Marketing encompasses activities related to the promotion of your practice and includes insurance company initiatives , practice literature , media advertising , patient seminars and rapport building activities with current or potential referral sources . Practice marketing is important for all specialties especially those where managed care referral dictates are less stringent . In most cases , except for closed HMOs or restricted PPOs , patients have a choice of providers . “ Word of mouth ” patient and colleague referrals are among the most valuable sources of new patients .
Some professionals find they must target “ more affluent ” clientele because of lack of health care coverage for some of their products or services . High percentages of our patients are “ fee for service ” and , therefore , are very careful when choosing a specialist . Potential patients usually perform extensive Internet research on their medical conditions and compare specialties – pedorthics is one of these choices . This is especially true if they are 20 to 45 years of age . All materials and activities directed to this type of well informed clientele must be of the highest quality .
Pedorthic marketing must be professional and should not mimic that of other professionals , such as attorneys , shoe salesman , shoe repairman , grocers , etc . In health care , image and reputation are everything and marketing to patients and referral sources should focus on compassionate individualized care , credentials , education and outcomes . Different specialties require customized market-specific tactics , and a good marketing plan also defines managed care initiatives and objectives .
Marketing professionals often have little or no understanding of the credentialed pedorthist ’ s unique market . Marketing Nike™ shoes to the public is different from marketing health care services to discriminating , educated persons seeking foot care .
Pedorthic professionals will often decide that they need a marketing plan in response to competition . I strongly believe that a marketing plan ( revised yearly ) should be in place for every practice regardless of size or competitive profile . The plan should be proactive anticipating new market developments , such as competitive threats or changes in the health care climate .
Create a Marketing Plan
The first step in marketing is to create an annual plan . This is different than a business plan . When focusing on one part of your business plan , it takes
In health care , image and reputation are everything and marketing to patients and referral sources should focus on compassionate individualized care , credentials , education and outcomes . an in-depth look at marketing , past present and future . Writing a marketing plan entails compiling internal reports and information and doing research to discover the demographics , needs , trends , habits , threats , opportunities , weaknesses and strengths facing you and your practice .
A good pedorthic marketing plan should always contain :
• Tactics to develop referral sources
• Direct-to-patient promotion - brochures and literature
• A health care company strategy
• Practice expansion objectives
• Product and services mix
• Budget ( no matter how small )
• Time labor / requirements
• Means to measure return on investment
Having said that , I know you are dying to know what to do once you have a marketing plan in place . First and foremost , train or retrain your staff , I cannot stress how important this is . Without a fully aware and trained team , your plans will fail . As for additional marketing tips :
Stay Away from Negative Marketing
Because pedorthics is a non-surgical specialty , our field has the unique advantage of an inherent appeal to the general public . Disseminate information to friends , colleagues and patients about what you do offer vs . what you don ’ t ( surgery or prosthetics ).
Return Patient Phone Calls Personally
Never underestimate the power of direct communication . Make it a priority to call your patients or referral sources back personally . You can control the length of the conversation simply by stating , “ Although I am between patients right now , your question is important and I wanted to call you back personally .”
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