Currently, the healthcare world is rife with so much miscommunication and wrongful interpretation. To combat the growing spread of misinformation and promote clear communication, healthcare organizations are investing in several solutions.
A major one is using videos to bridge the gap of miscommunication. However, it should be said that medical video production isn’t a straightforward process. This is because there are lots of things that have to be considered.
In this article, you’ll learn what medical videos are and why they’re so important. You’ll also discover practical medical video production tips that guarantee optimal results.
What Are Medical Videos?
Medical videos are a specialized category of video content designed to communicate healthcare-related information. Initially, these videos were made with the sole aim of enlightening the public better on various matters. However, medical videos have now evolved to include multiple other target audiences. Because of this, there are different types of medical videos. These include the following:
- Educational Videos for Healthcare Professionals: These are videos aimed at medical professionals, including medical students, doctors, nurses, etc. These videos usually cover complex topics or concepts, such as new treatment methods and research findings.
- Patient Education Videos: As the name implies, patient education videos are a type of medical videos created for patients and their families. These videos are made to provide more knowledge on medical conditions, treatments, procedures, and post-treatment care in a simplistic manner. They are vital in enhancing patient understanding, compliance, and engagement in their healthcare journey.
Other medical videos include public health campaign videos, which focus on health education and disease prevention, and marketing videos for healthcare facilities and services.
Benefits of Medical Videos
- Simplifying Complex Information: This is probably the most significant benefit of medical videos. They help break down complex concepts into simpler parts, making them a lot easier for people to understand. Of course, it also helps that these videos often feature illustrations and animations that help simplify areas of complexity.
- Better Impact: Studies have shown that people are more likely to retain information from engaging videos than other sources. So, medical videos play a huge role in facilitating better information retention in medical education and patient care.
- Cost-Effective: Medical videos are widely used in public health campaigns to disseminate crucial health information effectively and economically. A single video production can be shared to lots of individuals simultaneously. In addition to this, medical videos can also be translated into other languages or easily subtitled. This eliminates the need to re-record new videos to reach certain demographics, making them a cost-effective medium for public health education.
- Increased Trust: When patients understand their health conditions and treatment plans through medical videos, it builds trust and confidence in their healthcare providers. In addition to this, medical videos also encourage patients and their families to take an active role in their healthcare.
Stages of Medical Video Production
It goes without saying that medical videos are only impactful when they are recorded and produced properly. They have to offer a perfect balance of being engaging while still communicating medically accurate information to be successful. This is why medical video production is usually done in stages, each building on the last.
#1. Setting Objectives and Scriptwriting
The first stage of creating impactful medical videos starts with clearly defining the video’s objectives. Here, you’ll need to decide if you want to create video content tailored towards other health professionals or the general public. This is important because it will guide your choice of words and approach to sharing specific information.
Once you have clearly defined the goals and target audience of your video, the next thing to do is work on the script. The scriptwriting process often distinguishes premium medical video content from mediocre ones. Writing a script helps you collect your thoughts in one place, preventing you from sharing information not essential to the set objectives.
Aside from this, a script helps you hit your target message. So, medical video production should not be done without a script. Note that you may need a scriptwriter to help you convey your message engagingly and creatively.
#2. Location Scouting
Once you have your script ready, the next thing to do is take care of the shooting location. Your recording location choice will contribute to determining how successful your videos are.
For example, medical videos explaining surgical procedures are best carried out in the theater, where viewers can see first-hand what they’re learning about. However, public health campaign videos may benefit better from a combination of studio and outdoor production.
#3. Production and Post-Production
This stage involves the actual filming, animation, and editing. Here, you may need to engage the services of a team of skilled professionals who can help you take care of the technical aspects of things. This will help ensure you always get quality final products.
Tips For Medical Video Production
- Fact-Check All Information: The allure of medical videos is that they contain expert information people need to know. So, it can damage your reputation when you share videos with the wrong information. This is why every info written in the script should be thoroughly reviewed and fact-checked before it is approved for shooting.
- Get Quality Equipment: Your medical video’s quality is only as good as the equipment you’re using. Be aware that poor-quality videos will only serve to reduce the trust of your target audience. Also, if the audio quality isn’t great, your audience won’t be able to clearly hear what information you’re conveying.
- Compliance and Ethical Considerations: Medical videos must adhere to strict ethical standards and regulatory compliances. This includes obtaining necessary permissions for patient information, ensuring privacy, and presenting information in a non-biased, factual manner. Make sure to tick all these boxes before proceeding with video production and release.
Conclusion
Medical videos play an important role in ensuring continual improvement and public health safety. However, they require quality medical video production best practices to be effective. Each of the above-listed stages of medical video production is essential in ensuring that the final product is always of the best quality. However, remember that there are compliance and ethical requirements that need to be considered before medical videos are released.