marketing groupMedical Marketing DNA™

TM

TO GROW YOUR PRACTICE

Top 5 Ways

healthcaremarketinggroup.com

800-258-0702

Whether you have recently opened

a practice, or you have had your office

running for years, we’ll cover the top 5 ways to boost your

bottom line.

Whether you have recently opened a practice or you have had your office running for years, you may be at the point where you are hoping to attract more patients, network with more physicians and look for new business opportunities.

The advantage to having your own practice is that you can make it whatever you want it to be; the disadvantage is that it’s all on you to do so! If you are hoping to grow your practice, here are five ways you can improve your business and boost your bottom line. You don’t have to do all five at once; it’s probably better to focus on one at a time until you have your practice going in the direction you want it to.

healthcaremarketinggroup.com800-258-0702

Improve the Effectiveness of Your Staff

Your staff is in place to help you succeed. Remember that your patients’ first impression is being made by your staff members. How are they answering the telephone? Are they courteous and polite? Do they work hard to get your patients seen in accordance with their schedules? When patients arrive, is your staff ready for them, or are they fumbling with paperwork, trying to determine insurance benefits and getting vital information into your computer system?

It’s possible that you need to work on training your staff to do their jobs better. Office policies need to be in place, and you need to have enough team members available to handle all of the tasks that need to be done. New software may be in order. Have regular staff meetings so you can touch upon these issues, as well as others that your employees bring to your attention. By making sure everyone is on the same page, you can boost your team’s overall efficacy, which will, in turn, help you establish a better name for yourself and grow your practice.

healthcaremarketinggroup.com800-258-0702

#1

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Be More Accessible

• Are you accessible to your patients?

• Are your hours amenable to seeing those who work full-time?

• Is someone always available to answer your office telephone?

• Are patients likely to hear a busy signal or be put on hold indefinitely when they call?

• Are calls returned in a timely manner?

• How long do patients typically wait for an appointment?

• Are you located in a building that is easy to access?

If your patients can’t get ahold of you easily, they are likely to simply switch to a different physician or specialist.

Some of these issues can be taken care of easily. For example, you can always put in an additional phone line or two, or switch your office hours to allow for some evening and weekend appointments. Others, such as adding staff, take more effort. Switching locations can also boost your practice, but is quite an endeavor. It’s best in most cases to start small, then to take other actions to increase your accessibility as the need arises.

healthcaremarketinggroup.com800-258-0702

#2

Increase

Physician ReferralsIf you are a specialist, your practice’s growth depends on getting referrals from primary care providers, as well as from other specialists. If you’re the only specialist of your type in your geographical area, you might not have to work too hard to get referrals, but if you have competition, like most doctors do, you want to be the first name on your referrers’ lists.

Building relationships with fellow physicians in your area is the best way to increase your referrals.

Network with other doctors. Make sure that you have a reputation for being easy to work with. Do favors such as getting a fellow physician’s patient in quickly when necessary, and he or she is likely to reciprocate with more referrals. Also, your staff needs to be involved. When a physician tells a staff member to schedule an appointment with a specialist, that receptionist or nurse is likely to call the office where the staff is conversational and pleasant to work with. Encourage them to engage in small talk with the staff from other offices.

healthcaremarketinggroup.com800-258-0702

#3

Consider New Business Opportunities

Is your patient base drying up?

Depending on your specialty, you might see patients only once or twice, then never again. It might be worth expanding your practice to offer more procedures or services. If you do this, be sure that other doctors in your area are kept in the loop!

What types of services might you offer?

Each specialty has a variety of niches that can be expanded or explored. For example, and ENT practice might offer allergy testing, audiology services or even certain cosmetic procedures. An orthopedist might consider hiring physical or occupational therapists so patients can come to the same place for all of their needs pertaining to their injury. If your obstetrics practice currently refers patients out for ultrasounds, you might consider offering this service right in your office.

Making your patients’ lives easier can go a long way toward boosting your overall success.

healthcaremarketinggroup.com800-258-0702

#4

Please call us at 800-258-0702 for a

FREE CONSULTATION.

Revisit Your

Overall Marketing PlanAre you primed and ready to practice in the 21st century?

If you don’t have a solid digital marketing plan, you are a decade or two behind the doctors in your area who do. The fact is, the vast majority of your patients are online and using their smartphones to access your website, your Facebook page, your Google reviews and more.

If you don’t have these set up and running, you’re at a disadvantage.

If you do have a website, blog and social media accounts, be sure that they are optimized for the most exposure, easy to read and follow, and updated regularly. In addition, consider investing in additional marketing, including pay-per-click (PPC) ads, remarketing ads, radio spots (including ads on Pandora), a YouTube channel, and so on.

At HealthCare Marketing Group, we specialize in helping practices just like yours succeed and grow. With our comprehensive assessments and individualized plans for success, we can help you get your practice to where you need it to be.

healthcaremarketinggroup.com800-258-0702

#5