Physician Promote Thyself: Tips for Growing Practice

SPEAKING OF BUSINESS

Question: I’ve recently opened a medical clinic, and I’m trying to get the word out about my services. We use a new system, which is being widely adopted across the U.S. and involves the latest medical equipment to help with back and neck pain.

Patients are driving many hours for treatments, since I’m the only one in Northern Colorado with this system. However, I’d like to grow my clinic, and I am wondering what’s the best way to go about that?

Answer: You are in a relationship business. The nature and quality of your relationships with your clients and prospective clients determines the success of your practice.

Charles Steinberg has developed a punch list that should work for your clinic. We both agree a good place to start is by doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.

A strength can be as simple as a fellowship in a subspecialty. A unique characteristic of a business that brings in customers is often called its value proposition. Thus, clarifying a value proposition of a business can easily be accomplished by completing the following statement: “Patients come to this office because …”

The doctor must strive to complete the sentence and remain focused on fulfilling the aspect of service that it addresses. This excellent exercise forces practitioners to identify what sets them apart from their competitors.

All businesses, including physician practices, have weaknesses. Recognizing these weaknesses and addressing them is particularly important.

Opportunities and threats must also be defined. Opportunities vary widely, but all are related to fulfilling some unmet market need. On the other hand, a common threat to nearly all businesses, including physician practices, is the threat that a competitor might move into the area. Also, recognizing competitors’ strengths, weaknesses and strategies should also be attempted. This exercise may allow the practitioner to see unfulfilled niches.

In addition in finding your niche, I would recommend for you to try to:

* Choose an Internet consultant to develop a Web site that will be used to promote your services and to communicate with patients.

* Send out health-maintenance reminders – a series of yearly reminders to ensure individuals receive recommended checkups for their age and gender.

* Develop a new movers program two different mailings designed to acquaint area newcomers with your health programs and services. Send newcomers a magnet with your contact information and a self-mailer with a health quiz. For those who returned a completed quiz, send them a free first-aid kit.

* Physician referral program – to build relationships with new patients and to strengthen those with existing patients.

* Meet with or entertain potential referring doctors (e.g., take one or more potential referring doctors to lunch).

* Create customized newsletters, customized messages and offers to keep patients in touch with the latest health events and programs. A newsletter can help you efficiently maintain and improve your relationships with a large number of people. In fact, it could be argued that there is no better way.

* Speak at various local community organizations (e.g., business firms, civic groups, service organizations, church groups).

* Have refrigerator magnets inscribed with the practice’s name and telephone number. Give the magnets to new patients as they leave the office.

* Identify potential marketing partnerships with companies that would benefit from a joint promotional effort.

* Build a database of customers, including both referring doctors and patients, because staying in touch with them is invaluable. The 80-20 rule applies here. Eighty percent of a practitioner’s patients are likely to come from 20 percent of that practitioner’s referring doctors.

* Consider sending a letter to patients thanking them for coming to the office.

* Implement a regular system to contact new patients or patients who have undergone procedures. An action such as this demonstrates that the physician cares.

* Cooperative partnerships between area employers and yourself can pay off for you, employers and employees with good benefit plan choices. Develop a service that will cater to their needs. Do site visits or conduct a heath fair at their business. Follow up by sending postcards informing the new patients of your services and encouraged recipients to visit you or your Web site for more information.

One last thought, an organization’s first customers are its own employees. If employees understand and endorse the organization’s products, services and marketing strategies, they are more likely to use their own organization’s services and more likely to take care of a customer. An organization’s employees are its most important communicators and marketers. Employees should understand the organization’s service strengths as well as its advantages over the competition. A successful marketing program trains employees on marketing behaviors and actions and helps them understand their marketing responsibilities and roles so they can actively represent the organization and generate positive word-of-mouth marketing.

Russell Disberger

Greeley resident Russell Disberger is a founding member of Aspen Business Group LLC, a Colorado-based organizational consulting firm. He can be reached at (970) 396-7009 or Russell@aspenbusinessgroup.com.

Copyright The Boulder County Business Report Jul 22-Aug 4, 2005