The healthcare industry is complex and crowded. With much of the patient/user experience taking place online these days, staying dialed into the latest digital trends is essential for healthcare companies looking to maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market. To drive measurable business outcomes, start with engaging and innovative digital experiences.
Clear Digital works with many leading B2B healthcare and health tech companies, so we keep our finger on the pulse of the digital realm for this industry. We recently attended the 2024 Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference, where we learned about the latest technology and innovations shaping the industry.
Here are the top brand and web trends and technologies healthcare leaders are using to enhance patient/user engagement and build trust by providing personalized, authentic experiences, as well as a sneak peek at the future outlook for this dynamic industry.
1. Visual storytelling
Navigating healthcare providers and content can be overwhelming. No matter what type of healthcare service or product you’re providing, it’s important to make your content as accessible as possible. This will help patients, members, and users find and understand the information they need while also boosting your brand reputation.
Create personal connections
High-quality images and graphics are a great way to connect. Visual content can enhance your website’s appeal while also conveying a high level of professionalism. At the same time, the right images can make users feel a personal connection to your brand—which is essential due to the deeply personal nature of healthcare.
Visual storytelling was a key element in the complete website redesign we recently completed for Surescripts, which helped to elevate their brand and amplify their marketing efforts.
Simplify complex content
Healthcare and health tech websites often have to convey complicated information involving medical procedures, platform capabilities, or plan details. Text-heavy web pages are off-putting and tend to scare users away. Instead, opt for high-quality graphics and infographics to help simplify complex medical information, making it easy to understand and digest.
Looking ahead: Making more use of AI
Not surprisingly, AI was one of the top themes at HIMSS this year. While it’s still being operationalized in many healthcare companies, AI has the potential to enhance visual storytelling in future UX/UI efforts by personalizing content, automating the creation of high-quality visuals, and providing data-driven insights to optimize user engagement and maintain brand consistency.
2. Interactive and educational content
Interactive content such as quizzes, infographics, and educational videos are a great way to get users to really engage with your site and feel supported.
For patients
Interactive content can help patients and users understand any kind of complex or potentially confusing content—everything from specific health conditions to available treatment options. Check out this quick video about musculoskeletal care on Omada’s site:
For providers
Professional users can also benefit from interactive content—especially when it comes to healthcare software and platforms. Adopting any kind of new technology can be daunting, even if you know the benefits are considerable.
Here’s a great example of an explainer video demonstrating how the Clarify Atlas analytics platform gives healthcare providers access to clinical and business insights that can help them improve care across the patient journey:
This kind of content can also be used to promote the business side of healthcare and engage potential customers. For example, Tebra offers this “practice efficiency grader” quiz that lets practices measure their performance and identify areas for potential improvement:
Looking ahead: Data interoperability
Another key theme at HIMSS, data interoperability can enable the integration of patient data across systems to create personalized educational content tailored to individual health profiles. This will help to enhance the user experience while also deepening engagement.
3. Brand authenticity
Healthcare is always personal. This is true whether you’re a provider, a payer, or a technology platform. To elevate your brand in the market, healthcare companies should lean into this by focusing on authentic brand storytelling that highlights what makes you unique—for example, your mission, vision, values, and history.
What sets you apart from the competition? Why should patients or users believe you care? Sharing real stories from patients, users, and healthcare professionals helps to build trust and make meaningful, emotional connections that feel authentic. Your company’s About page is also a good opportunity to humanize your brand by sharing your own story.
CoverMyMeds does a good job of using real patient stories to show how they impact people’s wellbeing by providing access to life-changing prescription medications:
Maven Clinic also uses member stories to bring their family planning, fertility, and maternity services to life:
Looking ahead: Cybersecurity
According to HIMSS, cybersecurity is a hot topic in healthcare right now. Bringing this into focus as part of your brand storytelling will not only help to build trust and emotional connections with users, it also highlights your brand’s commitment to privacy, security, and ethical values. This helps patients and members feel secure in sharing their private health data.
4. Community engagement and social responsibility
With the global social responsibility movement continuing to gain traction, healthcare companies should shine a light on the good things you do. Highlighting your involvement in community initiatives and ethical efforts to benefit your community helps to deepen trust, strengthen relationships, and boost your brand reputation.
Examples include things like health education programs, charity work, and partnerships with local non-profit or public health organizations. Anything you’re doing to help improve the health and lives of others in your community also helps to improve your brand reputation.
Looking to enhance user engagement for your B2B health tech or healthcare company? We can help. We’ve partnered with leaders across the industry and we understand what drives breakthrough digital performance. Let’s talk about how we can deepen engagement and improve outcomes for your healthcare brand.
