The BEST Healthcare Practice Building Advice I Can Give

Meet Dr. Kelley

I’m going to break a cardinal rule of online content marketing today. What rule is that, you ask? I’m going to share – in my very first blog – the single best piece of small business marketing advice I could give to a healthcare professional. I’m not going to make you pay for it. I’m not even going to make you wait for it. Are you ready? Here it is: The absolute best piece of relationship marketing advice I can give to a healthcare professional looking to grow their practice is to connect with your community. Sound simple enough? Let me explain. Best Practice Blue

Chances are, if you’ve found your way to my website, you’re a healthcare professional who’s looking to build their practice. Perhaps you’re about to graduate or are new in practice. Maybe you’ve been in practice for years but continue to struggle. Or, perhaps you’ve had a successful practice but you’re getting bored with your same old marketing events. No matter which category describes you, connecting with your community can help to ramp up and reinvigorate your practice. But what does connecting with your community mean?

The best way to build a successful private healthcare practice is to become involved in the local community, build genuine relationships, and leverage those relationships to the benefit of all involved. In other words, connect with your community, and allow those community connections to help you build the practice and life of your dreams.

Community building is a key component of success. The health and well-being of your community should be in the forefront every day, which means that you need to connect with them on all levels: physically (through office hours), emotionally (by caring for their needs) and intellectually as they are not just patients but friends too. Connecting with those who support my healthcare practice has been one invaluable resource I’ve used to grow my business!

Dr. Kelley 5k Community Event

When I was new in practice, I had lots of time on my hands. I decided to give back to my community by hosting free health workshops for the local Fire Department. I donated thousands of hours to participate in ride-alongs, to create and deliver the workshops, and to create and sponsor 5 K runs to benefit specific Fire Fighters. The 9 workshops became part of a “curriculum” which all First Responders had to go through and covered physical health, nutrition, and stress management. I created a lasting relationship with this Fire Department focused on their needs. But guess what? Over time, as they got to know and trust me, when they required the services of a chiropractor, many of them turned to me.

Dr. Kelley Pendleton Connecting with her Community

Dr. Kelley Mulhern Connecting with her Community

Connecting with your community doesn’t need to take a lot of time, nor does it need to cost you a lot of money. Find a cause or a population you’re passionate about and figure out a way you can make a meaningful difference for them. Remember – it’s not about you…it’s about your community. But if you take care of them, they’ll take care of you! How can you connect with your community?

Transitioning To A Concierge Practice

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

To transition or not to transition, that is the question. What are the factors involved in transitioning to a concierge practice?

Education

The biggest fear most doctors have when they consider transitioning to a concierge practice is the loss of patients. When many patients hear the words “concierge practice” they think they can’t afford it.

This is where education comes in. Educating your patients on what this transition means is the single biggest factor that will determine whether your transition succeeds or fails. That means you will have to go above and beyond to help your patients understand that yes, they can still see you and no, they won’t go broke doing so.

Sending out a letter detailing the changes is a good way to start the education process. Next, you many consider scheduling one on one meetings with each patient or with those you think would be interested in the idea or conversely, those you think will be most resistant, to explain what the transition will entail.

If you have too many patients for one on one meetings, you can hold an informal “Ask the doctor” night where patients or potential patients, are free to ask any questions about the new practice model.

Preparing Staff

Your staff is more important than ever when you are transitioning to a concierge practice. The first thing most prospective patients will ask is if you accept insurance. If all they get in reply is a curt, “No,” most will hang up, and you will lose a patient.

There are many ways to structure a concierge practice. It doesn’t automatically mean that patients can’t use their insurance. Will your office file on their behalf and assign the benefits to them? That means that they are paying out of pocket up front, but you want the first half of this sentence to be the first thing your staff tells a potential patient, not the second half.

If you are going to eliminate insurance from your practice entirely, people will feel much more comfortable if they know the pricing up front. Think about it, would you order from a restaurant that had no prices on the menu? Establish a price list for your services and make it widely available; on your site, in your office, and included with any advertising you do.

Realistic Expectations

While you may eventually make more money with a concierge practice, it may not happen right away. And not all of the money will come from your patients. A lot of what makes concierge medicine appealing is the ability to get rid of lots of overhead which will save you money over time.

You need a big runway to launch this; some experts recommend having as much as $100,000-250,000 set aside to sustain your practice during the transition.

The ability to see fewer patients, spend more time with each one and make more money is also appealing, but when people are paying out of pocket, some will demand greater access to the doctor. Know that you may be dealing with patients after office hours than you are currently. Your days may not be as rushed and hectic as they were when you had a traditional practice, but they may be more intense.

Market, Market, Market

While some existing patients may not be interested in being with a concierge practice, there are plenty of people out there who would love to find one and so far haven’t found one in the area. There are also people who have not yet heard of the concept but will be really interested in this kind of care.

When you decide you’re transitioning to a concierge, you need to be prepared to mount a full-on marketing blitz. If you have been frugal with your marketing budget, you may need to spend some real money while you’re transitioning to a concierge practice. You need to do some market research to make sure the money you are spending is reaching a receptive audience.

Find Support

Concierge medicine is in its infancy but it’s been around for about two decades now so plenty have come before you. Some have failed, and some have succeeded, and both have advice to share. Seek out other practitioners and ask if they would be willing to talk to you about what worked and what did not work for them.

A Worthwhile Transition

If you are considering transitioning to a concierge practice because you think it will make you wildly rich, you’re doing it for the wrong reason and it likely won’t. But if you’re doing it because you want to provide your patients with a higher level of care, the transition will be worthwhile.

For more information on building community connections, I encourage you to read my new book Community Connections! Relationship Marketing for Healthcare Professionals. If you want more valuable information about how to Connect with YOUR Community, you can find FREE healthcare practice marketing content, PowerPoint Presentation Jumpstart Kits, workbooks, blog articles, and my FREE “Practice Marketing Planner” Now!

Marketing a Membership, Direct Primary Care (DPC), or Concierge Practice

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

More and more physicians are transitioning from a traditional practice to a membership, DPC, or concierge practice. The three terms are often (mistakenly) used interchangeably. (The various ways to structure this type of practice will be discussed in future blogs, so stay tuned!)

If you’re thinking about making the leap, you’ve probably done enough research to know that one of the biggest issues for these practices is marketing.

Perhaps “marketing” is the wrong thing to focus on. Focus, instead, on patient education to help your current patients become comfortable and excited about the new practice model. This can smooth the transition and alleviate some of your patient-retention fears. (Plus it can also save you time and money since you won’t have to focus so much effort on constantly attracting new patients.)

Advantage #1: Affordability

When your patients hear the terms “membership, DPC, or concierge practice,” often the first thing they think is that it’ll be expensive.

For example, concierge medicine didn’t start in small towns populated by middle-class people; it started in large urban areas populated by high earners who were willing and able to pay top dollar for private medical care. That’s the way many people still view it.

Help your patients to understand they won’t be paying hundreds of dollars more for visits with you than they pay now. A membership, DPC, or concierge practice can be an especially great deal for patients who have HSA and FSA programs through their insurance providers.

Patient education and clarity are the best ways to overcome this misconception. Communicate to your patients that your transition has nothing to do with money, but a desire to deliver a higher quality of care. (Research has shown that traditional providers make about the same as concierge providers1.) For clarity, show them your new fee structure, as well as their potential financial obligations under a few common scenarios.

Advantage #2: Time

Patients are tired of waiting hours for an appointment or being told to schedule different appointments for every health concern. And they don’t appreciate being rushed through an office visit any more than you like being rushed.

1 Pearson, D. 2015. ‘Direct primary care’ shown to please patients and reduce costs, including for imaging. Available at: http://www.imagingbiz.com/topics/healthcare-economics/‘direct- primary-care’-shown-please-patients-and-reduce-costs-including-imaging.

The average medical appointment lasts just over 15 minutes. Describe how an office visit under the new model is different than what they’re used to. The reality is that by transitioning to a membership, DPC, or concierge practice, you’ll be able to devote much more time and attention to their care.

Advantage #3: Service

Membership, DPC, and concierge practices can provide better service than the traditional model. It’s frustrating for patients when they have to wait days or weeks for an appointment or when they arrive on time for an appointment only to be kept waiting because you’re running behind.

Outline the new customer service patients can expect from your office. Will they have access to the doctor via E-mail or cell phone? Will they be guaranteed same-day appointments? What tests, procedures, or services are included in their monthly or annual fee?

Don’t Forget:

You and your patients often share the same frustrations. Things like long wait times, short or rushed appointment times, and insurance companies refusing to pay for needed care top the list. Those aggravations may be due to the “middle-man” (insurance companies) standing between the doctor and patient. By removing this obstacle, you’ll be removing these frustrations. For more information on how to explain the membership, DPC, or concierge model to patients, watch this brief video of me in a recent panel discussion! (See my entire DPC Panel discussion here.)

One Last Tip:

Take the time to ask patients what they want (and don’t want) from a membership, DPC, or concierge practice before making the change. For example, do they expect unlimited phone access, same day appointments, house calls, or a fancy waiting area that serves tea? This way, when you make the transition, you’ll know where to spend time and money so you can provide the services people want and are willing to pay for.

Educating patients about what your membership, DPC, or concierge practice will and won’t be can help you retain patients so your primary focus remains providing high-quality care. This is a key reason you want to become a membership, DPC, or concierge provider!

For more information on building community connections, I encourage you to read my new book Community Connections! Relationship Marketing for Healthcare Professionals. If you want more valuable information about how to Connect with YOUR Community, you can find FREE healthcare practice marketing content, PowerPoint Presentation Jumpstart Kits, workbooks, blog articles, and my FREE “Practice Marketing Planner” Now!