The Elliot Heart Surgery Prep.
Medical Ad copywriting is a unique skill to acquire. Medical Ad copywriting needs to meet legal and scientific requirements, and yet it needs to be patient-centric. It needs to be a blend of rigorous clinical accuracy and also use everyday persuasive words. In addition to this paradoxes clients often find it hard to decide their primary audience. Is their video for patients, healthcare professionals, caregivers, or company executives? Unlike most advertising, medical videos must adhere to strict regulatory, legal, and ethical guidelines, such as FDA regulations and HIPAA, ensuring all claims are scientifically validated.
For the Elliot Heart Surgery Center, I had to replace complex terminology with plain language for example we replaced "hypertension" with "high blood pressure". I also created a 6 point structure that was easy for patient's to follow. Patients love getting a video outline, because it makes them feel like they are in control. A video outline also lets viewers know their time will be respected.
With the The Elliot Heart and Vascular Center I was tasked with cutting the copy in several brochures down to a 6 minute script. After editing, I refine and polish the language. With video Ad-copy words need to be clear and written as close to dialogue as possible. They words need to be simple and streamlined. Jargon needs to be removed, and the message needs to be concise and compelling.
Establishing the right tone is a big part of my job. Open heart surgery is very sensitive, not only for patients, but also for hospitals. So I had to strike a delicate balance. On the one hand the video is deadly serious. On the other hand we could not be so serious and professional that patients would not arrive for surgery. The video needed to demonstrate care. Patients needed to know they were safe in the surgical team's hands.
The solution for achieving the right tone was the drafting of a series of illustrations. Viewers did not need to see the bloody realty of open heart surgery, or even photographs of a clean clinical surgery center. Photos and videos of doctors and surgery rooms often fail to convey the care that is demonstrated in person. So the Elliot and I selected a specific illustration style. Patients need to know what to do and it all needed to be conveyed in a calm thoughtful storybook way. Similar to the care a parent might give to a child.
In the end, we were proud to create the first animated heart surgery prep video. Finding any heart surgery prep video on the internet is difficult. Much less a storybook animation. We have high hopes the video will not only reach patients of the Elliot Center, but it will be a guide for heart surgery patients around the world.