Your practice of medicine will not thrive without patients. Do not make the mistake that some doctors have made by signing a lease for an office space; investing thousands of dollars in computers, furnishings, and medical equipment; hiring an office manager and a nurse; and then waiting for the patients to come through the door.
When you are beginning a practice, it is essential to have a business plan. Marketing your business is an important item in your business plan and your budget, and you should think of it as a vital part of your career building. While your marketing budget should not be calculated strictly as a percentage of gross revenues, established businesses typically spend 2%-5% of gross income marketing, while new businesses may spend between 10%-15% of gross income for the first couple of years.
Marketing has two phases-getting patients and keeping them. In marketing your medical practice, you also have two audiences-the people or businesses that will be able to refer patients to you. For example, if you practice family medicine, your primary audience is the general public, but once you are established in the community, you may find that a lot of your business comes from insurance companies and other doctors. Your marketing should target both audiences.
In a small town, family connections and friends form the beginning network for your patient list. If you begin by buying an existing practice, you have a built-in basis not only for patients, but for a network upon which to build. When you purchase a practice, the patients may decide to stay with you or they may decide to switch to another doctor. Marketing can make the difference between the two decisions.
If you do purchase a practice or take over a practice in existence, consider having the outgoing or retiring doctor introduce you, through a letter, phone calls, or even an office open house where you can meet patients and they can meet you. If you are taking over a practice of a deceased doctor, take the time to compose a letter to the doctor’s patients, expressing your condolences, introducing yourself, and inviting them to make an appointment to meet with you to discuss their future medical care.
Consider investing a modest amount of money in renovating the offices by putting in new carpeting and paintings, with some new furniture and decorations. An open house celebrating the change is a good opportunity to introduce yourself to the patients and to demonstrate to t hem that you are a person whom they can trust, just as the former physician trusted you.
Providing it meets the standards of you local medical associations, you may also want to offer free initial consultations or screenings to potential clients. If you are new in the community, the opens the door and helps to build awareness of your service.
Your letterhead, business cards, brochure, website, prescription pads, and other promotional marketing materials that represent your practice’s image are all a part of marketing. Getting professional design help on these materials can make a big difference in your public image. A designer can bring a level of sophistication to your practice that can convey a sense of competence and trustworthiness to your patients and potential patients.
Always as your designer or printer for a final proof and read it over carefully. Read every single word and number. Your business card is useless if your name is misspelled or your phone number or email address is one number or character off. Do not assume that because the address is correct on your business cards, it is also correct on your letterhead and envelopes. Take time to proofread. If you do not and there is a typo, you will have to bear the cost and delays or reprinting your materials.
Magnetic custom business cards are great marketing 'must haves' for promoting medical practices.
Help hold notes on the fridge and keep important contact information handy!
Your initial marketing materials should also include a formal announcement of the opening of your practice. This is typically a panel card, a single pane without folds, and matching envelopes. Use the best quality paper you can afford, ideally very similar to your business card. This is likely to be your first official piece of marketing for your practice, and it should reach the broadest possible audience-your contacts from medical school, other doctors, business people in your community, family members, friends-in short, anyone who knows you or might be able to send patients your way.
Building A Base
If you do not have an established base of patients, how you build one? One of the basic methods of making contacts with potential patients is to join civic or charitable. This may include religious organizations and become active. This may include religious organizations, chambers of commerce, networking groups, charities, and even athletic clubs. Talk with people. Hand out business cards. Get interested in other people’s lives. Before long, they will take an interest in yours.
Giving Lectures
Acting as a speaker for civic organizations is a very good way of making yourself known as a doctor and an expert in your field. Take a page from presidential candidates, who drill themselves on every possible question that could be asked of them in a public forum. If you take the time in advance to imagine the worst-case scenario and the most devastating questions, and prepare yourself with answers, your public presentations will be a breeze.
Many hospitals have lecture programs for the community in which they invite specialists to address issues of common concern. When you affiliate with a local hospital, take the time to introduce yourself to the hospital’s public relations staff and let them know you are available as a speaker or panelist.
You are competing with television and everything else that your audience could be doing instead of listening to you, so picking a good topic and then delivering a great presentation is your challenge. In deciding whether they will give up their lunch hour or their favorite detective show to come hear you talk, your potential audience will be asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?” You have to provide information of value to your audience so they feel it was worth the sacrifice and they will get the subtle message that you are someone who delivers on a promise.
It is up to you to make your presentation, whatever the subject matter, as thought provoking as possible. Prepare as thoroughly as you can. Rehearse your talk, add humor and visual aids (such as PowerPoint), and start and end on time. Consider putting together a handout that recaps the most important points of your presentation. Have your handout printed on your letterhead and attach a business card to it. Distribute it after your presentation. Carry plenty of additional business cards (you should be handing out at least ten a day as you are setting up your practice) and your brochure, if you happen to have one.
Advertising
For many years, doctors were prohibited from advertising their services, but today, you can find ads for medical services on televisions, in print, on the radio, on the Internet, promotional products and even on billboards. Before you invest in any advertising, check the AMA code of ethics and your state medical board business and professions code.
In general, your ads must contain no inducements, no guarantees, and offer no discounts or payments to attract patients. The AMA Code of Ethics section E-5.02 states:There are no restrictions on advertising by physicians except those that can be specifically justified to protect the public from deceptive practices. A physician may publicize him- or herself as a physician through any commercial publicity or other form of public communication (including any newspaper; magazine, telephone directory, radio, television, direct mail, or other advertising) provided that the communication shall not be misleading because of the omission of necessary material information, shall not contain any false or misleading statement, or shall not otherwise operate to deceive.
Whether your marketing works or not depends largely on whether your materials are carefully targeted to your audience of potential patients, whether the materials say something of interest to that audience, whether they are well crafted and have aesthetic appeal, and how regularly the potential patient hears from you or sees your name. Your marketing can take a variety of forms, and for best effect, should probably take several different approaches.
Among your options are:
·Yellow Pages advertising;
·local newspaper and magazine advertising;
·website;
·brochure;
·direct mail;
·promotional products and giveaways;
·radio or television advertising; and,
·press releases.
Your goal in each of your marketing efforts is to remind the community that you are there and to inspire them to call you. One of the best ways to do this is to provide useful information. Whether that takes the form of tips for avoiding tick bites or reminders to get a colonoscopy, these messages express your interest in the community’s well-being. They can be incorporated into almost any form of promotion that you do, whether it is your practice website, your regular column in the local newspaper, personal letters to current, past, and potential patients, or the other marketing methods listed above.
If you have a well-defined area of expertise and reasonable writing skills, you may consider writing articles for consumer publications. For example, if you are an expert in pediatric cardiology, you could write an article entitled, “The Ten Most Important Warning Signs of Childhood Heart Problems.” You would probably not be paid for the article, but it would reach your target audience, and your name and contact information would appear as part of your credit.
Depending upon your practice, you may wish to produce a brochure, though a website may be a better investment for a young practice. Quality brochures are costly to produce and difficult to update. In general, a brochure, whether paper or electronic, should outline your practice’s philosophy, areas of specialty, and credentials. Unlike ads, which reach out to your audience, brochures and websites are more passive marketing. They are complementary to all of the other marketing you do and should not be relied upon as your sole means of promotion. Work with a professional designer to create an image that will appeal to your patients. Keep text simple, direct, short, and easy to read. Of course, proofread, proofread, proofread.
A website can be a tremendous asset to your practice. It can provide in-depth information on you, your practice, and your specialty, as well as illustrations and reference material that can help you patients make informed decisions. If you find that your office staff is answering the same questions over and over on the phone, you can post the answers to those questions on your website. You can include links to articles that you have written and hospitals with which you are affiliated. Your website also gives you a platform for expressing your opinion on controversial treatments, and for offering health care tips and seasonal reminders.
Press releases are succinct who-how-when-what-where alerts to the local media that something of interest is going on in your practice. Some small community newspapers will use press releases verbatim; other papers, if the subject is newsworthy, will assign a reporter to contact you, find out more, and write an article. The beauty of press releases is that they are free. Simply call the publication, ask for the name of the person who handles health (or another subject, depending on your specialty), write the press release, and mail or email it to that person. If you send a photograph, your press release is more likely to get picked up by the media. Make sure that the subject is newsworthy. Depending on the size of your community, opening a new office, giving a lecture, offering free blood pressure testing, offering flu shots, offering free water safety cards, or many other things you do could be considered newsworthy. An article in the local paper can build your credibility, increase your name awareness, and attract patients.
Here are some great medical related promotional products that can be personalized with your brand.
Keeping Patients
Once you have patients and referral sources, you need to keep them. All of the marketing in the world will not make up for bad service, so your first concern should be to deliver the best professional service you possibly can.
Returning phone calls is a critical component of your marketing program. If you fail to return phone calls, answer letters, or reply to emails, you are undermining everything else you do to promote your business.
Get it the habit of saying thank you. When you get a referral, whether it comes from another doctor, a family member, a friend, or someone else, take the time immediately to express your appreciation. A handwritten thank-you note is the most gracious way to do this, but a phone call or email, or even a well-written form letter, will suffice. Do not wait to see if the referral turns into a patient. Express your appreciation for the thought.
Networking with colleagues also helps to keep your business alive. Plan to have lunch at least once a week with a colleague you do not see very often. These lunches do not need to be formal or have an agenda. They merely keep the lines of communication open and keep you fresh in the minds of your important contacts. For example, pediatricians should keep in contact with obstetricians and gynecologists, and cardiologists should do the same with the internists and family medicine specialists.
Marketing is a process, not an event. It is cumulative, each successive contact building on the reader/viewer/listener’s last contact with your name or message. Be consistent and regular in your marketing. It is better to spend small amounts over a long period of time than to waste your annual budget on one television or print ad. You are building an image, helping potential patients to feel that they know you and can trust you. Just like your face-to face contacts with patients, that process takes time, but can yield positive results for years to come.
Whatever forms of marketing you are considering, remember-you are a doctor, not a marketing executive. Talk to a marketing professional-other doctors or your local medical association may be able to make a referral-and decide which marketing methods will be most effective for you, given your practice goals and your budget.
Marketing is as important to the life of your practice as is medical competence. Regardless of how brilliant or experienced you are, if you have no patients, you have no practice.
All Medical Promotional Products
