Of all the things physicians do in their careers, this seems the least organic.
How long did it take before you felt comfortable marketing your own practice? Hospital Ratings Medical Resource Group, LLC
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Re:Marketing a Medical Practice
Date: 2007/03/08 22:31
By: jbohm1
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Forum Head Nurse
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As a medical student, I am concerned that the "business side" of medicine is barely discussed in medical school. After reading the article, it is obvious that there are alot of factors involved in making a private practice successful.
My question for the practicing physicians reading this post: could you fairly easily adjust to the demands of a private practice or did you wish that more emphasis had been placed on the business aspects of medicine during medical school?
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Re:Marketing a Medical Practice
Date: 2007/03/24 13:43
By: ohiomd
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Forum Head Nurse
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I am very interested in the business side of medicine and was wondering what business classes would be most useful to take? I do not want to get an MBA but would like to take some evening classes at a local University. Which classes would make sense for a scientist without a business background?
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Re:Marketing a Medical Practice
Date: 2007/04/08 00:29
By: utcom
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I have a friend who is a pediatrics resident who is about to finish her residency. She has decided to join an established practice because she is not ready to start up a practice on her own. One reason is that she wants to have a family and feels that it would take too much of her time to deal with all the details of starting her own practice.
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Re:Marketing a Medical Practice
Date: 2008/10/20 21:00
By: josephpratt
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Marketing is the art of persuasion, and in today's highly competitive environment, it's more essential than ever. When properly executed, a marketing plan can be a smart investment. The plan would have four core elements: 1. Get the attention of your target audience 2. Establish an image or personality for your practice 3. Reassure your current patients that they made the right decision in choosing you, thereby building loyalty 4. Persuade new patients to make yours the practice of choice.
The details of Marketing Plan would comprise the following: 1. Define your target market - whom do you want to reach? 2. Set realistic marketing goals - what do you want to achieve? 3. Differentiate your practice - what makes yours different from alternatives; what is your philosophy? 4. Prioritize the marketing tactics - in addition to relationship-building efforts, what other ways can be effective in reaching your audience? Direct mail, advertising? 5. Develop a budget and consider the potential return on this investment in terms of patients gained or retained. 6. Execute your plan. 7. Monitor and evaluate results.
All of this seems straightforward, but how do you put it into action? Medical schools don't cover much (or any!) of this in class. Agencies are expensive, especially for newer practices, although for established practices they are a good choice. The Do-It-Yourself option often produces low-quality results. There's no obvious answer, so research and homework are the places to start. A good search of the web for available tools will certainly help.
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