"Considering that such things as punitive
government fee restriction mandates, sudden
crash of the economic system like in late 2021-22,
your sudden and unexpected disability problem,
or martial law occurring in our violent society,
all challenges of which have happened in our
nation before, can happen again."
Watching your medical practice crumble in front of you, tears at your soul, and can easily be avoided when the cause is your own medical practice business planning. Thankfully, some strategies and tactics for guaranteeing a successful and envied medical practice have already passed the
test of time.
These bits of intellectual genius can easily be sourced from very successful businesses that have already run the gauntlet.
For those physicians who adhere to the proud tradition of self-employed medical practice
business, nothing is more important than creating a medical practice business management that is crowded with satisfied patients. You know the ones---patients who remain with you for years and brag about how great their doctor treats them.
What patients need and want: It’s not beautiful offices, good-looking doctors, great reputation, or number of credentials hanging on the walls.
These are a few of them that create loyal patients...
- Information about their care
- Good personal service
- Trust in doctors
- Reliability of their doctor
- Communication that works
- Friendliness - relationships
- State of the Art updated medical care
Medical practice Business and Marketing Strategies that are experience proven...
1. Information--In research on the Internet, the number one sought after product is information. Making medical information available to patients by personal discussion, handouts,
or video/audio techniques, will dramatically improve your credibility with patients. All patients want to know how their physician thinks about many things--and rarely find out even a couple of them.
Forget the shiny commercial brochures that contain watered down almost useless information. Create your own library of information that you know would help patients and that most physicians consider a waste of time and effort. Doing what others are not doing elevates your commitment to your patients that they recognize instantly.
2. Personal Customer Service--Business retailers discovered years ago that customer service is critical to survival. Medical practice business and management deals almost exclusively in customer service. Patients expect to have their health care managed in an efficient and pleasant way, to the point that they enjoy returning to your medical office.
Make it a priority to hire office staff that thrives on making patients comfortable and that understand what efficiency means. “Things” need to be completed on time, done thoroughly, and devoid of procrastination. Replace anyone who has his or her own agenda regarding how patients are managed.
3. Trust---It’s earned---not automatic. Ongoing good health care by you is the prime source of patient’s trust. It takes 6 or 7 visits with a physician to get there. Web surveys have shown that a customer will not buy from your website until they have visited your site 6 or 7 times and have enough trust to buy. It takes 6-7 office visits for a patient to fully trust your advice and care.
Trust is the end result of all seven criteria listed here. Testimonials from other patients go a long way to establish trust. That occurs in your waiting room among patients. Appointment scheduling by the “wave” technique accomplishes this. However, patients prefer one-on-one appointments
in most situations.
4. Reliability (physician and office)--Would you keep going back to an office that keeps messing up you appointments, prescriptions, and communications with the physician and office? Absolutely not! Dependability is the essence of reliability. Patients demand this. Always respond to patient’s phone calls promptly.
Hire a person to do that if need be. Physicians should be available to patients at all times whether it is you or your practice coverage physician. It doesn’t mean immediately. It means that when a patient must reach the physician, the physician will always respond as soon as possible. In addition, someone must answer all patient calls, whether it's your office staff, the answering service,
or yourself.
5. Communications--Nothing is more frustrating to a patient than dead end communications---calls and messages are ignored or forgotten. Other problems such as “dropped calls” (cut off), repeatedly put on “hold” for long periods (over 5 minutes), and continually getting busy signals from your phone line are fuel for the fire. You will lose patients.
Make sure that the management of your office includes every means of avoiding these detrimental communication difficulties. If you haven’t done it already, using e-mail for patient communications will save you unbelievable time and frustration. The medical information privacy issue is slowly being resolved. Most patients are using computers or smart phones.
6. Friends--Patients prefer to work with physicians and offices where they can make friends... not simply contacts. Creating an environment with that priority is essential for a good medical practice. Patients are social beings... not just a disease with legs.
It is a bonding thing when a patient knows some personal facts about the office staff and physicians. It creates and implants in patients minds a relationship that says, “friends never treat their other friends badly or improperly.” Do what it takes to give all patients the feeling that, “I just can’t wait to get to the physician's office today to find out... ”Your patients become your friends and family in many ways.
7. State of the art medical care--Patients are a lot smarter than they used to be just a few years ago. Patients know if you are keeping up with your medical practice business knowledge and skills. Don’t be fooled into thinking they don’t know.
Let your patients know when you go to Continued Medical Education courses, and what you learned. Not only is that respect shown to patients, but also is a way to establish trust. If you can’t answer a patient’s medical question, find the answer, and get back to them... 95% of doctors often do not do that.
Comments:
Can you believe it? Medical practice marketing without spending a red-cent. The items listed here can be a formidable means of marketing for physicians and your practice marketing that are expense free.
The economics of medical practice today forces physicians into seeing more patients every day and results in neglect of the business success' secret strategies. Learning what works and using those strategies daily in your practice will ensure your success, and make your professional career productive and enjoyable.
----Professional Probe----
"Imagine it--your medical practice
income headache is curable."
"Take action on implementing this list of specific factors that never harm your private medical practice business while each one is capable of providing you with the persistent and increasing income until you retire. These are not my creation. They are the essential and reliable dynamics of maximizing your practice income that all successful commercial businesses use to remain on the
stock market listings."
Articles © 2013-2022/CGG INVESTMENTS LLC. All rights reserved. #79, 3-16-22
