3 Ways to Attract the RIGHT Patients to Your Practice
3 Ways to Attract the RIGHT Patients to Your Practice
- July 12th, 2010By Eric Gunderson, CEO, Valeo Communications
Often times when I talk to doctors about their marketing plan, they tell me they rely primarily on word-of-mouth from their existing patients to bring in new patients. This makes sense since there is certainly no more powerful form of promotion than having your own patients solicit new business for you.
The danger of relying on word-of-mouth, however, is the control you forfeit in terms of what is being said about your practice and whether or not your patients are sending you the kinds of cases you really want.
Building a PROFITABLE practice means attracting patients who provide opportunities for higher margin returns from insurance and pay on time. Most doctors also have personal preferences as to the kinds of cases they would like to see in their office.
If you can’t control the message your patients are spreading about your practice, you may end up with great volume and a crushingly busy schedule, but without earning any more income for the business or yourself.
Here are three ways in which you can attract the RIGHT kind of patients:
1. Traditional advertising - Traditional consumer marketing serves to develop the brand message you want to convey to the public and lend a consistent voice to educating the public about your strengths. If you are going to have a full schedule, you might as well fill it with the kinds of cases you really want to see. Prospective patients are influenced by print, radio, TV and other forms of traditional advertising; they just don’t want to admit it. They may have spoken to a friend or family member about your practice a month ago, but they didn’t remember to give you a call until they saw your ad in a magazine. So when your call center asks them how they heard about you, they are more likely to credit their friend than advertising.
2. Public positioning – the problem with most healthcare seminars and expos is that they are too broad in content. In my experience, the practices that really hone in on a specific procedure, symptom or condition can position themselves as the qualified experts in the cases they most want to treat. You’d be amazed how people will flock to listen to an expert talk about a very specific issue they, or someone they know, is experiencing. Educational events, press releases and communication within the medical community are extremely effective methods for establishing a public position of expertise.
3. Doctor referrals - If you are a specialist, the best way to market your practice is by focusing on referring doctors that have the most influence over prospective patients. Without a doubt, this is the most cost efficient and effective way to attract the right kind of patients for your practice. You have a captive audience, you can control the message and, most importantly, you can build partnerships that truly enhance the quality of life for patients.
