Resource Centers:(News, information, and tools to support your practice)
July 2010
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Kick-start your marketing
By Marc Sencer, MD
For the owner of a new startup practice, it can seem like a daunting task to get from your practice vision to a practice that is actually up and running.
Many of the things that need to be done, however, can actually be divided into three main areas:
1. The practice must have patients to see,
2. The practice must be physically ready to treat patients, and
3. The practice must be able to be reimbursed for its services.
The first question you must be able to answer when opening a brand new practice is: “Who will be my patients, and where will they come from?”
Do not make a huge investment in time and money if you do not have a clear answer to this key question. Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because you are open, patients will stop by.
Your goal should be to have patients scheduled on the first day you are open for business and to continue to have patients scheduled each day after.
In order to accomplish this, you will need to begin your marketing in advance of opening day and have a well-thought-out plan with a marketing budget.
Some very successful doctors began their practice during their last year in school — setting up their offices, hiring staff, and beginning their network marketing. Of course, most doctors are not able to do this.
Often, school won’t be near where you plan to practice, which makes networking for referral sources while still in school almost impossible.
Marketing your new practice
Decide who your target patients will be and where the reimbursement for treating them will come from. Will they be personal injury patients, private insurance patients, or cash patients?
What conditions will you treat? Will you focus on one group such as disc problems, pediatrics, or senior care? Or will you have a diverse practice in the beginning and see which, if any, group dominates?
This is important because your marketing efforts will convey your practice identity and vision to the general public and your potential referrers, and will be targeted to the specific patient groups you want to see.
Make sure you’ve done your homework in choosing a location and creating the physical plant for your practice.
Start talking to family and friends about your practice and begin meeting with potential referral sources. You should have a practice brochure to leave, which references your website and invites the reader to visit.
Get your website up and begin making announcements about the opening. Try to get good rankings on search engines
As opening day gets closer, create excitement with direct response offers. Do direct mailings to your target groups offering something of value. Put these offers on your website and consider doing newspaper ads.
Avoid ads that simply announce you're opening your new practice — patients almost never respond to these announcements.
Instead, include your direct-response offer. Be prepared to repeat newspaper ads for at least two or three months.
You should also try to get a listing in the Yellow Pages, if the timing of your opening allows it. Consider, however, that the Yellow Pages has been increasingly dwarfed in importance by the Internet, so don’t spend a lot and don’t worry if you miss the book deadline.
About two weeks before your opening, try to meet again with all of your potential referral sources. Have your receptionist on board and begin coming to work several weeks before you have your first patient scheduled.
This way, you can meet with and show the office to potential referrers and also vendors who may be helpful in getting the practice off the ground.
Vendors can be a great help to you in the beginning. They typically know all of the players in your arena and can orient you to the local politics. They can also make connections for you.
Remember, they want you to succeed, so you will become a great customer and referral source for them. Privately owned MRI facilities can be especially helpful. Contact all in your area and arrange to meet with them.
Begin scheduling appointments at least two weeks prior to opening, and schedule them in clusters so the office appears busier that it really may be. There is nothing like a full waiting room to generate excitement among patients, staff, and yourself.
Conversely, an empty office is depressing, and makes patients wonder if they are in the right place.
Remember, starting a new practice is a huge undertaking. It should not be contemplated if you don’t have a clear plan for getting enough patients to make it a viable business.
Marc H. Sencer, MD, is the president of MDs for DCs, which provides intensive one-on-one training, medical staffing, and ongoing practice management support to chiropractic integrated practices. He can be reached at 800-916-1462 or through www.mdsfordcs.com.
Test yourself
Test your knowledge about marketing a startup practice with this true or false quiz.
[ ]1. It is ridiculous to think you can start your first practice while in your last year of training.
[ ]2. When starting out, patients should be spread throughout the daily schedule.
[ ]3. Vendors are a good source of information about the local scene in your practice arena.
[ ]4. Getting a Yellow Page listing is no longer essential for starting a new practice.
Answers:
Nos. 3 and 4 are true.
Nos. 1 and 2 are false. If your school is in the location where you will practice, you can begin networking and setting up your practice while still in your last year.
Patients should be booked in clusters so the office appears busy, not spread throughout the day.
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