Insights: Healthcare Marketing

Here are just a few powerful benefits:

1. Enhance access.

2. Improve communication and patient satisfaction.

3. Strengthen physician-patient relationships.

4. Achieve organizational efficiencies/cost savings

5. Build stronger connections with referring physicians.

What are you waiting for?

Everything.

With the demands of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and meaningful use criteria, more medical practices are embracing and implementing patient portals, a secure, web-based technology that allows patients to interact with your practice. Portals allow your patients to schedule appointments, register, complete forms, obtain test results, pay bills and renew prescriptions all in the comfort of their home or office at a time that is convenient to them.

Access.  Accommodation. Availability. Accountability. These are the four A’s of effective medical marketing, and patient portals are just one more way you can achieve them. Attract, delight and retain patients. Isn’t that what it is all about?  Are you ready?

Waiting.  It is probably one of the top complaints patients have.

Although there are certainly ways to reduce patient wait times, in health care, there will always be times when waiting is inevitable … whether it be for an appointment, in the exam room, for a test result, in the ER, etc.

Do you seize those times as an opportunity?  You should.

Too often, we don’t. We’re busy. We triage. We move onto other patients and issues.

If you are the one waiting, you could be feeling anxious, frustrated, worried, nervous, and depending on the situation, maybe even scared.

What can you as the healthcare provider do?

It’s quite simple:  Communicate.

Want to maximize your Web site’s performance?  Want to increase your exposure and awareness in the community?  Want to improve patient satisfaction?  Want to be viewed and valued as an expert in your field?

Seems like a lot to tackle, but there is one simple way to help achieve all these goals:  spend a couple hours and write a good article on a hot topic in your field of expertise.

We’ve all heard the excuses, the most common being, “I don’t have time.”  I would argue the return on the small amount of time spent writing will be multiplied.

Just how many legs can one article have?

In a world where our lives are more public than ever before thanks to social media, privacy has become an increasingly valuable and fiercely guarded commodity. Many patients prefer to keep their medical condition(s) private for a number of reasons. And while health care privacy laws abound, many medical practices still miss key opportunities to meet this need of their patients.

Change. Almost no one likes it. Yet, it is inevitable. And in today’s world of healthcare, it is happening almost on a daily basis. A physician leaves your group, you make the difficult decision to close an office, you merge with another group, you are stuck in negotiations with a managed care plan … as much as these changes can frustrate you and your practice, try to take a step back and imagine how they make your patients feel. Then, do what it takes to reassure them. Communicate early and often whether in person, by letters, phone calls, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, your Web site or all of the above. Explain the change, why it is happening and how you are going to do everything in your power to minimize its impact on them. Acknowledge. Assure. Answer. Accommodate. Assist.

How do you give back to your community?  Are you personally involved?  Too often in our busy, overwhelmed world, we put this off until “tomorrow.”  Don’t.  I can tell you from personal experience that taking and making the time to pursue a community cause that sparks your passion will pay in spades.  It will pay in the unexpected “rewards” you receive – some intrinsic and some extrinsic. Community involvement energizes, inspires, connects, propels and ripples out like a wave, touching people in places well beyond your immediate reach. It will not only make your world a better place, it will expand it.  So what are you waiting for?

Sure, the stakes are about to get higher for health care organizations as Medicare takes patient satisfaction into account when providing reimbursement.  However, I would argue that patient satisfaction has always been good for the bottom line, and successful medical practices have made it a priority for decades now.  And I don’t mean simply going through the motions of conducting a survey periodically only to have the results backlogged on someone’s desk or computer, or compiled into a report that no one looks at or uses.  I mean a living, breathing survey process -- one that is concise, consistent and compelling, and effectively engages your patients and gauges their experiences and satisfaction with your practice.  And most importantly, your survey should be rooted in an ongoing...

While testimonials and endorsements can be one of your most powerful social media tools, you must stay within Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines.  The FTC issued new rules and recommendations last year. There are a few simple ways to abide by
these rules:

It seems we are all moving about 100 mph these days.  We power through our daily to-do lists.  And while we are happy when things go well, too often we jump right onto the next agenda item or project.

This is especially dangerous if we manage a team. The problem is that while we are quick to point out and correct problems, we often fail to take that extra moment to say thank you or to recognize the people who are simply doing the right thing day in and day out, helping us achieve our goals.

STOP.

When was the last time you showed appreciation or celebrated a success with your staff.  It can be as simple as an unexpected handwritten note, a $5 gift card or a homemade (or even store-bought) goodie.