If you’re in the medical profession, you instinctively understand that patient-doctor trust is important. Studies back that up, with data showing that higher levels of trust lead to better medical outcomes.
The patient-doctor relationship has been continuing to evolve in the 21st century with the rise of the Internet and online medical marketing. What happens online is now a vital part of the job to build patient trust online. That evolution took another big step in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced the medical industry, along with so many others, into video conferencing.
To best understand the principles of how to build patient trust online, let’s first pull the camera back and look at broad Internet strategies for doing so, and then look more specifically at some approaches that became more relevant during the pandemic.
Allow access to medical records
Most medical facilities now let patients get at their records online. Finding a way to make this both convenient and secure is not always easy—particularly when online convenience has come to be defined as “what I want, when I want it, at the click of a keystroke.”
However, the offices that find a way to meet HIPAA standards of privacy with the least amount of inconvenience to the patient are going to build trust. Studies show that secure messaging portals increase trust by upwards of 50 percent.
Create and share high quality website content
Helpful blog posts and videos about pertinent medical topics are a great way to build trust. Your patients see that you’re proactively trying to help them and the community in a general way. This content can be shared on your social media channels. We highly recommend a personal tone—a “bedside manner,” if you will, to be used in this content, especially on video.
Invest in site speed and technology
Whether it’s your website or your telehealth video conferencing, make sure that the technology is good enough that everything moves fast. We know that this can’t always be controlled. Sometimes a connection can be spotty and it can’t be helped. Make sure that those are the exceptions.
If your voice keeps breaking up with a patient in a telehealth conference, or if that video we just talked about takes forever to load, your patients and prospects might wonder if you know what you’re doing.
Consider telehealth conference appearance
In these COVID-19 times, it’s more likely you’re conducting telehealth conferences from home. In a lot of industries, it’s become normal for people to show up casually dressed. We would suggest that doctors not follow this trend.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong or even unprofessional about doing a business conference in your hoodie, especially in these strange times. But when you are the person who needs to convey the image of authority and command, it becomes problematic. Therefore, it’s best that the doctor continue dressing as though they were at the office.
The patient who sees their doctor in the windbreaker of their alma mater might not be bothered by it externally, but they might subtly become more likely to treat the advice given as coming from a friend and peer rather than an authoritative expert.
In this same regard, take a close look at the overall environment of where you conduct your telehealth conferences, whether at home or in the office. Check the lighting and what’s in the background, all with an eye on what presents you in the most professional way.