How to Write Healthcare Content with Patients in Mind

Healthcare content marketing goes beyond just attracting consumers’ attention and explaining your services. At its core, it’s about building trust and making sure patients feel confident engaging with your organization. 

One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating content that’s clear and easy to understand for everyone who reads it.  

Too often, healthcare content can become weighed down with clinical jargon or lengthy explanations that can leave patients feeling confused or overwhelmed, especially if they’re looking for information in an emergency during a stressful health situation. 

That’s why focusing on plain language and health literacy when writing your content is so important. When content is simple and approachable, patients can more easily find the answers they need, follow through on next steps, and feel supported by your organization.  

In this post, we’ll explore practical tips to help healthcare marketers create content that is patient-friendly, accessible, and effective. 

Why health literacy matters 

Health literacy, or the degree to which someone can understand basic health information like treatment options and make care decisions, is a key factor in overall patient outcomes.  

Research shows that low health literacy is associated with more hospitalizations, more frequent use of emergency care, decreased use of preventive care services, higher mortality, and increased healthcare costs.  

Another study found that around 88% of adults in the United States have health literacy levels that are below proficient. Older adults, minorities, and people with chronic health conditions, lower incomes, or limited education are also more likely to have lower health literacy levels. 

The takeaway? No matter the communities your organization serves, chances are there’s a significant number of your patients and prospective patients who face difficulties accessing, understanding, and using health information. By writing content with all of your audiences in mind, you can help improve health access and outcomes for everyone. 

Use plain language, not medical jargon 

Medical terminology might feel natural to use inside your organization, but to patients, it can often feel confusing and intimidating. As a healthcare marketer, you can bridge that gap by translating clinical terms into everyday words. 

Here are a few word swaps to consider when writing your healthcare content, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Plain Language Thesaurus for Health Communicators: 

• High blood pressure instead of hypertension 
• A condition started suddenly or was quick instead of describing it as acute 
• Yearly or once a year instead of annually 
• Vaccine or shot instead of immunization  

Developing a glossary of patient-friendly terms for your content team can help ensure consistency across your website, blog, social media, and patient communications. 

Keep it short and scannable 

Patients rarely read every word on a webpage, especially when they need to find answers fast. Instead, they skim or scan the page to find the information they need. 

To meet them where they are: 

• Use short sentences and paragraphs 
• Break up information with bullet points and subheadings 
• Highlight key actions or details in bold text 

Write for everyone 

It’s a good rule of thumb to aim for a reading level between 6th and 8th grade when writing for a general patient audience.  

When starting content from scratch, speak directly to the reader and write with a conversational, user-focused approach.  

Put yourself in the shoes of a patient, or even better, a family member or friend of a patient. How would you explain this service or treatment to a close friend or parent? Your writing should be as conversational and straightforward as that. 

Use “you” and “your” to make the content personal and conversational. This tone not only improves clarity but also builds trust. 

Free online tools like Hemingway can tell you what readability grade level a piece of content is, and visually call out things that can make your content more complex, including: 

• Complex, dense, or long sentences 
• Adverbs 
• Passive voice 
• Words that have simpler alternatives  

Use action-oriented language 

After reading a piece of healthcare content, patients should always know what they need to do next, such as scheduling an appointment or calling a help line. Content that emphasizes actions helps them feel guided and supported. 

Your website can reinforce this as well by incorporating calls-to-action, such as buttons or scheduling links, into the content. This way, users don’t even have to navigate away from the page to take their next steps. 

Structure content for accessibility 

Patient-friendly writing isn’t only about the words. The way information is structured also plays a vital role in understanding. 

• Break complex processes into step-by-step instructions. 
• Use visuals like diagrams, icons, or infographics to explain key points. 
• Ensure your digital content meets accessibility standards, with features like descriptive alt text for images, captions for videos, and high-contrast colors for text. 

By layering visual and written communication and ensuring content is accessible to all users, you give patients multiple ways to absorb and act on important information. 

Test and refine with real audiences 

Even the clearest healthcare content can benefit from feedback.  

Use patient surveys, focus groups, A/B testing, and website analytics to understand how real patients interact with your information.  

Testing not only improves the content itself but also signals to patients that you value their input and are committed to meeting their needs. 

Making the shift to patient-friendly content doesn’t mean oversimplifying. It means creating materials that are welcoming, accessible, and actionable for every patient, regardless of background or education level. By focusing on clarity, you help patients feel confident in their care decisions and build stronger, lasting connections with your organization. 

Looking for more healthcare content resources? Check out these blog posts from the Geonetric team: 

• Best Practices for Using AI for Your Healthcare Website Content 
• 7 Best Practices for Writing Effective Service Line Content 
• Beyond the Blog: 5 Ways Healthcare Content Strategy Can Help Build Your Digital Presence 

If your organization could use a hand creating patient-focused healthcare content that engages and converts, Geonetric is here to help. Learn more about our healthcare content services, then contact our team to get started!