March 31st, 2010 by Mike Ranson
A multi Hospital System here in Pennsylvania recently polled 816 patients asking; “How did you find our specialists?” The results were not surprising to us.
84% responded “My primary care doctor sent me here.”
12% responded “Friends and family suggested this doctor to me”
4% responded “Media”, meaning TV, Radio, print ads, etc
These are unbiased results that should act as a guide for any practice considering marketing. Put your marketing investment dollars into the same three quadrants in the same percentages to gain your most effective return on investment dollars.
- Market to your referring physician community directly with a practice-rep or regular correspondence of some type, ie newsletters, networking, brand materials, etc.
- Patient to patient referrals are highly effective. Be sure to include a “Send to” button on all your electronic newsletters and correspondence to past patients. Have your staff make an on-going effort to collect emails addresses for all patients so that you may use this cost effective medium to keep your practice “on top of mind” with past patients who may refer friends and family.
- Most practices cannot justify the cost versus return of media advertising such as TV and radio. Print advertising does have some value in building your brand name recognition as long as it is repeated in the same venue on a consistent basis.
Focus your marketing efforts in these three proven area’s for the greatest return on your marketing dollars today!
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March 28th, 2010 by Mike Ranson
March was a busy month for us at Practice-Reps with multiple new clients signing on here in the Mid-Atlantic as well as South East.
Practice-Reps Atlanta has hired additional staff in response to their recent signing with GI Specialists of Georgia, a 22 provider GI group with multiple endoscopy centers. An established Thoracic practice is set to begin marketing with Bob and his team as well.
Our recent Oregon practice has just completed the marketing audit portion of our engagement and we’re set to begin field implementation in early April.
Here in the Mid-Atlantic States we recently concluded presentations with a myriad of specialists, everyone form Orthodontics, OB, Chiropractic, Neuro Surgery, even a clinical lab and a mobile ultrasound service.
More and more clients are recognizing the value of our direct marketing approach to their referral network. Many have tried the traditional approach of advertising to the general public via multiple media with limited return on investment results. Because we come from medicine we have a unique understanding of what drives patient volume in the practices we serve. Some benefit more from patient to patient referrals while others gain more momentum from case management and even attorney referrals, but all benefit from direct marketing to the referral network within their surrounding communities.
For instance, we have a current cardiology client who recently purchased a PET scan unit. Ask your marketers the value of PET scan versus “other modalities” and see what their response is. In this case we are working with this cardiology practice to market PET diagnostics directly to other specialists who may benefit from the local capabilities of PET. We can do this because we have an intimate understanding of the clinical capabilities of the specialists we serve.
These practices seem to be signing with us because we understand their business, we assign a local rep who meets with them and works with their staff on a weekly/monthly basis, and we know how to communicate with the local referral community to drive referrals based on what’s important to their needs.
We don’t do seminars or webinars to teach you how to do this yourself because we know that marketing a practice is a specialty within itself. We cannot teach you all that we know, but we can put our knowledge and experience to work for you on a part time cost effective basis.
So call or write us to see why multiple specialists are now enjoying the best return on their marketing investment dollars. Call 610-323-4793 or write us at info@practice-reps.com.
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January 19th, 2010 by Al Romanelli
Continuing our discussion of how to promote your satellite office, let’s talk about some creative strategies you can employ that require little investment.
Many satellites fail because of their limited hours. Referring doctors often wonder about the commitment to the satellite when it’s hard to schedule patients. Each week, have a staffer send an e-mail to your practice rep, administrator and physician partners, indicating if wait times have become excessive. Simply shift resources to the satellite to improve the access. Keep tabs on the hours and access of your competitor(s) in the region; make sure your access is always better. Providing new referral sources with a list of the doctor’s cell phone numbers is a great way of communicating access, explain to referring doctors that they can call or text the doctors anytime they wish. While most won’t take advantage of this, it offers them peace of mind that the doctors are available at a moment’s notice, if necessary.
Open houses are a great way for doctors to interact with potential referral sources. The key to a well-attended open house is to use your practice rep to follow up in person on the invitations and ask for a commitment to come to the open house. Invite the entire staff of the potential referral source, since staffers often act as patient advocates in the referral process.
Satellite offices only succeed with a persistent marketing presence. Before abandoning your satellite office, think about using a practice rep to deliver your message on a frequent basis.
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January 14th, 2010 by Al Romanelli
When we engage in the marketing audit process with practices, we often find that they once had a satellite office in an outlying area that failed. Doctors become frustrated with driving to the satellite office to consult with just 2 or 3 patients and usually abandon the satellite office [...] Continue Reading…
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December 22nd, 2009 by Mike Ranson
Below are the fundamental steps required for the scientific method of basic medical research. Virtually anyone who has studied science or medicine is familiar with this process and yet very few recognize its application when marketing their medical practice.
– Ask a Question
- Do Background Research
- Construct a [...] Continue Reading…
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December 3rd, 2009 by Mike Ranson
I saw this message on a billboard the other day:
Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession.
There was no sponsor listed, but I thought it was a rather inspiring and true message.
And over the past year, I’ve continually heard that those who get ahead during, and more importantly, after a [...] Continue Reading…
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November 30th, 2009 by Mike Ranson
Once again I feel compelled to speak about the issue of complaint handling at medical practices. In our capacity as field marketers for specialty practices, it’s our role to survey referral sources on the quality of our clients’ clinical and administrative services. As such, we are often the first [...] Continue Reading…
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October 28th, 2009 by Al Romanelli
Pre-certs are here to stay and the requirements are certain to increase. In some states, almost every managed care payor requires a pre-cert prior to expensive testing. The time it takes a medical office to procure a pre-cert is significant; most take 30-60 minutes and cost the practice roughly [...] Continue Reading…
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October 19th, 2009 by Mike Ranson
Today, we’re excited to be recognized by Forbes Magazine! Take a look at this Practice-Reps press release, which was published today on Forbes’ website. It provides a bit of history on Practice-Reps, and describes our services and how we bring a combination of sales and marketing to specialty medical [...] Continue Reading…
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October 12th, 2009 by Mike Ranson
I visited a new practice yesterday and came away with a distinct impression about this small solo practitioner.
As you ponder the impression you make on new patients or potential referral sources, take some tips from this modest yet forward-thinking physician.
The waiting room was immaculate! The walls were newly papered [...] Continue Reading…
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