Evidence-based Business Strategies for Surgeons

Panel Discusses Ethics of Marketing An Orthopedic Practice

Have a marketing plan Practices need to understand who their customers—and who the customers they want—are and invest their marketing dollars accordingly, Mr. Howrigon advised. He offered the following marketing dos and don’ts: Do: Have a functional website. Engage in social media. Reach out to other physicians; specialty practices should become familiar with referring primary care physicians in the community. Know your customer. Engage in targeted consumer marketing. Develop a clear message and stay on it. Tell your story! Don’t: Buy a telephone directory ad. Spend like you are rich. Spend like you are poor. Market without a message. Assume that there will always be new patients.

Posted on July 13, 2012 in  Press Releases   New informative website and logo represent GLOC’s strengths TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., July 18, 2012 – Northern Michigan continues to offer more valued resources for residents and visitors, and this is especially true in terms of advanced medical care. For Great Lakes Orthopaedic Center, the goal has always been to create a continuum of care for patients, acting as a comprehensive resource for all orthopaedic needs. With board-certified surgeons and trained physical therapists on-site, GLOC provides a high level of expertise and surgical specialties often exclusively found in large metropolitan areas. Fortunately this time, the best care is based right here in Traverse City. In an effort to increase patient education and awareness of the full range of services available, Great Lakes Orthopaedic Center is unveiling a new marketing strategy. Beginning with a new logo and website (www.GoGLOC.com), GLOC is providing helpful informa...

   Build Referrals with Nine Milestones in Patient Care What does your patient experience communicate? Bill Champion Patient growth in an orthopaedic practice is influenced by several variables including, but not limited to, competitors, payer networks, and health system arrangements. Although these external forces are influential, critical choices in personnel, management, physician commitment, and adaptability determine whether or not the practice effectively communicates leadership, brand superiority, and market preference. Patients and referral sources rarely need more choices. They need help choosing. To provide your practice a competitive advantage in the marketplace, focus on the patient experience, which can be broken down into nine milestones, or triggers, that influence patient choice. These nine milestones comprise “the Power of 9” and provide practices the opportunity to make good choices, manage differently, and execute at a level that generates more ...

The Small Business Approach to Growing Your Private  You’ve scored a desirable location. You’ve framed and hung your stellar credentials on the wall of your office. And you’ve made sure that your waiting room is a calm and inviting space with pleasing artwork on the walls and soothing music playing softly in the background. You are now ready to receive patients, yet the waiting room remains empty and the phone is silent. If this is your current situation, take heart . . . you are not alone. One of the greatest challenges faced by private practice physicians is building a solid and reliable caseload. If you expected patients to come knocking at your door simply because there’s a name plaque on the door, you are in for a rude awakening.  The most successful physicians are those who can step outside of their comfort zone, take off the “doctor hat” for a moment, and adopt an entrepreneurial spirit.  Granted, a course entitled “How to Grow Your Private Practice 101” ...

20 Statistics on Patient Satisfaction in Physician Offices by Ownership Written by Sabrina Rodak | September 12, 2013 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has compiled data from the 2012 CAHPS Clinician & Group Surveys on patient experience in physicians' offices.  Here are 20 statistics from the 12-month adult survey by practice ownership and affiliation. Sign up for our FREE E-Weekly for more coverage like this sent to your inbox! 1. Getting timely appointments, care and information.Here are the percentages of patients who responded "always" to five questions on receiving timely care. National average: 63 percent Practices owned/affiliated with hospital or integrated delivery system: 68 percent Practices owned/affiliated with university or academic medical center: 61 percent Other: 63 percent 2. How well providers communicate with patients. Here are the percentages of patients who responded "always" to six que...

Sample News Release For more information, contact: [Insert contact information] For Immediate Release [Insert date] Golf Gaining Popularity: But Don't Let Injuries Knock You Off Course Orthopaedic surgeons provide tips to keep golfers of all ages injury-free [Insert City and State] — While many of today ’ s golfers pass on wearing plaid pants in favor of sporting more updated apparel, the increasing number of injuries that result each year from golfing will never become fashionable. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were more than 95,800 golf-related injuries treated in doctors ’  offices, clinics and emergency rooms in 2011, incurring a total cost of more than 2 billion dollars. Like learning how to avoid driving your ball into a sand trap, by following proper techniques from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), most of these injuries can be prevented. Golf can be a good outdoor fitness activity, especi...

How you define the job of an in-house marketing person sets the road to success (or failure). Marketing and Physician Referrals go hand-in-hand, but there are different skill sets for each, and they don’t all fit into a single position. There’s a classic problem…and it often puts us smack in the middle of two frustrated voices. An in-house marketing person complains to us that:  “The doctors don’t understand what I do.”  Or  we hear from an administrator: “Our marketing person isn’t doing what we need.” S eparate phone calls (thank goodness), but it’s opposite sides of the same problem, most commonly in referral-dependent practices and hospitals. As the economic pressures rise in healthcare, hospitals and practices often hire (or plan to hire) an in-house “marketing person.” Done right, that’s an excellent strategy. But first define your objectives and expectations carefully, and then hire the right person (skills) for the position. The hard truth is that many pr...

Why Your Medical Practice Should Hire a Marketer for 2014 Blog  |  December 05, 2013  |  Hiring Firing ,  Marketing By  Audrey "christie" Mclaughlin, RN Most physicians still wouldn't dream of hiring a marketer, or it would be low on the priority list for hiring in their practice. But if you consider that a good marketer can double or triple your current business and help ancillary services take off, it might soon be an investment you are willing to make. Hiring an additional team member, whose focus is strictly on marketing, might be something entirely new for some practices. So it's important to know the tasks such a team member would be in charge of, including market intelligence, referral source development, advertising coordination, social media, client retention, troubleshooting issues, public relations, and community events. Keep in mind that marketers usually work odd hours; it is typically not an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. w...

Average Return On Marketing Can Be Negative If Done Wrong <strong>The Average Return on “Marketing” Is Negative</strong> Focus on internal, external communications, not promotion Bill Champion Why does a profession that relies on research and data to correctly diagnose, treat, and manage patients so rarely use research and data to plan, execute, and grow the practice? Consider the following studies. The first study looked at market research for 137 orthopaedic practices over a 12-month period. Practices had from 3 to 38 doctors, in all practice settings from all regions of the country. The study evaluated awareness levels of the general population with regard to a specific orthopaedist as well as how likely people were to prefer or choose a specific orthopaedist. Although market size affected awareness and preference levels, the study found that, for every four and a half people who either knew an orthopaedist by name and/or had heard of a specif...

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Resources for New Physicians in Practice Page Content ​Under the guidance of the AOA Department of Professional Affairs, the Council of New Physicians in Practice (CNPP) acts as a resource center for all doctors of osteopathic medicine in their early years of practice. The Council's goals include: Identifying and addressing the unique needs and views of new physicians. Reaching out to osteopathic medical student, intern and resident organizations to encourage early involvement in new physician issues. Increasing the level of involvement of new physicians in local, state and national medical organizations. Bringing together the community of new osteopathic physicians and instilling in them a sense of unity and loyalty to the osteopathic profession that will stay with them throughout their career. Promoting the professional and personal development of new physicians. The AOA considers a "...