Marketing your orthopedic_medicine_practice_aaom_0412 friedlis

Marketing your Orthopedic Medicine Practice

Mayo Friedlis MDCapitol Spine and Pain Centers

AAOM 0412

What is Orthopedic MedicineWhat it’s not:

Your specialty (PM&R, Anesthesia, Osteopathic)

What it is:IT’S PAIN!

WHAT IS MARKETING?The process of getting and keeping the right

kind of customers In other words:

doing what attracts the right patients Not doing what drives them away

How to Market your PracticeAnalysisStrategyAudienceToolsAdvertisingPublic relations

How to Market Part 1: AnalysisUnderstand your practice

Understand yourself Strengths- alone and as compared to your

competition What do you offer? Why are you unique? What are your opportunities for growth? What resources do you have? What are you willing to invest in time and

resources?

These can be some of your strengths: Be good at what you do Be nice Be visible Be available Be different—look for the unique selling proposition Sell what you have:

Young doctor—recent training Old doctor—experience Sex appeal Great training Ethnicity Personal interests Your staff Your location or building Your reputation Your connections

If you aren't different, get different!

Analysis cont. Position your practice against your best

competitors' weaknesses. Create a mission statement to guide your

marketing efforts—get all your team members pulling in the same direction.

Understanding your practiceWeaknesses (introspection)

Physical plant/Espre décor Everything counts approach

Customer service Get patient/referral source feedback. What are the

common complaints?Communication

Are you good at getting your messages out?What are you unhappy about in your practice?

Are you ready to market?Can you accept an increase in volume?Do you have a practice worth marketing?

How does it lookHow does it runWhat does it offerAre you happy with the name? Logo? Signage?

Is your customer service up to speed?Are you getting new patients but not keeping

themInternal vs. external marketing

Internal marketing-Everything countsDone by Disney with great successLooks at the practice through naive eyesLooks at the practice through ONLY the eyes

of the patientDone every day by a different staff member

using a checklistLooks at structure, organization, customer

service, aesthetics, sights, sounds, smellsYou must be willing to fix what is wrong

Marketing Plan Part 2: The Strategy

Develop e a messageBrief-2-3 paragraphsClearConsistent across all your mediaHighlight your strengths, avoid trashing your

competition

Consider this is an opportunity to educate patients and referral sources on appropriate pain treatments

Marketing Strategy, cont.Define your target audience

Patients Doctors Industry

Measure you current status # of patients per month Revenue by procedure

Set goals for growth What is your goal? Eg,10-15% more new patients How will you know that you are there-how will success

be measured Set up the data collection before you begin

Getting your message outHow to deliver this message

Depends on your audience Doctors

Your report Brochure grand rounds face to face with lunch or dinner Cold calling Direct mail Hospital newsletters Your own newsletter

Getting your message outPatients

WebsiteNewsletterPrint materialBrochure

IndustryBrochureNewsletterLecturesSend in lunch

Consider alternative providers to market alternative treatmentsThese providers and their patients will be

more receptive to your approach than the average doctor

Their patients are already paying out of pocket for care

Examples: ChiropractorsRolfersMassage therapistsAccupunturistsEnergy workers

What are the toolsPrint Materials-basic

BrochureBio sheetPicturesPatient information sheets

Practice philosophy/mission Diagnosis sheets Procedure sheets

Patient testimonial reprints

More ToolsFace to face meetingsCold callingGrand RoundsLecturesDirect Mail

CME ProgramTarget primary care, chiropractors (they

control the patients)Educate them about pain so they can make

better decisions for their patientsReduces reflex “send to the surgeon”

behaviorsPositions you as the authority on pain issuesOpportunity for you and the referring docs to

interact on a personal level

More ToolsWebsiteNewsletterLunches/dinnersYour report

To referring physiciansTo patients (The Mayo clinic does!)

Web sitesWhy you need oneHow do you startWhat's it cost?Where do you find content?Patient storiesPictures/colorsAnimations helpfulEase of navigationCall to action

http://brandevolve.com

PRP/Prolo/Interventional Pain Animation VideosFor practices wishing to license these

animations for their site, they can go to:www.swarm.md

http://www.swarm.md/patient-education/viewmedica-for-web.html

888-GO-SWARM (888 467-9276 )

NewslettersDon’t start one unless you can continueBegin quarterlyRecycle your patient information sheets,

articles, and testimonialsKey to community events, national issues,

seasonal issuesEmail distribution

Start collecting now

Direct MailBasic format

Peer reviewed article or your own researchCover letter

Has to connect you to the article 2-3 paragraphs max

2 case studies (with positive outcomes!)Bio and contact info/cards Target your audience properlyMust look very professionally done

Stumbling BlocksCan’t write

Hire a medical writerCan’t design a brochure or other graphic

materialsHire a graphic artist

Too daunting a taskStart with just one project

No timeMaybe you are busy enough?If not hire it out to a professional or pt. time AA

Level 2 Marketing- AdvertisingAre you ready for the investment? How

much?Must be professional lookingTarget audience will determine placement

Lay medical newspapers are best for patientsTrade journals for businesses/workers compEach community has it own resources

Hit and miss despite good planningNeed to be prepared for a trial investmentShows the importance of data collection

AdvertisingPrint media (magazines, newspapers)

useful for most situations try for article plus the adneeds a long term commitment

Radiomuch more expensiveneeds to be unique and targeted in message try a couple of months and review results

TV local cable channels probably the most affordable

Internet

Level 3 Marketing-Public RelationsWhat is it?

Gets your message out to the publicExposes you to the publicUses topics of public interest and news items

that don’t require direct paymentExposure is placed in 3rd party outlets

providing legitimacy to you that advertising cant

Public Relations examplesSpeaking at a conferenceBeing interviewed by news media about

something that you do (this is arranged)Being identified as the expert on somethingBeing part of an event that is newsworthyHaving an article that you wrote or written

about you published as news

How to measure successNeed to know where the patients come

from Referral doctor Family/friend/coworker which ad or article Website Lecture newscast

Hard copy vs. electronicImportance of asking the right questions

E.g. “Who sent you here” vs. “How did you first hear about our practice”

Even with the best data, it’s still not exact

Good Luck!