A healthcare crisis can cause a flood of questions in a short amount of time. Patients want to know exactly what happened, what it implies to them and what they need to do next.
In a 2024 study, 28% of adults indicated they preferred video as a way to receive health information, and 57% said health information often felt difficult to understand. In a crisis, the requirement for straightforward communication is even more critical.
Video offers health systems the ability to send a clear message through a trusted voice, graphics, instructions, captions and crucial updates all in one medium.
What Is Healthcare Crisis Communication?
Healthcare crisis communication is the information a health system shares during an occurrence that may compromise patient safety, access to care, or public health.
Disease outbreaks, emergencies at facilities, disruptions in service, safety accidents, or changes to care protocols. Communication must also be correct, timely, and consistent across all patient-facing channels.
Also Read: How Video Fits Into Healthcare CRM and Patient Communication
Why Videos Matter During Healthcare Crisis Communication?
Video can be a tool for healthcare organizations to share urgent information that patients can see, hear, and analyze. It has a number of practical uses in crisis communication.
• Explain Difficult Ideas Quickly
Some health emergencies have new clinical terminology, new methods, or unforeseen risks. Graphics, photos, demonstrations, and decent narration in a video would make the subject easier.
• Give Clear Directions to Patients
In a crisis, patients may want specific information regarding appointments, access to facilities, symptoms, testing, or safety measures. A brief video can take the patient through those stages and explain to them what to expect.
• Provide Consistent Data
A central video message can provide the same fundamental information to patients, workers, and community members. Health systems can distribute the authorized video via websites, patient portals, social media, and email.
• Address Misinformation
The rumors spread swiftly in a health crisis. Video can be used by a physician, public health professional, or health system leader to dispel misinformation, clarify the facts, and link individuals to credible sources.
• Engage Patients Across Channels
Crisis videos can populate several communication channels from one production item. Teams can produce shorter edits or channel-specific versions for social media, email, digital signage, and patient portals.
How Can Healthcare Organizations Use Video During a Crisis?
Crisis video needs a defined job. A hospital may have to explain a new infection-control procedure, divert patients to another facility or respond to a public health risk. The message, spokesperson, structure, and distribution should match that need.
1. Breaking News
Short leadership or clinical videos when patients need an urgent update. Cover the situation, affected services, and what patients need to do. Easy to change the video as new information comes in.
2. Patient Safety Guidance
Demonstrations can be used for instructions that patients can follow. Learn how to prepare for a visit, get to a temporary care location, follow isolation instructions, or respond to a safety notification. Visual cues can help patients take each step correctly.
3. Changes to Facilities and Services
Hospitals may have to tell people about changes in visiting policies, appointment schedules, access to the emergency department, testing sites, or operational hours. Video can guide patients through the change and direct them to the latest information about the service.
4. Provider & Leadership Communications
Depending on the issue, select a physician, infectious disease expert, public health expert, or health system head. The right spokesperson can put the clinical context in place, respond to patients’ concerns, and reaffirm official guidelines.
5. Education in Public Health
Use video for topics like symptoms, prevention, testing, immunization, or exposure guidance. Route clinical claims to the right subject matter expert and provide a clear source for the current information.
Must Read: Why Every Healthcare Service Line Needs Its Own Video Strategy
What Makes a Healthcare Crisis Video Effective?
Crisis video needs a defined job. The production method should enable accuracy, clarity, accessibility, and fast updates.
• Lead with the Key Messages
Begin with the important update. Explain to viewers what has happened, who it impacts, and what they need to do before providing context.
• Use Clear, Simple Language
Keep clinical terminology to what the audience needs. Explain medical jargon in layman’s terms. Provide advice on what the patient should do.
• Use Trusted Clinical Voices
Match spokesman to subject. A clinical expert can help with medical counsel, an executive with operational updates. Stick to the approved crisis communication plan of the health system.
• Add Captions and Transcripts
Crisis videos need to be able to function without sound and serve patients with hearing loss. Accurate captions, transcripts, intelligible graphics and excellent audio also improve access across channels.
• Provide Patients With a Clear Next Step
Every video needs to connect patients to an activity or a trusted resource. That might be reaching out to a care team, looking at the patient portal, going to a specific crisis page, or getting emergency care.
How Can Health Systems Produce Crisis Videos Quickly?
Crisis video needs a defined job. Health systems need a process that allows teams to go from an approved message to a publish-ready video without adding extra production phases.
1. Use Editable Templates
Develop templates for emergency notifications, provider communications, patient instructions and service alerts. Prebuilt images, lower thirds, captions and brand features can save on production time.
2. Define Clinical Review Roles
Assign clinical and communications reviewers pre-crisis. A proper review chain allows teams to accept medical claims, patient instructions and final edits without needing to transmit the video through numerous rounds of review.
3. Keep Production Workflow Simple
Use a production setup for fast recording, editing, and versioning. For urgent updates, a regulated studio or remote recording method may be better than a huge on-location shoot.
4. Pre-Plan Distribution Channels
Be ready to go with your website, patient portal, social media pages, email lists, and internal channels before an incident occurs. This lets the teams concentrate on the message, not on working out distribution during the crisis.
5. Make Updates Simple
Crisis information might change in a matter of hours. Create videos using modular graphics, interchangeable parts, and editable text so teams can adjust crucial details without starting the whole video again.
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Where Should Crisis Videos Be Shared?
Crisis video needs a defined job. Hospitals may need to connect with patients, staff, caregivers, or the broader community through diverse methods.
• Website of the Health System
Create a specific crisis or emergency portal to be the main source of current information. Upload the video and provide written guidance and contact information as appropriate.
• Patient Portal
For current patients, share patient-specific updates, appointment instructions, and access to care information via the portal when the message applies.
• Social Media
Short video cuts for urgent public updates, directing viewers to the main information source of the health system. Keep the social version to a single, straightforward statement.
Use video in patient or community communications when an audience requires context for a service modification, health advice, or operational update.
• Digital Signage
Use brief captioned videos in waiting rooms and facility entrances for instructions that impact patients on site.
• Internal Communication Systems
Use video to prepare employees for operational changes, safety procedures, staffing information, or communication assistance before they meet patients.
How Should Health Systems Measure Crisis Video Performance?
Crisis video needs a defined job. Did they see the key parts? And what did they do after that?
1. Reach & Views
See unique visitors and total views by channel. This shows you how many people have viewed the video. It does not say whether they understood the message.
2. Watch Time & Listener Retention
Find out how long viewers watched and where they dropped off. If many people drop off before a key instruction, it could be that the video is too long or that part isn’t explained clearly enough.
3. Website Activity & Clicks
Track clicks to crisis updates, FAQs, appointment info, and other helpful pages. It can also tell you what individuals looked at after watching the video.
4. Patient’s Activities
If the video instructs patients to do something, follow up on what happened next. This could include rescheduling an appointment, filling out a form, making a phone call, downloading information, or visiting a care location.
5. Feedback & Questions
Watch the questions patients are asking after the video is live. This includes calls, comments, and other feedback. If people continuously ask about the same topic, maybe the video should do a better job of explaining it.
How Healthcare Video Production Supports Crisis Communication
Crisis video needs a defined job. A systematic workflow can bring together planning, production, editing, distribution, and analytics into one process.
Cyrano Video assists healthcare systems through healthcare video production, account management, compliant templates, strategic distribution and performance tracking. By producing various videos or versions for different audiences and channels in a single production session, teams save time and resources.
Looking for a healthcare video strategy that can help your team in a crisis? Schedule a discovery call with Cyrano Video and tell us what you need.
FAQs
Why is video crucial in healthcare crisis communication?
Video may simplify difficult material, demonstrate safety practices, correct misconceptions, and provide the same updates across multiple platforms.
What can hospitals do with videos in a crisis?
Video can be used in hospitals to deliver emergency alerts, patient safety instructions, service changes, public health education, and messages from clinical or administrative leadership.
What to include in a healthcare crisis communication video?
A crisis video should provide the main facts, be in plain language, have an acceptable spokesperson, provide captions, and provide the viewer with a particular next move.
How do healthcare companies make crisis videos on the fly?
The ability to produce and distribute post-crisis videos more rapidly is enabled by pre-built templates, designated clinical review roles, optimized production pipelines, and existing distribution channels.
Where can healthcare crisis videos be published?
Health systems can publish to their website, patient portal, social media, email, digital signage and internal communications channels, depending on the audience and urgency.
