Apr. 11, 2008 at 2:26pm

Dumb it down, please

Posted by Shari Campbell in Advertising, Care Line Marketing, Practice Management
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“I haven’t been in a Cath Lab since I was in medical school,” confessed a well-respected family practice physician during a recent dinner meeting.

Always curious, I was quizzing her about what newsletters she reads, what she knows about sophisticated medical procedures and how she makes decisions about where to refer patients.

It was an eye-opening discussion.

I know I’m guilty of assuming when I write a newsletter or create collateral for a physician audience that it must be more technical, more sophisticated, you know, more “doctorly.”

But does it?

A few tidbits I picked up from my doctor friend and a few other physicians:

1. Don’t assume they know about the latest specialty procedures and equipment. Today’s primary care physicians, in particular, spend most of their time in “the office” and struggle to keep up-to-date on the latest medical advances. And with the ever-increasing complexity of procedures and pharmaceuticals, many physicians refer most complex patients and conditions to specialists.

2. Dumb it down. A couple years ago I helped put together a seminar about inpatient stroke protocols for physicians. The hospital’s care line director, a very bright nurse, got into a technical discussion about medications and dosages with the speaker. Finally, an internal medicine physician sheepishly raised his hand and asked, “Will you dumb it down a bit? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

   Everyone laughed and clapped. After all, he wasn’t a neurologist. And neither were most of the physicians in the audience.

3. Keep it simple, stupid. Like all of us, physicians have too much to do, too much to read. When I “tested” some collateral materials with physicians recently, they all appreciated the designs that showed photos with descriptive cutlines – ones that gave important technical or patient information.

   Another physician commented: “I like the headlines that tell me what the article is going to be about or what policy or protocol has changed. That way I can quickly scan it and determine if I need to read it.”

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