By Alice Anne Andress

Published March 2008

In today’s environment, all the marketing in the world won’t help you succeed if you fail to remember that patients are consumers – they should be your number one priority. Those in retail and food services understand this philosophy, yet those in health care don’t seem to understand.

The practices that are successful are the ones that understand. The best marketing in the world comes from within. They hire competent staff, train the staff well, and pay them for what they are worth. They understand that you get what you pay for. Practices that employ all part-timers at minimum wage or just above will not get the results that they are looking for. Competent office staff knows what matters most to their patients because they ask and respond in a positive manner to what they have heard. Patients today expect and demand quality care.

Business research shows that 70 percent of customers don’t return to a business where the owner, manager, or employees had indifferent or negative attitudes. This study also revealed that verbal communication with a customer accounts for only about 10 percent of the total message that is conveyed. About 40 percent is communicated by the tone of voice that is used, and about half of all the messages are communicated through body language.

How do you make your practice successful? Be proactive and understand the importance of marketing – internal marketing. Make sure that each day the staff is prepared, the office is clean and neat, policies are clear and concise, staff is neat and professional in appearance and everyone is ready to treat each patient as if they were the only patient the practice had. The practice should take an oath and put it into the mission statement, that quality service is the #1 mission of the practice. Of course, there is more to marketing in health care than "customer service," but this is a necessary fundamental on which to build.

The future of health care is being shaped by several factors: health care is becoming more bureaucratic, patients are playing a more active role in their care, third-party payors continue to increase their demands while reimbursing less, government regulations continue to increase, there is an increase in capitated plans, there is an increase in the cost of drugs, practices prepare for a paperless office, and quality care becomes a focal point for the practice due to nationwide efforts toward quality.

Let’s talk about employee "buy in." Hire the best staff that you can, understanding that you have to pay them more than you probably had planned to do. Provide them with growth possibilities when possible, contribute to a better quality of life for them, give them increased responsibility, and empower them and guide them into taking ownership.

The employee process is broken down into the following stages: recruiting, selection, hiring, orientation, skill training and certification. During the recruiting stage, the practice should look to attract the appropriate talent form advertising, job fairs, word-of-mouth and referrals. During the selection stage, the practice should review the job description and focus on the skills that are absolutely necessary to perform those employees’ duties. The hiring stage is the most important, as the decision to hire one applicant over another is made at this stage. Understand that there are no guarantees in selecting individuals to join your practice. Individuals may look good on "paper" and may say all the right things during an interview, but once hired and placed into their position, may not be the "right fit." Unfortunately, this is a reality in many cases. Have more than one person interview the applicant. Different individuals will have different perspectives. Check references carefully and verify education and certifications that may be listed on the resume. Schedule one interview for the morning hours and the next for the evening hours. There may be varied differences in personalities and mental acuity of each new employee.

Orientation is mandatory. If you are not already providing it to new employees, do so. This orientation should cover the policies and procedures of the practice, the philosophies and values that that are to abide by. They need to know what is expected of them and where to turn when they need answers. At this point, the importance of teamwork is stressed. During the skill training process, the new employee has in-depth training on all aspects of the job description. They should understand the importance of both job skills and people skills. After the training period, the employee should be "tested" to be sure they are ready to interact with patients, certified that they are fully qualified, not only on actual skill sets, but also on the values and philosophies of the practice.

Patients change because of how they are perceived. Malpractice suits can be born out of poor service and interaction with the patient. You can be the best physician with great colleagues, yet if the practice is not addressing quality service, patients will walk. Some medical practices hand all new patients a patient handbook. This contains all necessary information about the practice and reduces calls with questions. It addresses the hours of operation, the locations, parking, policies on insurance and prescription renewals, etc. One very important part of this handbook is a statement about the philosophy of the practice, such as, "Our practice will do everything possible to provide you with superior service, innovative thinking and diagnosing, and efficient operations. We understand that our success and survival as a practice is directly related to how we serve our patients. We will respect our patients and understand their needs. We will strive to provide the best care and best service to our patients."

Now that you have your staff empowered and caring, it is time to develop a marketing plan for the practice. It should contain such things as an analysis of the local demographics and competitors, strengths and weaknesses of the practice, opportunities available to the practice, threats to the practice, objectives and goals of the practice, a timeline and a budget for implementation of the marketing plan.

Consider using media to get your message out there. You can introduce a new procedure or service by advertising on the radio, local television or in newspapers from the area. Some communities (generally larger cities) have monthly magazines. Prepare an article for inclusion in this magazine to describe a new procedure. Place information about the practice and any information that sets your practice apart from others on your website. Provide educational forums in the community to educate patients on various "hot topics" that fall within your specialty. Advertise when a new physician joins the group. Develop a newsletter – monthly may be a bit ambitious, but certainly quarterly is doable. Send it to your patients, the local senior center, nursing homes, personal care facilities.

Big, flashy ads in the phone book seem to be a waste of money. They are costly and do not produce much in the way of results, especially for specialty practices, who thrive on referrals from other physicians. Family practitioners generally come referred to new patients by the realtor who sold them the house, neighbors, or people from their church group. Not many look for physicians in the phone book.

Meet with physicians in the community who can refer patients to your practice. Let them know how you can help their patients. Sponsor local little league games, pee-wee football, etc. Take ads in programs from local schools or community theaters. Participate in community health fairs, attend local sporting events, volunteer as the school physician. These are all practice builders. Get your face out there so they know who you are.

The above suggestions should provide food for thought on how to market your practice in the service-oriented environment that we were in today. Invest in your practice with careful planning, empowering the staff, following proven marketing ideas, and most of all, keep the patients happy by providing quality care and service.

Alice Anne Andress, CCS-P, CCP is the Director of Physician Services at Parente Randolph, LLC.