Photography In Private Practice

In this episode of PodMD, Director of RWS (Rooms With Style), Caroline Chaplin will be discussing the topic of photography in your private practice. We discuss the importance of photography, what kind of photos to use, outlines of timeframes and more.

• Transcript
  Please note this is a machine generated transcription and may contain some errors.
  *As always, all in this PodMD podcast is intended for health professionals and the comments are of a general nature. Information given is not intended as specific medical advice pertaining to any given patient. If you have a clinical issue with one of your patients please seek appropriate advice from a colleague with expertise in the area.

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  I’d like to welcome to PodMD studio, Caroline Chaplin, who is the director of RWS. Caroline, we’re talking today about photography in your practice and why it’s important. So why is this?

  Caroline: Well it might seem obvious, you know you need a photo for your profile for your website, but a lot of more thought needs to go into it than just that. So, really the ‘why’ is that you’re putting forward a professional presence. There’s an old saying in sales and let’s face it in relation to referrers choosing you and sometimes patients, it is kind of selling in a sense, so you are putting yourself forward and people are deciding whether you’ll be the one they’ll pick. So from that point of view, what they have to think about is, your perception. That’s really all they’ve got to go on and can judge you by really. So the saying is that people will buy on perception and then justify with logic. So why you need photos is because you’re creating a perception, and the perception that’s created by the photos needs to be the perception you’re trying to create.

  Question 1
  So Caroline, in relation to a perception that we might try to create, what do you mean by this and what’s been your experience?

  Caroline: Well, for example Portia in medical practises somebody might want to be state of the art and have the latest and greatest, whether it be equipment or whatever else it might be. So that being the case, the photography needs to reflect that. Somebody else might have a bit of a mission statement that it’s about being very wholesome and we take time with you and we don’t rush you through your appointments. Therefore, the photography needs to reflect that. So we’ve all seen copies of photos, even a profile photo that can convey very different meanings, so stop and have a think as to the ‘why’ you’re doing photography, why you need good photos.

  Question 2
  So in relation to the why, I think we’ve kind of covered that Caroline, but what about the the ‘what’, what actual photos do you recommend?

  Caroline: Again, a good question. When you’re earlier on in your career and you haven’t got all the money in the world, you don’t need a whole lot, but you just need some photos to get you started. So again, aligning with your brand and the perception you’re trying to create the ‘what’ photo will be #1, something before your profile. So if you’re trying to look relaxed and friendly, tell the photographer that that’s the aim for you. If it’s very corporate then that’s the image that needs to be conveyed. So the first one would be a profile photo and that needs to be for print publication as well as potentially on your website too. Next, you need some photography for your website and they can be some general photos of you in action.

  Question 3
  Caroline, when you say in action, what does that actually mean?

  Caroline: Photos that work really well are photos of you in your scrubs. Remember I said before, people buy on perception and justify with logic, well that’s the logic. The logic is ‘ohh right you are a surgeon’ ‘you are a physician with a stethoscope around your neck’ etc. So that’s how the layperson is judging your qualifications. It might be that one of the photos has your credentials in the background, so they need to see FRACS and need to see FRACP etcetera, so they can see that there and that joins together the dots. OK, this person I perceive as being good and I perceive them as organised and so forth are very professional, but also they’ve got the qualifications to back it up. Other photos I definitely recommend are ones with patients. You can have mock patients, if they’re real patients obviously you’ve got to get approval for that from them. They’re authority to be in the photos, but you don’t really need that. You can just have mock photos of arms and legs of relatives and so forth, if you’re an orthopaedic surgeon or a vascular surgeon or whatever it might be. It could be smiling at each other and shaking hands and so forth. Those things, whilst sometimes they can feel a bit cringey actually do work. People get a real sense of you and who you are. Again, depending on your brand, is the type of picture. So for example, you might have a picture at your desk smiling and being on the phone, but they just need to get the in impression, ‘gee he looks like a really nice guy’ ‘she looks really professional’. Again, it’s going back to that brand and then working out the photo. So for your website you only need probably two or three, and then you’ve got your profile photo as well. Later on you can do team photos and so forth. I definitely recommend with teams that you have a clause in staff contracts and so forth that you can have the website photos up for a certain period of time or until you do new photos. This just ensures you don’t have to take the photos all down and start again every time somebody leaves, that’s obviously not what you want.

  Question 4
  Okay Caroline, you’ve talked about the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ and a little bit the ‘when’, but let’s get back to the ‘when’ a little bit more. When would we take photos when we thinking about this.

  Caroline: The trigger points for photos Portia will be starting out in private practise. People need to see you. So typically for us, if we’re sending out, for example, a podcast a doctor has done, a profile information sheet about where they operate or where they consult, that needs to be containing a photo and it needs to be again aligning with the modus operandi or the vision of the practise. So that is definitely photos to get at the start as an absolute minimum. Two or three on the website as we’ve said, now don’t get too perturbed if they’re not your rooms. We can make them look like it’s your rooms and take away anything that’s private from another doctor that you might be just sharing with or it’s the hospital space or whatever. Again, remember, don’t get lost in anything but that you’re creating a perception. So what’s your perception going to be and now how do I go about creating it. We’re talking perception, not deception, so we’re not saying say things you can’t do and we’re not saying make yourself look like you’ve got 25 staff and you haven’t, but it’s just about creating the perception that the the image and the emotions around what you want people to buy on that perception. Sometimes the saying actually is people buying emotion, so that emotion is actually what creates the perception as well. So when else to get photos, well often trigger points will be opening up new rooms and so forth. It might be when other doctors join or sometimes just when you’re giving the the practise a fresh face. It might be when you’re a little bit more experienced and you decide to get a corporate brochure or whatever to go with your practise to that you might need a few more photos. Everybody has seen stock images, everybody knows when you’re using stock images, so to do something personable is such a great result and people will create that first connection with you.

  Question 5
  So Caroline on your website, what is the actual purpose of photos?

  Caroline: Well as I’ve said, it’s about creating that emotion and that perception. What’s the website for, it’s really for people to take another step, so it’s just enough to see what do you do. If you are saturated with photos and it’s overdone, then you might come across as quite egotistical and boastful about it and most doctors that we deal with don’t want to be like that at all, which is great. You’ve got to be obviously very respectful AHPRA guidelines, but we’ll advise you in relation to that if you’re a start up doctor and you’re not too sure. But at the end of the day the website is just about how can I take a next step, pick up the phone, book an appointment, or maybe go to my referring GP and just say hey, “Doctor Smith, I like the look of his website…I felt like we connected” or “Doctor Green I just felt really understood my needs and so forth”. So obviously the photos are important, but so are the words you use.

  Question 6
  So Caroline, just to finish off there, when you’re talking about the words, what are you meaning there?

  Caroline: I’m talking about the language that you’d use, it’s very tempting isn’t it, to go to ChatGPT and spit out a whole lot of AI text that’s not that personable to you, and that could be a starting point for a busy doctor. Again, what’s the emotional flavour that you’re trying to connect with? What are you trying to convey to the to the doctor? For example, if it’s all about being high tech, then you would be mentioning high tech equipment and you would be mentioning phrases like state of the art. So those sorts of things are what we’re talking about, just linking that perception with the words and with the photos is adding up to perception. If there was a maths equation, the words plus the image are equalling the perception. Of course that perception goes further too. Who answers the phone on the other end when I do make that call, so you can’t just think about your photography. You can’t just think about your website. You can’t just think about your phone. You think about the entire patient-journey, starting with photography though to put your image forward. The other thing just to finish off I would say is that the other reason to regularly update your photos is because we all age and you look different. I know that there’s been quite a few startup doctors that we have worked hard to try and make them look a little bit older because they look fresh out of high school when they’ve started, lucky them. Then other doctors suddenly realise, wow I’m at a point now where I give the perception I must be in the know and I’ve got it together and I’ve got that bit more experience behind me. So at that point, new photos can be something really worthwhile as well. I haven’t gone through today things like what to wear and so forth at photos, if you do get asked to do your photos, we send that all to you. Be mindful of that too, do a bit of research so that you make the most out of your your photo shoot. I think that I’ve covered everything today Portia.

  Well, thanks Caroline. That’s very informative and I think it gives doctors a really good idea about how to go about getting their first photos and maybe their photos as the practise progresses and transitions. Thanks very much for attending the Pod MD Studio today.

  Caroline: You’re welcome, Portia. Thank you very much too.