It may not be as difficult as you suspect to recruit doctors to your blog. Here’s a doctor’s perspective on how to sell the idea to busy doctors.
It may not be as difficult as you suspect to recruit doctors to your blog. Here’s a doctor’s perspective on how to sell the idea to busy doctors.
It’s outrageous to think that someone would purchase a new luxury automobile—a Mercedes or BMW, let’s say—that has no engine. All leather interior, headlamp washers, satellite stereo radio, LCD multimedia package…but without an engine, it doesn’t go anywhere. Yet we often hear from physicians who have—metaphorically speaking—done exactly that. A new doctor’s office with no […]
It’s no April Fools’ Day joke. Your Medicare revenue cut begins on the first of next month. Healthcare providers, pinched between limited resources and rising overhead, will see Medicare payments reduced by two percent. This adds up to a projected $11 billion less for doctors, hospitals and other providers in 2013. Sequestration will automatically trim […]
I just came away from a discussion with two practice representatives who work with one of our highly successful specialty practices. Real world, “from the street” healthcare marketing information is often perceptive, and the conversation left me with important insights that I wanted to share with our readers. For context... Three years ago, our client […]
Patient satisfaction in medicine and healthcare can be a significant marketing driver for physicians’ offices and hospitals. But is that where it ends? As a marketing technique? Nope! The implications of a satisfied patient are far more wide reaching in medicine and healthcare.
Editor's Note: Nationally recognized physician, speaker and author Neil Baum, MD, talks doctor-to-doctor about successfully generating income from ancillary services in a doctor's office, beginning with internal marketing.
An unintentional byproduct of healthcare reform is the increasing number of physician practices that have the wrong branding message. Or worse, they have no branding at all. Consider this example: Mysteriously, the well-considered branding message and competitive edge of a physician practice was somehow "disconnected." In our consultations, the doctors and staff believed that the […]
Frequently we discover a medical practice that is attempting to run a marketing program without tracking the source of new patients. They might as well be burning their hard-earned currency in a wastebasket. Without a tracking system in play there’s no definitive measure of results or any clear understanding for a medical or dental practice […]
Here's a news headline that comes as no surprise to marketing savvy healthcare providers: More Americans Are Checking Prices Before Getting Health Care. And, according to a new poll, price is a significant influence for two out of three shoppers. Marketing professionals are acquainted with the pervasive "new normal"—the buyer's concern about the cost of […]
The general public, the news media and hundreds of primary care and pediatric medical practices are sifting through the Consumer Reports ratings that were widely circulated this month in Massachusetts. From a healthcare marketing perspective, the Boston Business Journal was quick to point out that some of the numbers aren’t flattering. Reading between the lines, we […]
Massachusetts primary care physician groups—some 500 of them—are the focus of a first-in-the-nation comparison from Consumer Reports. As we see it, medical providers, practices, and healthcare and medical practice marketing professionals in the other 49 states will want to take note for several key reasons: 1. Ratings primarily reflect the “patient experience”—and are marketing significant. […]
Physicians are well acquainted with social media. As a group, doctors use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and similar platforms even more actively than the public at large. But for doctors, “social media” is primarily confined to a professional circle of connections that—with few exceptions—largely excludes doctor-patient communications. Physicians are connecting with professional colleagues, tapping into information […]
It doesn’t happen as often these days, but from time to time we find ourselves in a discussion with a practitioner who confidently declares that they have no need for “doctor marketing,” much less any need for a health care advertising agency. The back-story in each conversation varies, but we often discover that their mindset […]
At first glance, this looks like another one of those instances of a “surprising secret” article where the subject material is neither too surprising nor too secret. It turns out that the recent WSJ/SmartMoney article about the work of physician liaisons and practice representatives is good info for patients, but it isn’t startling news to […]
Fundamentals That Keep Your Medical Provider Marketing in the Safe Zone First in a Series: Ethical and professional advertising messages steer physician and healthcare provider advertising away from legal problems. We talk with a healthcare attorney about the proper handling of basic legal problem areas. A legal mistake in healthcare advertising can ruin your life.
Right up front we want to say that we’re more than understanding about the financial struggle that goes with operating a medical practice. The nation’s economy remains soft, reimbursements are down, overhead costs are up; private practice is a tough business. (Most businesses—large or small, product or service, retail or otherwise—feel a financial pinch, including […]
We've all seen desktop-generated signs in the waiting rooms or reception areas of doctors' offices. Presumably the intent is to help the staff and help the patient. But the problem is that regardless of what they say, they are often a signal of a culture focused on admin and processing and not on a culture […]
This is a quick post about a clever little idea. Healthcare marketing professionals can use this powerful four-word question to engage patients and inspire instant, on-the-job comments from the public. Here’s how it works. The four words are: “How am I doing?” Put this question and a brief invitation immediately below your signature block for […]
We speak with physicians and surgeons every day, and by way of our ongoing sampling of attitudes and opinions they are not optimistic or enthusiastic about healthcare reform. Unfortunately, these first hand, from-the-field reports range from “pessimistic” to “survival threat.” First, there’s the unhappy news. Just last week the results of a national research study […]
Lately we’ve been thinking about the increasingly evident gap between patient expectations and provider expectations in healthcare today. As the nation’s health delivery system continues to redefine itself, there’s a shift from a provider-focused culture to a patient-centered culture. Past, present and future, healthcare is a caring and progressive profession. No one deliberately offends patients […]
As recently as a year or so ago we probably couldn’t offer a post about the many and various ways that doctors were using social media tools in their medical practice marketing. Outside of the Innovators and Early Adopters, not much could be reported. At best it would have been a short article. But the […]
Somewhere-on nearly every healthcare marketing plan-is a line item titled "event." For a medical practice it might be a new office "open house." For hospital marketing, it could be a community involvement or PR project. And for any healthcare provider or doctor marketing professional it is an opportunity to remove the "white coat factor" and […]
There’s a lively discussion among doctors and healthcare providers about communicating with patients via email. We’re not talking about the use of occasional and informative broadcast “eNewsletters” (a common healthcare marketing tool) that are sent from a practice or hospital to a list of opt-in patients. This is the arguable notion that a one-to-one email […]
A significant sign of the turbulent changes in healthcare delivery systems—and medical marketing—is the fact that 30,000 drug and medical device representatives were laid off in the last 5 years. But as startling (and devastating) as that is for individuals on the pharma side, the same systemic storm has delivered something of a silver lining. […]
Almost everyone with experience in physician marketing recognizes that word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising is (a) highly desirable, but (b) not an easy thing to inspire. After all, it’s far easier and more reliable to purchase time or space in the media and create a medical practice advertisement.
What’s the worst holiday gift idea that you've ever seen given to a doctor’s office? What’s the best? We’d like to hear from you on this one. Right about now, medical practice administrators, physician liaison people, practice ambassadors, physicians and hospital marketing executives are ramping up for the annual ritual of holiday gift giving. And there’s no […]
The truth is we rarely have much time to watch television, and if we do have a spare moment, most reality shows would not make the line-up. But there’s at least one exception. The promotional announcements for Truck Stop Missouri on the Travel Channel caught our attention recently. The intriguing concept behind the show—and the […]
There’s yet another survey out recently that suggests how some surgeons could use the help of communications professionals and training when it comes to doctor-patient communications. Last month’s findings—published in the August issue of the Archives of Surgery—points to the fact that surgeons lack formal training in how to deliver bad news to patients. Effective […]
It’s easily overlooked, but every new patient has already “met the practice” several times before they meet the physician. In doctor marketing terms, the patient experience begins long in advance of the first appointment. Typically, a new patient is forming an impression even before they pick up the phone. Then there will be one or […]
It’s a little frightening that in physician practice marketing we often discover more examples of “poor” patient experience than “good” ones. In fairness, the good stuff rarely gets the spotlight that it deserves, and the negative examples are often magnified. The doctor-patient relationship is often strained, and positive, personal relationships—among patient, provider and staff—is often […]
Editor's Note: Healthcare Success was pleased to contribute to this feature profile of Magna Health Systems for publication in SurgiStrategies magazine. This article provides a close-up look at the marketing activities at one of Chicago's leading outpatient surgical centers, examining their work with and for surgeons, as well as their weight loss outreach direct to […]
We need to devote a few lines in recognition of the volunteer efforts of healthcare providers, medical industry corporations and hospitals everywhere that do good things for their community. In the world of doctor and physician marketing and advertising, our post today is about the new mobile medical clinic of the Puget Sound Christian Clinic […]
A few years ago, my dentist retired and I scheduled my first visit with a dentist who had become a client. After my first appointment, he personally made a follow-up phone call to see if everything met my expectations in the first visit. (It was a step in his new medical practice marketing plan.) Though […]
The job of a pharmaceutical company field rep is tough. In our experience, it’s always been hard work, but lately pharma marketing—the up-close-and-personal kind—is getting tougher. (It’s always been a challenge to see a busy doctor during office hours.) What’s worse, now there are news media reports about doctors who refuse to see any pharmaceutical […]
The primary reason that public speaking is a powerful and persuasive tool in healthcare marketing is that it is highly personal. A good speech is a tool of engagement that can make an emotional or intellectual connection—sometimes a bond—between the speaker and individuals in the audience. Physicians, medical practice administrators, hospital public relations executives, and […]
One of the most important skills in medical practice marketing is the ability to ask the right questions. Doctors, physicians, practice administrators and healthcare marketing professionals can easily find themselves caught up in the daily frenzy of “business as usual.” They can overlook the opportunity to use the right questions to diagnose physician-marketing problems or […]
Here are two distinctly different but well-told stories that are worth sharing. The two storytellers—a photographer based in the Netherlands and an orthopedic surgeon in New York—probably don’t know each other. One story is about social media at work in the hospitality industry. The other is about patient-physician communications. On the surface these topics are […]
Editor's Note: Healthcare Success authored this article as one of a series for ImagingBiz, a unique industry publication that delivers business intelligence for hospitals, imaging centers and radiology practices. The marketing concepts regarding physician liaison, practice representative, physician relations or business development apply to many professional, medical and healthcare marketing situations.
If you’re a little behind in reading your Federal Register subscription, we see that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing to use “secret shoppers,” perhaps in your office. The HHS wants to sample Primary Care Physicians’ (PCPs) wait times, accessibility and availability. In government talk, the Proposed Project is titled Assessing […]
Starting a conversation is about as easy and automatic as breathing, right? Doctors talk with patients. Administrators talk with staff. Staff members interact with patients. Public Relations people talk with reporters. Physicians meet members of the community. Effortless? Routine? The answer is no, it’s not always easy. A meaningful conversation, a purposeful conversation, an engaging […]
First, do the hardball math. When the phone rings in your office, you are probably losing more new business than you’re winning. Close to 70 percent of new patient calls produce no revenue because the caller never comes into the office. That means your practice is seeing only three out of ten of these callers.
A doctor’s world was, at one time, relatively stable. Certainly not easy, but generally steady and secure. As recently as a generation ago, being a physician was less complicated than facing the rapid-fire changes that are still occurring in our nation’s healthcare delivery system. “For decades, medicine has been dominated by fiercely independent doctors who […]
gold·en goose • n. a continuing source of wealth or profit that may be exhausted if it is misused. Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English You’ve probably heard the “golden goose” story. It’s been around since about the 5th century and there are several versions of the fable. Unfortunately, there’s a healthcare marketing version that’s […]
Do doctors see social media in their practice future? Have you (or patients) ever wondered why a particular doctor isn’t using social networks? Some doctor comments are harsh. Of course many healthcare providers actively use social media routinely and effectively. Patients look online for health and healthcare info, and at least a few thoroughly professional […]
We launched our new series of marketing articles at ImagingBiz this week with a short lesson in branding. We’re pleased to contribute to the ImagingBiz educational and informational portal on a regular basis. It's for decision-makers in medical imaging in both the outpatient and hospital environments. And although our initial article is directed primarily to […]
Just recently Stewart was the guest speaker for a large group of healthcare professionals. (It was a dental society meeting, but the issue he encountered that evening applies to other professions, practices, medical groups and even hospitals. Please read on.) Nearly all of the attendees in the audience were doing some degree of marketing, and […]
by Steve Smith, Healthcare Success Senior Consultant A recent consultation with a client in the Midwest revealed that the physician partners only gave lip service to customer service. Oh, they want each patient to have a good experience, of course, but that's as far as their involvement goes. Unfortunately, that put my office manager contact, […]
What’s not to like about personalized healthcare service? Same day and on time appointments, email access to scheduling and to your doctor, physicians who are not in a hurry and have the time to listen to patients—these are the patient benefits of a concierge practice without the typical (premium) concierge fee schedule. An article in […]
Creative new ideas are the fuel of healthcare marketing success, and in all modesty, we come up with new ideas all the time. It’s our business. What’s more, our clients—physicians, hospitals, dentists, medical groups, pharma/device executives, surgeons and healthcare providers and organizations—tend to be leaders in their field and pretty smart people. Typical of these […]
Wait! Don’t change that channel. Advertising’s long-form—the 30-minute video format—is not always about home exercise equipment, kitchen knives or Chia Pets. In fact the sometimes-misunderstood “infomercial” can be a highly professional (reputation enhancing) communications tool, and an excellent healthcare marketing, advertising and public relations workhorse. What’s more, advances in technology have pushed down the cost […]
