5 Types of Ophthalmology Patient Education Materials You Can Use

An educated patient is an empowered patient. When patients know the benefits they can reap from healthcare services, they can make better-informed decisions. Ophthalmic patient education materials are essential to ensure hospital and clinic patients understand what they’re getting into.

As the name implies, educational materials are collaterals produced by healthcare providers to improve their understanding of health services research. These materials make it easier for more people to grasp the intricacy of healthcare. Ophthalmology can be challenging for everyday people, and patient education materials bridge the gap so people would know better.

An institution’s patient education materials can help more people appreciate the value of getting treatments or medicine from doctors. It cannot be easy to appreciate the value of a particular treatment when you don’t understand what you benefit from it.

Empowering your patients with knowledge will make them more comfortable with your medical suggestions. With patient understanding comes better relationships between healthcare providers and patients. In the end, everybody wins.

What kind of patient education materials should ophthalmology practices prepare? This article will delve into the new patient education materials clinics, and hospitals should invest in to improve more people’s health literacy. We hope it can inspire you to develop offline and online patient education materials to empower your current and potential patients.

Why Ophthalmology Patient Education Materials are Important for Your Patients

As mentioned, an educated patient is a great patient. These people use the knowledge you equip them with to provide the best care wherever they are. They can take better care of themselves at your practice and at home.

Your care shouldn’t stop once your patients leave your clinic or hospital. It would be best if you taught them how to best take care of themselves to avoid complications in the future. Even if you’re not physically there to give them advice, they would know better and take good care of themselves.

Patient education handouts are vital, especially now that a lot of information is available online. Unfortunately, some of the information on the web is false. The rampant spread of incorrect information makes it challenging for some patients to know what exactly they should do regarding eye care. Fake news can be deadly.

Education materials help battle against the proliferation of false narratives. When you give patients the information they need, they can make educated decisions that are good for their health. Patient education materials can be helpful in eradicating low health literacy. In turn, patient-doctor relationships are fortified tremendously.

Providing educational materials helps patients make better decisions and positions your practice as a trustworthy source of credible health materials. When more people trust your clinic, they’ll be more inclined to seek your professional help. Thus, you make your practice look good in the eyes of current patients and potential clients who may change your educational materials in the future.

Now that we’ve established the relevance of good patient education material, what kind should you produce? Here are some examples you should take note of:

1. Infographics

Here’s the thing: the human brain processes visual information better than text. More people would understand if you showed something instead of just talking or writing about it. After all, we’re all exposed to so much information digitally, it can be challenging to get people’s attention.

This is where infographics come in. An infographic is a graphic representation of data, information, or knowledge intended to present information clearly and quickly. With the help of infographics, more people can comprehend patterns and trends which may be difficult to understand in written format.

Infographics make it easier for people to understand complex concepts and patterns. When discussing complicated topics like disease control and surgery, you can increase patient comprehension through a visual representation. Infographics make learning about intimidating topics more straightforward and easily digestible.

What’s great about infographics as educational materials is that they’re linkable. You can hyperlink them to any relevant page on your website. Infographics can help promote new services you’d like more people to know about. Moreover, they can help increase your website traffic. With more website visitors come potential leads, which means more business opportunities for your practice.

In addition, infographics are easily shareable. You can use these educational materials for your email marketing campaigns or share them on your social media pages. If you have the budget to do so, you may even print new patient education materials for more people to appreciate what you do. You have these printed collaterals on your waiting room wall for visitors to see or hand them out as flyers to patients and guests.

2. Videos

Nowadays, video content has dominated the internet, and for a good reason. As mentioned, humans are visual creatures, and it’s easier for people to understand educational materials when you simplify things. You can explain complicated concepts in straightforward terms through video content.

Videos are great patient education materials because they make information easily digestible. If you don’t have the time to explain processes in detail, you can summarize all the main points in a well-crafted video. Videos allow you to talk to more people like how you would those who visit your office.

Developing high-quality videos can be beneficial for your website to rank higher on search engines, such as Google. A well-produced video can entice more people to increase your website traffic. The more people discover your website because of video educational materials, the more opportunities you have to turn them into future clients.

Nowadays, it’s not enough to lure potential patients to your website. It would be best if you encouraged them to stay longer and explore your various web pages. The longer people stay on your website, the more you can build your credibility as a healthcare provider. This trust may convert them into your future clients.

The icing on the cake is that video content can be helpful for social media marketing. You have a better chance of getting more social media shares when posting videos. Higher engagement means that you’re effectively reaching out to more people. This also means you have the potential to increase your followers and reach out to possible clients in the future.

3. Blogs

While most people are visual creatures, there are patient education preferences that lean toward written material. Some people would prefer to read about how to preserve healthy vision with detailed medical information. They wanted to be empowered with the facts to verify for themselves. For individuals like these, you can provide them with the best guidance through a blog.

A blog is an effective way to attract more potential patients to visit your ophthalmic website. The more website visitors you attract, the better your chances of converting these people into future patients.

Moreover, blogging can offer your practice long-term results. This includes improving your search engine optimization as you add new and valuable content to your site. When strategically managing your blog, you can rank higher on search engines like Google. This means that people could discover your website when searching for relevant terms.

The key to blogging is seamlessly using the right keywords and injecting them into your content. Search engines have become more sophisticated, and you need to ensure you’re producing quality blog articles. You won’t rank high on search engine results if you randomly inject terms into your article. In fact, this strategy might even harm your search engine ranking.

In addition, maintaining an ophthalmology blog is a great way to establish your authority as an industry leader. The more knowledge you share with your readers, the more people recognize you as a respected figure in the healthcare industry. After all, most patients would rather invest in a reliable healthcare service provider.

If you manage your blog well, other websites will most likely reference your blog posts in their content. Why? Because you’d be recognized as a reliable source. You never know who might end up reading your blog articles. Your blog educational materials can help eliminate low health literacy and empower people with correct information.

Thus, producing ophthalmic patient education materials in blog format may be time-consuming, but the rewards can be significant. Not everyone finds it easy to put their thoughts into written form. It can take time and practice to become comfortable writing down your knowledge. However, all your efforts will be worth it after you’ve taken the first step.

4. Newsletters

If you want to create targeted patient education materials, you should consider starting a newsletter. A newsletter is a printed or digital report containing information about your practice and its services. You can distribute your newsletter to current patients and website visitors interested in your practice.

Newsletters are similar to blogs. However, they’re usually written in email format. Newsletters allow you to maximize your database and provide educational materials to select individuals who have already expressed interest in your ophthalmic services.

What can you share through newsletters? You can share your practice’s latest promos and services and explain the value of your services. If you have a new offering, your newsletter can be an excellent way to put into detail what people can expect from this service. This patient education material can position your practice in a good light and might even show people how your practice offers solutions to their vision problems.

What makes newsletters worthwhile is that you can customize every email to target the right people. You can increase engagement with your email subscribers to ensure you provide them with the content they would appreciate. You have a better chance of turning these people into future patients.

In addition, newsletters help your practice cultivate better relationships with your current subscribers or clients. When you take care of your relationships, there’s a higher chance that these patients might return to your practice. Moreover, they may even invite others to visit your practice too.

Newsletters aren’t just for nurturing relationships with your clientele. You can offer anyone a subscription to your newsletter through your website or social media channels. People who say yes to signing up for your newsletter are already interested in what you bring to the table. When you provide patient education to these potential clients, you showcase the value your clinic can get to them.

5. Podcasts

Nowadays, there’s a podcast for every niche or interest, including ophthalmology care. What exactly is a podcast, and why should you start one? A podcast is a series of spoken word audio episodes focused on a particular topic or theme. Podcasts can be compelling patient education materials because people’s focus would be on what you have to say when they choose to listen.

Podcasts are extremely easy to consume. You can listen to them in the car while exercising, at home, and wherever you want. You don’t even need an internet connection to listen to podcasts. You just need a device, like a smartphone and earphones, to listen to podcasts.

What’s great about podcasts is that they’re a way for your practice to communicate on a more personal level. You, the ophthalmic expert, speak to your listeners instead of reading or viewing content. When you have a podcast, you can discuss relevant topics as you would with a patient who visits your clinic. The main difference is that you’re speaking to more people online.

Let iMatrix Help You With Your Ophthalmology Marketing Materials

These examples of patient education materials can help your business reach a wider audience and achieve your goals faster. Content creation is a necessary part of any marketing strategy, but creating new and exciting materials takes time and effort.

The good news is that you don’t have to be on this journey alone. We at iMatrix can help you develop compelling patient education materials so you can focus on what you do best. Our data-backed strategies can help you attract more people and boost your business.

Our team is equipped with the latest technologies to help you develop relevant and fascinating content to help educate more people. Of course, we’ll also help you use these materials to position your practice in the best light. Patient education may be challenging in the age of fake news, but together, we can do our part and empower more people. Book a consultation with one of our ophthalmology marketing experts or call.