Creating Case Studies For Health Technology

Most health technology sectors require your company to sell its ideas and products to multiple different groups at the same time. Here are some potential audiences you may be targeting:

• Healthcare providers: Hospitals, clinics and private practices.
• Medical professionals: Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers.
• Government and regulatory bodies: The NHS and other government agencies.
• Insurance companies
• Patients and consumers
• Research institutions and Academia
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Investors and partners

Each of these audiences will have their needs and perspectives, and you run the risk of convincing no one by trying to target them all at once. For example, a case study focusing on a patient’s positive outcome will sadly not be enough to get through to NHS Procurement if it comes without a compelling economic argument. Likewise, savings may not be what is on a patient’s mind.

If in doubt, create several case studies adapted to each audience.

Connecting with an audience, even with a ground-breaking product, can be difficult.

A case study is about highlighting how your product solves a specific problem. So, showing that you understand your audience’s pain points will significantly improve your chances of getting their attention.

Let’s say you’ve developed an AI-based tool that improves the accuracy of medical diagnoses. Start your case study by detailing the challenges doctors often face while diagnosing complex cases – perhaps high rates of misdiagnoses, time-consuming manual processes, or delays in treatment. You have probably guessed by now that you will need to do some user research to get this right. 

Once you have identified the real problems, you can explain how your solution is their best bet for making their pain go away.

Discuss how your solution addresses these challenges.

For instance, you can show how the Artificial Intelligence tool can give doctors a probability score for multiple potential diagnoses based on patient symptoms and medical history, allowing for more accurate decisions and quicker treatment. If you target patients, you could demonstrate how this solution shortens their waiting time.

Make this section as visual as possible. At this stage, the readers of your case study will want to see how others have benefited from your solution. It is the time to introduce photography or illustration so they can quickly empathise. You will also want to list the benefits in a way that is easy to scan, using bullet points or introducing new typography and colours that stand out.

Eight-second elevator pitches are useful to create interest in your company, and hopefully secure a subsequent meeting or a ‘tell me more’. It would be unrealistic to expect a contract to also be signed during the same elevator ride. Case Studies can be seen as part of the ‘more’- along with the follow up meeting, demo, etc.

We have all seen the much cited research published research by Microsoft that since the ‘mobile phone revolution’ in the early 2000’s, people’s attention span is reducing. Case Studies can be a long read, won’t people switch off?

Other research shows that customers are willing to take the time when it benefits them. As Dr. Gemma Briggs, a psychology lecturer at the Open University, points out in a BBC article that goes a long way to dispel the attention span myth.

No case study is complete without concrete evidence.

You now need to quantify the impact of your product or service. This helps your audience understand the tangible benefits of what you’re offering. Measurable results typically involve metrics or data that show clear before-and-after comparisons or demonstrate progress over time. Here’s how you can highlight measurable results effectively:

• Be Specific: Specific data is more impactful than generalized statements. Instead of saying, “Our product helped improve diagnosis accuracy,” you might say, “Our AI diagnostic tool reduced misdiagnoses rates by 20% within six months.”
• Use Relevant Metrics: The metrics you use should align with the challenges your product or service is designed to address. For example, if your tool is intended to streamline medical billing, then time saved on administrative tasks or a reduction in billing errors would be relevant metrics.
• Compare and Contrast: Showing a contrast between the ‘before’ and ‘after’ situations can effectively demonstrate your product’s impact. If implementing your health tech solution decreased patient wait times from 60 minutes to 15 minutes, that’s a powerful statement about its effectiveness.
• Tie Results to Customer Goals: Your results should be connected to your customer’s objectives. If a hospital’s goal was to improve patient satisfaction and your tool helped increase satisfaction scores by 25%, then this is a crucial result to highlight.
• Use Visuals: Visuals such as charts, graphs, or infographics can make your results easier to understand and more engaging. They offer a quick way for readers to grasp the impact of your solution.
• Contextualise Results: Just stating results isn’t enough; you must interpret them. Explain why the results matter. For instance, if your product reduced average hospital stays by two days, explain how this benefits the hospital (e.g., reduces costs, increases capacity) and the patients (e.g., less disruption to their lives, lower costs).

Once you have shared the numbers, you need to make them relatable.

Direct quotes from satisfied customers humanise your case study, making it relatable and believable. This could be a doctor discussing how the tool changed their practice or perhaps a patient who received swift and accurate treatment thanks to the technology.

Reading or hearing a real person confirm the improvements your product delivered can be very powerful.

We share tips on making your case studies more relatable in our second post in this series.

Spending some time on the design of the case study can significantly improve readability and engagement. 

Incorporate graphics, charts, images, and other visual aids to make your complex information easier to digest. Use photography to make people relate or illustration to make it more accessible. Use visuals to break the monotony of text but also keep plenty of white space. 

You will find all our tips on making your case studies visually appealing in the third and last post of the series. 

Your case study is done, and it reads and looks excellent. What now?

You are ready to share it with the world… or the relevant audience. The brilliant thing with case studies is that you can share them everywhere:

• Website: Post the case study on your company’s website. This is typically the first point of contact for potential customers and partners. You could have a dedicated ‘Case Studies’ or ‘Success Stories’ section. Also, consider linking to relevant case studies on product pages or blog posts.
• Blog: Summarise your case study in a blog post, focusing on the key problem, solution, and outcomes. This can provide readers with a more casual, engaging entry point into the case study. Link to the entire case study for those interested in more detailed information.
• Email Marketing: Share the case study with your email list. You can either include it in your regular newsletter or send a dedicated email. Tailor your message to different segments of your audience, highlighting the aspects of the case study that are most relevant to them.
• Social Media: Share your case study on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. You could post shorter updates over a few days or weeks, each focusing on a different aspect of the case study.
• Webinars and Online Events: Present your case study during webinars or virtual events. This offers an opportunity to delve deeper into the problem, solution, and results and engage in a Q&A with the audience.
• Press Release: If your case study involves a significant achievement, consider writing a press release. This can be distributed to media outlets and industry publications, potentially resulting in press coverage that can increase your visibility.
• Sales Collateral: Include the case study in your sales collateral. It can be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of your product to potential customers.
• Industry Forums and Groups: Share your case study in relevant forums or groups, such as professional organisations, LinkedIn groups, or industry-specific online communities.

Remember, every platform has its best practices for sharing content, so ensure you tailor your approach accordingly. For instance, use engaging visuals on social media, and don’t be afraid to share case studies in several small posts. In emails or on your website, use compelling headlines and CTAs (Call To Action) to encourage engagement.

Finally, monitor the performance of your case study across these different channels. Use analytics to understand where it’s getting the most engagement, which can inform your distribution strategy for future case studies.

Are you ready to give it a go? Get in touch if you need help writing and designing engaging case studies. Our team of talented copywriters and graphic designers surely know how to make a case study stand out.