The Ultimate Guide to AI for Healthcare Marketers + Do’s and Don’ts Cheatsheet What You Need to Know
The Ultimate Guide to AI for Healthcare Marketers + Do’s and Don’ts Cheatsheet What You Need to Know

How does your medical practice use doctors’ bios? To let a prospective patient know about the physician’s credentials? Experience? Personality?

Maybe writing doctors’ bios is just something you know you should do to fill out the bio page. Do people even read physician profiles anymore?

Spoiler alert: they do! And there’s a lot you can do when writing doctors’ bios to help your team stand out.

Put yourself in the patient‘s shoes and imagine this: You recently moved across the state with your husband. You know one of you is going to catch a cold or flu bug sooner rather than later, and you’ll need a doctor on standby. But you have no one in this new city you can ask for a rec.

So how do you choose one?

First, you probably turn to trusty Google. You whip out your phone and type something like “family doctors near me.”

Then you scour. You click and scroll and read and revise your search term. You devour ratings and reviews.

You’re searching for a glimpse of the kind of people these doctors are. You want to know as much as you can before picking up the phone to schedule an appointment. You’re one of 75 percent of people who read a physician’s bio to see if they’re right for you.

Image of a someone typing with the text "Struggling with your physician bios? Let us help"

Will You See This Doctor Now? It’s All About the Personality

Most provider profiles only give you the bare bones. If you’re lucky, you get a photo. The rest is likely credentials, which medical school they went to, location. Blah. (“But how is your bedside manner??” you shout at the screen.)

Luckily, that trend is changing. More and more hospitals are working to humanize their providers online, taking steps such as posting video interviews.

These examples of bios aren’t new ideas, but they show patients who the provider really is. And every hospital should be doing this – at bare minimum.

 

Provider Profile Examples:

 

Put a face to the name: Always have a photo

According to research from Doximity, people view doctors with profile photos twice as often as doctors without photos. And our research found that 50% of people seek out photos or videos of doctors before making an appointment.

Bare minimum: Include a simple headshot, something every doctor should have. If you want to go above and beyond, get more creative with the photo. Use a real background (like the doctor’s office) or show the provider outside of work.

Take a look at Dr. Jennifer Black, from Battleboro Memorial Hospital. In her “street clothes,” standing in a lush green background — doesn’t she look like the kind of doctor who will get what you’re saying?

50% of people seek out photos or videos of doctors before making an appointment. #hcmktg
Click to Tweet

examples of doctor profiles

Give your doctors a voice: Feature real quotes

Once you’ve covered the basics (insurance, availability), move on to personality. Our research shows patients are more likely to make appointments with doctors who show similar morals and values through empathy.

People are wondering: What’s the doctor like? Do we have things in common to discuss during that awkward small-talk? Will I feel comfortable with this doctor?

Quotes are a great place to feature the doctor’s personal story in their own words. Patients want to hear them.

People are wondering: What’s the doctor like? Do we have things in common to discuss during that awkward small-talk? Quotes help answer this.

Click to Tweet

Read the inspiring words Dr. Geoffrey D. Moorer, of Virginia Cancer Specialists, says about his passion for personalized medicine.

how to write a doctor profile

Put your doctors on camera: Use behind-the-scenes videos

A warm bedside manner, compassion and excellent listening skills are the doctor traits we’re looking for, according to Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs at the University of Chicago.

Video is a great way to capture likability in examples of bios. This video of Dr. Carey Andrew-Jaja from Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC has over 4 million views (behold the power of social media)! It shows him doing something that brings him joy — singing to the babies he delivers. Who doesn’t want to see that spark in a doctor’s eyes?

 

Branch out: Ask adventurous questions

What’s your philosophy of care? What made you become a physician? Where did you go to school? Snooze.

It’s time to dig deeper. Ask questions your competitors aren’t asking. Find out what sets your doctors apart. Allow patients to “Meet the Doctor” online, like Baptist Memorial Health Care does with Alyssa Dawn Throckmorton, MD.

Examples of bios with out-of-the-box questions:

  • What makes you different from other doctors in your practice?
  • What’s your favorite activity outside of work?
  • Who do you spend your free time with?
  • If you could spend a day with any person in the world, dead or alive, who would you choose?
  • What would you do for a living if you weren’t a doctor?

Tip: An easy way to curate answers to these unique questions is through a survey. Send the survey via email and extract the responses for each provider’s profile.

What makes a great doctor profile?

Embrace patient feedback: Include ratings and reviews

If you’re looking for feedback on a doctor but don’t have anyone to ask, online reviews will tell you everything you needed to know (and more).

More hospitals are pulling ratings and reviews into provider profiles and for good reason. According to Healthgrades, 75% of Americans say online ratings and reviews influence their search for a physician.

Some provider profiles even display quotes from patient surveys — good or bad. Scroll down to see ratings and reviews for the University of Utah Health’s Jenna Steffen, MD. It doesn’t get much more transparent than that.

Tips for writing doctor profiles

Make it easy to act: Use appointment buttons

One surefire way to annoy website visitors: make them do too much. (I’ll be first to admit it: I want my info fast!) Avoid frustration (and a high bounce rate) with a smooth journey and clear call to action.

‘Request an appointment’ is the ultimate profile goal for Dr. Dale Bauwen of Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital. Users can easily get on the books with a doctor right from where they’re sold: the provider profile.

Goal complete.

How to write doctor profiles

Break the Mold with Your Provider Profiles

After scouring tons of hospital websites in search of examples of bios, these profiles are some of the best we found. The best bios give potential patients an insight into a doctor‘s personality as well as their medical degree and make it easy to book an appointment.

If you want to be truly innovative with your provider profiles, we can help. Get in touch today.

Struggling to Get Your Healthcare Content to Rank?

You might be forgetting consumer intent. Our latest cheatsheet can help.

content marketing resources for healthcare marketers

Get the Cheatsheet

Resources

Explore Our Award-Winning Content Marketing Blog

Contact Ahava for a content workshop

Start Marketing With Purpose

Increase the results of your marketing efforts with a strategic approach to content marketing.

Talk Strategy with Ahava