research shows that users will spend three times longer watching live video on Facebook compared to recorded video. Q&As and behind-the-scenes tours make for good live video.
• Start a group. Facebook is an especially good place to create meaningful interactions for healthcare consumers. Consider creating communities for new parents or for members of a program you host. Facilitate discussions there but also leave it open for people to engage with one another.

Understand your audience

• Be guided by reality, not stereotypes. Don’t make assumptions based on gender or generational stereotypes. Do your research so you can engage in an authentic way.
• Ask for opinions. For example, use an online survey to understand what health information your users want to read about, then use their feedback to craft your content.
• Use data. Google is the world’s largest focus group. Become adept at using their data to determine how your patient population is consuming your content so you can more effectively communicate with them.

Optimize, optimize, optimize 

• Make search simple. Once you have your content ready, make sure it’s easy to find and written in a way that aligns with readers’ search queries. Be thoughtful about keywords, headers and title tags.
• Be sure you appear. Make sure your organization is listed in local business directories, on social media and on industry-specific websites. 
• Allow yourself to be found. Check your business listings on Google for accuracy. Update this information if it is incorrect. While this can be a daunting task if you have multiple locations, it’s time well spent.

With control over so many virtual entry points for consumers, healthcare marketing and communication teams can lead the charge to maintain the personal touch in a digital healthcare world. In my mind, that’s a worthy goal.