Are Your Patients Telling Your Story?

Apr. 07, 2017

How to Build a Patient Testimonial Program that Builds your Brand

By: Mike Milligan, President

Healthcare is emotional.  As a father, husband and son, I know this firsthand as I've paced the hospital hallways waiting for a family member to recover from surgery, and I've fretted and worried about what the lab results might show. And, as a healthcare marketer, I've also learned how impactful these emotions are in the stories your patients share about their experiences at your healthcare organization.

Patient testimonials:

• Creates a human link between you and your audience, lending credence and emotional connection to your messaging;
• Help potential patients see themselves (or their family members) in the story;
• Can be used across a variety of formats from traditional to digital media.

As important as testimonials are, they're sometimes hard to find.  Not because you don't have many great stories, but because healthcare providers - often the ones who witness the stories firsthand -- are humble people.  They may view a patient story as ordinary or routine, but in actuality, there's nothing routine about improving, or even saving, one's life.  Every patient has a unique story.

Here are a few tips for finding stories within your organization:

• Select a point person who will be the keeper of the testimonials at your facility.  Maybe a marketing person, nurse, or even surgery manager.  The key though is that this person needs to build relationships throughout the organization to seek out stories.
• Meet with nurses in various departments to encourage them to share potential patient stories.
• Make reporting easy. Provide online or paper nomination forms to make the process easy.
• Incentivize employees. Encourage your staff to be on the hunt for compelling success stories by offering rewards for nominations.
• Routinely present at employee and medical staff meetings and encourage participation.
• Incorporate a marketing and brand session in new employee orientation, including outlining the process for uncovering great stories.

Click here to view an example of a video patient testimonial we did for a client.

If you have any questions regarding building a patient testimonial program please reach out by calling 920-544-8102 or emailing us.