Writing For Healthcare Professionals

As Chief Medical Officer at GE HealthCare, my primary responsibility is to lead the medical function grounding our innovations in clinical evidence, ensuring efficacy, and bringing the voice of the clinician into every strategic decision we make. But there’s another element to this role that’s less visible yet deeply impactful: marketing. While I don’t manage marketing directly, I collaborate with our marketing teams more than one might expect from a physician by training. Why? Because in healthcare, clinical credibility and commercial clarity must go hand in hand. Here are the marketing elements I find most critical: 1. Storytelling with substance Clinicians don’t respond to hype, they respond to evidence. But evidence needs a compelling narrative. I work with marketing to ensure our stories are rooted in data, but framed in a way that communicates real-world value to providers, health systems, and patients alike. 2. Segmentation that reflects reality Understanding our clinical stakeholders - radiologists, cardiologists, oncologists, technologists, hospital executives - is essential. Marketing helps us tailor messaging by audience, while I help ensure those audience profiles reflect real clinical behaviors and challenges. 3. Positioning built on outcomes It’s not enough to say a product is innovative; we must demonstrate how it improves outcomes. The medical team contributes the data, the trials, the insights. Marketing shapes that into positioning that resonates across markets, languages, and care settings. 4. Credibility through collaboration Thought leadership is a shared responsibility. Whether we’re preparing for a major conference or publishing peer-reviewed studies, marketing helps amplify the work of our clinical experts. Together, we balance scientific rigor with accessible communication. 5. Listening as a strategy Much of marketing is about listening to the market. Much of medicine is about listening to the patient. At this intersection, I find some of the most valuable insights. Marketing teams surface unmet needs, competitive dynamics, and shifting expectations. My role is to interpret those through a clinical lens and help turn them into better solutions. In short: I don’t “do” marketing, but I can’t do my job without it. Healthcare is evolving rapidly. The Chief Medical Officer-role must evolve with it bridging clinical insight and market relevance, ensuring that what we build is not only scientifically sound, but also meaningfully communicated to the people who need it most. Would love to hear how others in clinical or marketing roles navigate this balance. #healthcare #radiology #marketing #digitalhealth

I didn’t walk into storytelling because it was trending… I walked into it because patients were dying from confusion. One patient in particular changed everything for me. He sat across from me tired, scared, nodding as I explained his condition. A few months later, he came back. But this time, in a worse state. He hadn’t followed the treatment plan I gave him… Because he didn’t understand me the first time. That was the moment I realised that you can’t treat people with words they don’t relate to. You can’t save people who don’t understand what you’re saving them from. And that’s how storytelling became the operating system behind everything we do. From building Aproko Doctor to a community of over 10 million people… To now building AwaDoc; A platform where people can ask health questions without fear or shame… Every time I hit ‘record’, I’m not just sharing information… I’m translating hope into something people can understand. Because in a country where myths and misinformation go viral, content isn’t just communication… It’s infrastructure. We don’t need more grammar. We need more storytellers who can break down complex ideas… And make them feel like the truth in your own language. Health is too important to be boring. That’s why we need to make it heard by making it human through storytelling. Never forget: our stories still matter.

Healthcare is boring for LinkedIn. “Doctors have nothing to talk about.” “Medical content won’t get engagement.” Wrong. Here’s a comment from one of our healthcare clients: “Dr. Saab, reading your words gave me goosebumps. If doctors like you are out there, then truly miracles do happen. Your compassion turns science into hope and healing.” That’s not boring. That’s powerful. What should healthcare professionals talk about? [1] Your why Why did you become a doctor? What drives you every day? [2] Myth-busting “Most people think X about diabetes. Here’s the truth.” Simple. Educational. Valuable. [3] Behind the scenes The moment you knew this was your calling. A breakthrough that changed everything. [4] Make it simple Explain complex medical stuff in normal words. Help people understand their health better. [5] Be human Share your passion. Show your personality. Connect beyond the white coat. The problem isn’t that healthcare is boring. The problem is doctors think they need to sound like textbooks. You save lives. You have knowledge people need. You see hope and healing every day. That’s content gold. Stop hiding behind medical jargon. Start sharing the human side of healing. The world needs your voice.

Nobody teaches you these things in medical writing. You figure them out slowly, sometimes painfully on the job. I'm sharing them so you don't have to wait as long as I did. If you're starting out in medical content writing, save this. 🔖 1. Your reader is never who you think they are. You write a clinical summary assuming a specialist will read it. A nurse reads it. A patient's caregiver reads it. A regulator reads it. Before every document, ask: who is actually going to read this and what do they already know? 2. Accuracy is the floor. Clarity is the ceiling. New medical writers obsess over getting the facts right. Experienced writers obsess over whether those facts land correctly. A document can be 100% accurate and completely useless. 3. Every word you cut makes the document stronger. "It may potentially be considered advisable to consult a physician in certain circumstances." → "Consult your doctor if unsure." Same meaning. A fraction of the cognitive load. 4. Know the difference between writing for compliance and writing for comprehension. A lot of medical content is written to tick a box. The best medical writers hold both standards simultaneously: regulatory rigour AND human clarity. 5. The brief is a starting point, not a ceiling. When a client gives you a brief, they're telling you what they think they need. Your job is to understand what their audience actually needs and sometimes those are very different things. 6. Structure is doing half the work before a single sentence. Readers don't read medical content. They scan it, lead with what matters & make it impossible to miss the point. 7. The best feedback comes from outside the room. The smartest review on any health content isn't from your most senior colleague. It's from someone with no medical background who tells you honestly what they understood and what they didn't. Medical writing sits at the intersection of science, communication, and real human impact. If you're building your career in this space, you're doing something that matters. Which of these did you wish someone had told you earlier? Drop it below 👇 #MedComms #MedicalWriting #HealthcareCareers #LifeSciences #ContentStrategy #HealthLiteracy #MedicalCommunications

Digital Marketing That Actually Works for Hospitals: Three Approaches Worth Investing In Digital marketing in healthcare has matured significantly over the past few years. The hospitals that are seeing real results have moved beyond simply running Google ads and posting on social media. They have found ways to make digital work as a genuine extension of the patient relationship, not just a lead generation engine. Three approaches that are delivering meaningful, sustainable results: 1) Content that educates earns more trust than content that promotes. The most effective hospital digital strategies are built around genuinely useful health content. Short videos where doctors explain common conditions in simple language. Articles that help patients understand what to expect before a procedure. Infographics that make complex health information accessible. This kind of content does not feel like advertising to the patient. It feels like care. And when a hospital consistently shows up as a trusted source of health information, the patient's choice of where to seek treatment becomes almost automatic. 2) The call centre is the bridge between digital interest and clinical action. A hospital can run the most sophisticated digital campaign in the country, but if the patient's first phone call is met with a long hold time, an indifferent voice, or a confusing appointment process, the investment is wasted. The hospitals seeing the best digital ROI are the ones that have invested equally in their call centre experience. Prompt response, warm communication, and a seamless booking process. This is where digital marketing converts from interest into action. 3) Data driven optimisation turns good campaigns into great ones. The real power of digital is measurability. The best hospital marketing teams track the complete funnel from ad impression to enquiry to registration to consultation to procedure. They know which channels, which messages, and which specialities deliver the strongest conversion. This discipline of measurement and continuous improvement separates hospitals that spend on digital from hospitals that invest in digital. The exciting thing about digital marketing in healthcare is that the fundamentals are simple. Create content patients genuinely value. Make the first interaction warm and easy. Measure everything and keep improving. When these three elements come together, digital stops being a cost centre and becomes one of the most powerful growth engines a hospital can build. What digital marketing approach has worked best for your hospital? I would love to hear what is delivering real results for you. #DigitalMarketing #HealthcareMarketing #HospitalMarketing #DigitalHealth #PatientEngagement #IndianHealthcare

Text-heavy health information often falls flat, and that's no surprise. Research from journals like JMIR and Patient Education and Counseling suggests that well-crafted, engaging content—especially when it’s visual—can make a world of difference. By using concise storytelling and clear illustrations or animations, patients tend to grasp complex topics more quickly and feel more empowered to act. Why it works: • Simplicity & Story: Animated or visually rich explainers break down medical jargon, boosting understanding and recall. • Behavioral Frameworks: Tapping into models like the Health Belief Model(HBM) or the Transtheoretical Model ensures the content addresses specific challenges and motivations. • Relatable Scenarios: Illustrating real-life situations helps viewers see themselves in the story, making them more likely to adopt the recommendations. Bottom line: Switching from “just read” to “truly engage” shifts patients from passive observers to proactive participants in their own health journey. By prioritizing clear, visually engaging elements, we give patients the best shot at making informed decisions—and sticking to healthier habits.

All surgeons (marketers) are liars? Every surgeon has two patients on the table. The first is the body they're operating on. The second is the story they're telling. Most only focus on the first. But here's what the best surgeons know: healing happens twice. Once under the knife, and once in the narrative. "All marketers are liars," Seth Godin once wrote. Not because they're dishonest, but because they tell stories people choose to believe. Surgeons are marketers too. But they've been told a dangerous story themselves – that technical excellence is enough. That outcomes speak louder than narratives. They're wrong. Because while you were mastering microsurgery, your patients were mastering AI prompts. While you were publishing in journals, they were joining Facebook groups. While you were focused on outcomes, they were searching for meaning. The story gap: Your story: "I performed a technically perfect procedure." Their story: "Will I dance at my daughter's wedding?" The most successful surgeons aren't just technically skilled. They're translators. Meaning-makers. Story-shapers. They know that: - Patients don't buy procedures. They buy futures. - They don't seek surgeries. They seek solutions. - They don't want operations. They want transformations. Your scalpel can cut tissue. But only your stories can cut through fear. The question isn't whether you'll tell a story. It's whether you'll tell one that resonates, that heals, that matters. Or will you leave your patients to write their own? What story are you telling beyond the operating room?

Pain loops don’t just happen in nerves — they happen in narratives. Because the brain remembers pain. But so does the story we tell about it. As a pain physician, I’ve learned that treating the signal isn’t enough. We can disrupt pain pathways with the latest devices, apply precision with neuromodulation, and get the numbers to move — VAS scores drop, mobility improves. And yet, some patients stay stuck. Not physically. But existentially. Because chronic pain doesn’t just alter the nervous system. It rewrites identity. I’ve seen patients go from a pain score of 8 to a 2 and still feel lost. They no longer know who they are without the pain. Or worse — they only know themselves through it. Their story has fused with their symptom. That’s where I believe narrative medicine must meet interventional care. We don’t talk enough about how story work — reframing, reflection, even writing — can reinforce or disrupt the pain cycle. We don’t integrate mental health, memory, and meaning-making enough when designing treatment plans. And we definitely don’t train for it. This isn’t “soft” medicine. This is systems-level thinking. Because when someone has lived with pain for years, healing is not just about analgesia. It’s about narrative recovery. Let’s stop separating hardware from humanity. Let’s build clinical models where neuromodulation and narrative medicine sit at the same table. Because pain isn’t just what fires in the body. It’s what lingers in the story.

🎯 #Storytelling in Scientific Communication: One Size Does NOT Fit All 🚫 Here’s one of the mistakes we make in communication: → We craft one scientific story… → …and tell it the same way to every audience. 📍But here’s the truth: Different audiences need different stories. ✅ KOLs want more data depth. ✅ HCPs want patient impact. ✅ Patients want hope and clarity. ✅ Policymakers want public health outcomes. That’s why 👉 Audience Mapping Exercise is critical in every time I prepare a new scientific message; whether it’s a clinical trial result, or product update. 👇 Here’s How I Break It Down: 🔬 #KOLs ⏩ Care about details, statistical and clinical significance, new findings. ⏩ Comfortable with high-level scientific terminologies. ⏩ Prefer publications, and technical discussions. ⏩ Story angle: Focus on methodology, Added value, and scientific impact. 👨⚕️ HCPs ⏩ Care about how data translates into patient outcomes and clinical decisions. ⏩ Prefer medium-level jargon—keep it scientific but practical. ⏩ Prefer clear visuals, concise slide decks, and engaging discussions. ⏩ Story angle: “How will this change my patient’s care tomorrow?” ✅ Let’s see how this plays out with a real clinical message: 🎯 Scientific Message: Our new HCV therapy achieves a 98% SVR rate in treatment-experienced patients. To #KOLs: “In our Phase III trial with 1,200 patients, we observed a 98% SVR12 rate among prior non-responders. Subgroup analyses confirmed efficacy across genotypes. P<0.001.” To #HCPs: “This new therapy offers a 98% chance of viral clearance for patients who previously failed treatment—potentially reducing liver disease progression and long-term complications.” Remember to adapt your message based on your audience needs and level of knowledge 😉 ✅ Key Takeaway: In #MedicalAffairs, our job isn’t just to share data. It’s to deliver the right story to the right audience.

In medical school, we are often trained in the "Medical Gaze." It is a way of looking at a patient as a "case" to be solved or a set of symptoms to be managed. Under the medical gaze, a person becomes a collection of data points: Age 32. G2P1. High BMI. History of hypertension. But the medical gaze is incomplete. It misses the "colors"—the life, the history, and the humanity—that actually determine how a person heals. When I walk into an exam room, I choose the "Human Gaze." I don't just see a "high-risk patient." I see a woman who might be navigating the "Weathering" of a stressful job. I see a mother who is carrying the legacy of her ancestors. I see someone whose family might gather in a barbershop like the one I grew up in, debating politics and dreaming of prosperity. The medical system loves data because data is easy to measure. But data alone cannot fix the Black maternal health crisis. Data tells us what is happening, but storytelling tells us why. When we listen to a mother’s story—her fears, her home life, her intuition—we find the keys to her safety that a blood pressure cuff could never catch. To truly provide equitable care, we have to value a patient’s narrative as much as we value their lab results.