In most practices I've worked with, the Office Manager, is the most underrated and undervalued position in a medical practice.
The Office Manager (or Practice Manager) is regarded, in many cases by the Owner, associates and other medical staff, as a glorified receptionist or office assistant. Often, as a result, people who have minimal to no management experience or training are hired and assigned this position, which furthers the idea that the Office Manager isn't really the manager.
This is also evident in the low pay grade of most Office Managers, where they are paid slightly higher then the front desk staff and much lower than Technical staff.
But in truth the Office Manager is a profession related to office supervisory positions, responsible for coordinating work flow and hiring, training, and supervising office staff and should be looked at as a partner in the smooth operation and stable growth of a practice.
The Office Manager is the executive who should be responsible for the smooth running of the front office operations and back office operations.
He or she should work closely with the Owner in managing day-to-day operations to obtain the longer term goals set by the Owner. Ideally, with a competent Office Manager, the Owner of the practice is allowed to practice medicine (which is why the owner usually went to so many years of school anyway!) and the Office Manager manages the practice.
The owner would set short and long-term goals for the practice and the Office Manager would be responsible for seeing that these goals were met.
Here is a summary of some of the functions an ideal Office Manager:
- Supervise the production of the personnel.
- Ensuring the smooth operation of each area and stepping in when necessary.
- Statistically tracking the growth of the practice.
- Handling staff performance issues.
- Handling human resource functions.
- Working with the Owner to set and enforce office policies.
- Run the daily and weekly production meetings.
- Hiring and firing of personnel (with approval from the Owner).
- The financial well being of the practice and planning of how monies will be used to grow the practice (in coordination with the Owner).
- Overseeing the promotion and marketing of the practice and its services.
- Ensuring the bookkeeping for the practice is in order.
- Ensuring that actions are being taken to create a steady flow of new and returning patients to the practice.
- Seeing that proper treatment plan presentation is being done by the medical staff.
- Proper scheduling of patients.
These are just a handful of the actions the Office Manager should be responsible for, which makes it clear that the Office Manager has to be regarded as more than a glorified office administrator.
To make this work the person hired as the Office Manager has to be qualified as a manager and has to be someone that can competently execute the above actions.
The position must be given its due importance.
On top of this, there needs to be a delineation of duties between the Office Manager and Owner (which I will cover in my next blog) and a regular meeting period between the Office Manager and the Owner to coordinate on practice production and goals.
Give your Office Manager position the proper value and assign that position the duties above. Then fill that position will a qualified person and you will have a steadily growing practice.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Starting a Profit Sharing System for Your Practice
The purpose of a profit sharing plan (bonus system) is to reward production and enhance staff morale and commitment to the team.
First off, a profit sharing plan should only be given when it is affordable to the practice. Therefore, the first step in establishing a profit sharing system plan is to determine the point at which “extra” monies exist with which a share of the profits (bonus) can be paid. To do this, you must confront your overhead (what it costs to keep your business there), what you intend to net out of the business, and additional sums to cover a reserves fund, money for owner of the practice and staff training, and money for equipment replacement or expansion. Part of this process is to confront where your staff payroll is as a percent of your collections; for a dentist you want this ideally to be below 25%, for an optometrist close to or just below 20% and for a veterinarian close to or below 18%.
When this viability figure has been determined, you can reasonably afford to pay 20% of any collections over this amount into a staff profit sharing pool. If, for example you determine that $60,000 is a viable level of collections (overhead met, owner of the practice's net where it should be, money for reserves, training and equipment handled), and the office collects $70,000, then 20% of $10,000 can go into the profit sharing pool, i.e., $2,000 in this example.
I recommend that this profit sharing system amount be based not on the collections figure for one month, but from a three-month running average. For example, the collections for the past three months has been $60,000, $65,000 and $70,000. The average of the three is $65,000, which would be $5,000 over the $60,000 viability point, which puts $1,000 in the profit sharing pool (20% of $5,000 is $1,000). This “running average” is designed to factor low months into the equation; otherwise, staff are not penalized for low months, only the owner of the practice is.
Now that we have a profit sharing pool of $2,000 (in our earlier example), we need to distribute it. There are a variety of ways to do this:
An additional factor can be used to further reward an individual staff member’s personal productivity: their own production statistic! To factor this in, you can take a staff member’s portion of the pie and divide it in half. Let’s say in a 6-person office, an Office Manager is eligible for 25% of the profit sharing pool. Each half is 12 ½ % of the profit sharing pool. If there is a profit sharing that month, the OM automatically gets 12 ½ % by virtue of being on the team. The other 12-½ % she gets provided her personal statistics are improved from the week or month prior.
These ideas are offered as a starting point for developing a bonus system and profit sharing plan for a practice.
The basics are:
1) it is affordable to the office, and
2) it does in fact effectively reward productive staff and enhance their morale, motivation and loyalty to the practice.
I hope the above was helpful and I'm sure variations on this and other ideas have been proven workable.
First off, a profit sharing plan should only be given when it is affordable to the practice. Therefore, the first step in establishing a profit sharing system plan is to determine the point at which “extra” monies exist with which a share of the profits (bonus) can be paid. To do this, you must confront your overhead (what it costs to keep your business there), what you intend to net out of the business, and additional sums to cover a reserves fund, money for owner of the practice and staff training, and money for equipment replacement or expansion. Part of this process is to confront where your staff payroll is as a percent of your collections; for a dentist you want this ideally to be below 25%, for an optometrist close to or just below 20% and for a veterinarian close to or below 18%.
When this viability figure has been determined, you can reasonably afford to pay 20% of any collections over this amount into a staff profit sharing pool. If, for example you determine that $60,000 is a viable level of collections (overhead met, owner of the practice's net where it should be, money for reserves, training and equipment handled), and the office collects $70,000, then 20% of $10,000 can go into the profit sharing pool, i.e., $2,000 in this example.
I recommend that this profit sharing system amount be based not on the collections figure for one month, but from a three-month running average. For example, the collections for the past three months has been $60,000, $65,000 and $70,000. The average of the three is $65,000, which would be $5,000 over the $60,000 viability point, which puts $1,000 in the profit sharing pool (20% of $5,000 is $1,000). This “running average” is designed to factor low months into the equation; otherwise, staff are not penalized for low months, only the owner of the practice is.
Now that we have a profit sharing pool of $2,000 (in our earlier example), we need to distribute it. There are a variety of ways to do this:
1) The simplest way to do this is just divide it evenly amongst the staff. Part-time people either don’t participate or are given a share of the profit proportionately to their time (1/2 time people get half as much profit share (profit sharing) as full-time people, which is probably the simplest way to work this out and would also probably cause less internal noise amongst staff.
2) Another way to divide it is proportionately to staff members’ pay – on the principle that staff value to the office is reflected is what they command as pay and that they deserve a share of the profits (or bonus compensation) on the same basis. (For a dental practice I would not bonus Hygienists proportionately to their pay, as this would throw the bonus way off for the rest of the staff. If Hygienists are part of this system and does not receive a bonus separately on their own production, I would bonus them at the same rate as a highly paid Expanded Functions Assistant.)
3) You may want to work up a division of the profit sharing pie based on other factors than pay, e.g., length of time in service, responsibility level in the office, etc. Here would simply have to work with relative percentages of the profit sharing pie meted out to staff until you felt the relative amounts were just.
An additional factor can be used to further reward an individual staff member’s personal productivity: their own production statistic! To factor this in, you can take a staff member’s portion of the pie and divide it in half. Let’s say in a 6-person office, an Office Manager is eligible for 25% of the profit sharing pool. Each half is 12 ½ % of the profit sharing pool. If there is a profit sharing that month, the OM automatically gets 12 ½ % by virtue of being on the team. The other 12-½ % she gets provided her personal statistics are improved from the week or month prior.
These ideas are offered as a starting point for developing a bonus system and profit sharing plan for a practice.
The basics are:
1) it is affordable to the office, and
2) it does in fact effectively reward productive staff and enhance their morale, motivation and loyalty to the practice.
I hope the above was helpful and I'm sure variations on this and other ideas have been proven workable.
Monday, February 27, 2012
A Quick Way to Increase Your Practice's Production
In any practice, and on any given day, there are hundreds of parts all running simultaneously.
In practices I've worked with I've observed this to be confusing and most often, not planned for properly, which can result in lost production, poor service and internal upset. All of which can have the potential of lost patients and lost income.
I've also worked with practices that weren't regularly going over the practice growth goals and did not go over the necessary daily production goals with the staff. As a result, in each practice, potential production was lost.
For any Practice Manager (or owner of a practice) this is a major concern and can take up a great deal of time and personal energy from the manager and owner trying to either prevent or resolve the resulting losses.
There is a solution implemented in a number of practices - the daily huddle or production meeting. It is a simple tool that can have immediate results and improve production and service to your patients.
Implementation is simple:
a) Schedule the daily huddle at the start of the day.
b) Ideally all staff attend, including the Owner, Practice Manager, associate doctors and staff. (If all of your staff can't attend, work to have have as many as possible attend as it will still be very productive.)
c) The Practice Manager runs the huddle.
d) All patients for the day are discussed, with any specific details gone over to ensure great service, like scheduling, coordination on additional coverage, etc.
e) Production targets are set for the day (e.g. how much of a specific service to be delivered, how much in treatment plans to be sold, how many reactivated patients, etc). I will discuss in a later blog how to set production targets and the value this will have in increasing your practice's overall viability.
All of this can be done in about 10 to 15 minutes and will definitely increase staff productivity and service to your clients.
It also results in improved morale and your practice staff working as a team.
Now it may take a bit to get this fully organized, but if you do, you will immediately increase the quality and amount of service to your patients, resulting in a growing practice!
In practices I've worked with I've observed this to be confusing and most often, not planned for properly, which can result in lost production, poor service and internal upset. All of which can have the potential of lost patients and lost income.
I've also worked with practices that weren't regularly going over the practice growth goals and did not go over the necessary daily production goals with the staff. As a result, in each practice, potential production was lost.
For any Practice Manager (or owner of a practice) this is a major concern and can take up a great deal of time and personal energy from the manager and owner trying to either prevent or resolve the resulting losses.
There is a solution implemented in a number of practices - the daily huddle or production meeting. It is a simple tool that can have immediate results and improve production and service to your patients.
Implementation is simple:
a) Schedule the daily huddle at the start of the day.
b) Ideally all staff attend, including the Owner, Practice Manager, associate doctors and staff. (If all of your staff can't attend, work to have have as many as possible attend as it will still be very productive.)
c) The Practice Manager runs the huddle.
d) All patients for the day are discussed, with any specific details gone over to ensure great service, like scheduling, coordination on additional coverage, etc.
e) Production targets are set for the day (e.g. how much of a specific service to be delivered, how much in treatment plans to be sold, how many reactivated patients, etc). I will discuss in a later blog how to set production targets and the value this will have in increasing your practice's overall viability.
All of this can be done in about 10 to 15 minutes and will definitely increase staff productivity and service to your clients.
It also results in improved morale and your practice staff working as a team.
Now it may take a bit to get this fully organized, but if you do, you will immediately increase the quality and amount of service to your patients, resulting in a growing practice!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
THE VALUE OF KNOWING HOW TO SELL YOUR TREATMENT PLANS
Training your staff on presentation and teaching basic sales techniques is important in getting patients to accept their treatment plans. I'm not talking about being a used car salesman, but using honest sales techniques that really help a patient see the importance of the treatment.
This also does not replace the quality of the services you've provided and the actual value of the treatment plans you offer.
When training staff on sales, a good technique, is to help the patient understand what might happen if they don't move forward with the treatment plan. Don't do this as a scare technique, but be honest so that the patient understands why you feel they need the treatment.
For those that don't close and don't decide to move forward with the treatment plan and need "some time to think about it" try to schedule them for another appointment so you can see them again and get another chance to tell the patient about their treatment plan and its value to the patient.
Also doing regular calls to past clients that have not been back to the office after a year is a very productive way to finish treatment plans. More then likely they've gotten caught up and forgot about their treatment plan and a reminder might get them back in to actually do the treatment. I call this reactivation calling.
When you do call your patients that haven't been in for a while you should have a dialog that makes it important for the patient to respond and get back in touch with your office or makes them want to come back in to see the doctor. I've worked out a fairly good "reactivation" dialog for this and if you are interested please feel free to contact me.
I would also be interested in any successful "reactivation" call dialogs that you might have. Please share them with me!
This also does not replace the quality of the services you've provided and the actual value of the treatment plans you offer.
When training staff on sales, a good technique, is to help the patient understand what might happen if they don't move forward with the treatment plan. Don't do this as a scare technique, but be honest so that the patient understands why you feel they need the treatment.
For those that don't close and don't decide to move forward with the treatment plan and need "some time to think about it" try to schedule them for another appointment so you can see them again and get another chance to tell the patient about their treatment plan and its value to the patient.
Also doing regular calls to past clients that have not been back to the office after a year is a very productive way to finish treatment plans. More then likely they've gotten caught up and forgot about their treatment plan and a reminder might get them back in to actually do the treatment. I call this reactivation calling.
When you do call your patients that haven't been in for a while you should have a dialog that makes it important for the patient to respond and get back in touch with your office or makes them want to come back in to see the doctor. I've worked out a fairly good "reactivation" dialog for this and if you are interested please feel free to contact me.
I would also be interested in any successful "reactivation" call dialogs that you might have. Please share them with me!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
PUSH THE RIGHT BUTTONS WITH YOUR MARKETING
It is important, when creating effective promotion and marketing for your practice, that you do some very basic research to narrow down the exact "buttons" for potential new clients and those "buttons" that will get past clients to return.
The first thing you have to understand is - what is a "button" and how does it work?
A "button" is that message or idea that gets a potential patient to react, it's that thing that perks their interest and makes them want to come to your practice (or at least makes them want to find out more about your practice).
Each area has a general "button" and you want to know what it is so you can push it and fill your practice with patients.
The research you need to do is actually pretty simple. The first step is to determine what general mindset and styles dominate your particular city or area your practice provide services to. If you're from the area, this may be even simpler as you will probably have a pretty good idea of what the general mindset and attitudes are. Regardless, I would recommend doing a rapid survey with people you know from the area and see if each of you share the same opinions on this.
Now, if you're not from the area you need to ask people from the area to get this information. Here are some example questions that can elicit the information:
- What do you feel is important to this area?
- Tell me what best describes this city?
- What is important to you?
- What about _____________ (based on your field of medical practice) do you
consider important?
There are also online resources you can use to get demographic information that may help you determine your area's attitudes and mindset.
Additionally, I've found that it's very useful to survey what the more successful practices are doing (promotion and marketing wise), as it's working for them and there might be some things you can incorporate into your own promotion and marketing that will also work for you. Take a look at three or four successful practices. Checkout their websites, blogs, online marketing, their Facebook page, LinkedIn page and any traditional marketing that they're doing. You'll want to note their designs, colors, messages, any particular "buttons" they're pushing, etc. Obviously, you're going to be original in creating or improving your marketing, but doing this simple research will help you with ideas.
Once you've done the above you'll want to review what you've done in the past with your own promotion and marketing. Look over advertisements, brochures for your practice, newsletters, slogans, logos, your website, billboards, client word of mouth successes, social media and any other internet marketing you've done that has resulted in increased patients.
Check this by reviewing the dates of when specific promotion and marketing actions were being done, against dates that showed increases in office visits and new patients. This will show you the pieces and actions that were successful.
Once you've collected all the above information you'll have a general idea of what your area's "buttons" are, where to go with your online and traditional promotion and marketing and will be making good strides towards filling your practice with new and returning patients.
The first thing you have to understand is - what is a "button" and how does it work?
A "button" is that message or idea that gets a potential patient to react, it's that thing that perks their interest and makes them want to come to your practice (or at least makes them want to find out more about your practice).
Each area has a general "button" and you want to know what it is so you can push it and fill your practice with patients.
The research you need to do is actually pretty simple. The first step is to determine what general mindset and styles dominate your particular city or area your practice provide services to. If you're from the area, this may be even simpler as you will probably have a pretty good idea of what the general mindset and attitudes are. Regardless, I would recommend doing a rapid survey with people you know from the area and see if each of you share the same opinions on this.
Now, if you're not from the area you need to ask people from the area to get this information. Here are some example questions that can elicit the information:
- What do you feel is important to this area?
- Tell me what best describes this city?
- What is important to you?
- What about _____________ (based on your field of medical practice) do you
consider important?
There are also online resources you can use to get demographic information that may help you determine your area's attitudes and mindset.
Additionally, I've found that it's very useful to survey what the more successful practices are doing (promotion and marketing wise), as it's working for them and there might be some things you can incorporate into your own promotion and marketing that will also work for you. Take a look at three or four successful practices. Checkout their websites, blogs, online marketing, their Facebook page, LinkedIn page and any traditional marketing that they're doing. You'll want to note their designs, colors, messages, any particular "buttons" they're pushing, etc. Obviously, you're going to be original in creating or improving your marketing, but doing this simple research will help you with ideas.
Once you've done the above you'll want to review what you've done in the past with your own promotion and marketing. Look over advertisements, brochures for your practice, newsletters, slogans, logos, your website, billboards, client word of mouth successes, social media and any other internet marketing you've done that has resulted in increased patients.
Check this by reviewing the dates of when specific promotion and marketing actions were being done, against dates that showed increases in office visits and new patients. This will show you the pieces and actions that were successful.
Once you've collected all the above information you'll have a general idea of what your area's "buttons" are, where to go with your online and traditional promotion and marketing and will be making good strides towards filling your practice with new and returning patients.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
SUCCESSFUL PROMOTIONAL ACTIONS
The following is a collection of marketing and promotional actions that have been found, over the years, to have been successful in medical practices. It is a mix of traditional marketing, online marketing and social media marketing.
As you go through the list, you may notice actions you have already implemented. You may also come across activities which you have no interest in.
Realize that no one practice is the same and thus not each of these points will work for you, but I thought it might be helpful and thought you could use this list to develop personalized programs for you for your practice.
1. Providing the highest quality dental care and service to your patients. This creates great word of mouth.
2. Getting your staff further training for their jobs as well as a general staff member. A highly trained and professional staff can make all the difference in the world. As part of this there should be job descriptions for each job and good general policy for the staff to following.
3. Encouraging referrals – when a new patient calls in, find out who referred them. This of course is done by the receptionist over the phone. Make a point to acknowledge the person whom referred the new patient. For example, if Sally Smith referred the patient, the receptionist would say something such as “My, Sally Smith’s such a nice lady, isn’t she? It was so kind of her to recommend our services to you!” This if the first time the new patient hears about referrals.
The new patient then comes into the office and fills out a New Patient form on which it has a question, “Who may we thank for referring you?” This is the second time the new patient’s attention has been directed to the idea of “referrals”.
Finally, the Doctor introduces himself to the new patient, looks at the forms, and notes who the patient has been referred by and says, “I see Sally Smith referred you. We all really enjoy her.” This is the third time the patient has thought about referrals. This impresses upon the new patient the fact that referring new people to the practice is very much encouraged and is appreciated.
4. Meeting with professionals and businesses in a related field to yours and providing promotion and information about your practice to create potential referral sources for new clients.
5. A modern web-site that is inviting, provides information and turns curious patients into future patients.
6. A Facebook page created to promote your practice.
7. A Linkedin page to promote your practice.
8. Writing a blog that promotes you practice by providing useful information to your prospective patients.
9. Website has been optimized so that when any prospective patient is searching the web your practices website is on the first page and stands out as the place to get what ever service the patients needs.
10. Using Google Maps, Yelp and Angie’s list to help prospective patients find out. This also helps you stand out on the web.
11. Other forms of social media to promote your practice.
12. Send a “thank you” letter to all clients/patients who have referred new people to the practice.
13. Send flowers to all patients/clients who refer.
14. Send gift certificates for dinner to people who have referred more than 5 new clients/patients.
15. In conversation with every person you meet, let them know the 3 W’s. Those are WHO you are, WHAT you do, and WHERE you are located. When indicating where your practice is located, mention landmarks that are easily visible. Sometimes an address is not really enough. Always offer a business card.
16. On the back of your business cards, print some sort of “offer”, such as “free exam, x-ray and consultation, stating the usual cost for such a service. Include an “expiration date” for the offer extended. If when you give a card to someone who has a doctor already, suggest that they pass the card onto someone else who might be in need of your services.
17. Arrange speaking engagements. Acquire a list of all clubs and groups in your area from your local Chamber of Commerce. Contact these organizations and offer to give a short lecture on some topic of interest. At the end of your talk, pass out business cards and practice brochures.
18. Become active in sponsoring things such as a baseball team. This gets you out into the community and creates goodwill. Send letters to the parents and children involved letting them know who you are and that you appreciate donation your time to the activity.
19. Arrange to give presentations at schools. Prepare handout packets to give the children after the presentation. Include things such as stickers, balloons, toothbrushes, anything that my have your logo on it, a letter to the parents introducing yourself, business cards, brochure, complimentary offer.
20. Create attractive displays in your reception area which communicates more information to your patients/clients on the services you offer. Remember that generally speaking people are coming to you initially because of some problem. They may not know what else you can do for them.
21. Send a practice brochure or some sort of information letter with all statements.
22. When you go to a restaurant, and you leave a tip, leave on your business cards along with a generous tip.
23. Send Birthday cards and Christmas cards.
24. Send a “Welcome to the Practice” letter to all new patients/clients.
25. Always greet patients and clients by name. If you run into a client or patient when you are out in the community, and cannot remember their name, greet them warmly just the same. Always make people feel important.
26. Send out a regular newsletter; monthly or quarterly.
27. Promote broadly with Direct mail.
28. Make up coupon books with discount coupons for your client/patients to use or give to friends.
29. Run regular newspaper ads. Keep the ad simple and readable in approximately three seconds.
30. Be enthusiastic about what you are doing at all times. If you’re enthusiastic, you’ll attract enthusiastic clientele. Discuss this regularly with your staff.
31. Create “clubs” for your patients and clients such as a “No Cavity” club for a dental practice or a “Weight Loss” club for veterinary clients with pets on diets.
32. Give gifts to youngsters (pumpkins at Halloween, stockings at Christmas.)
33. Give toys to child patients. For veterinary practices, give a low cal pet snack to the per after each visit.
34. Send notes to good patients and clients who are adhering to your treatment plans.
35. Hold patient or client appreciation events.
36. Serve coffee and tea to patients/clients in your reception area.
37. Place brochures for special services in businesses that cater to clients who may be interested in your services. For example, for the dental practice, place brochures on cosmetic dentistry tanning and beauty salons. For the veterinary practice, place brochures in Grooming Parlors. For the podiatry practice, place brochures in shoe stores.
38. Give lectures to high school students for career days. Hand out promotional packets as with the earlier mentioned school presentations.
39. Show educational films in your practice on interesting and informative topics.
40. Send flowers or some other gift after a patient or client has completed a large case.
41. Place a sign in your reception area stating that you do accept new patients.
42. Establish new office hours (offering extended hours).
43. Redecorate the office to create a more contemporary look.
44. Add new, unusual attractions to your reception area.
45. Create marketing incentives for your staff.
46. Hire a marketing coordinator.
47. Design new practice stationary.
48. Design new office signs.
49. Create a practice brochure.
50. Send feature articles to newspaper editors.
51. Hold open houses.
52. Give office tours.
53. Put on an educational fair for the community.
54. Create displays for public places.
As you go through the list, you may notice actions you have already implemented. You may also come across activities which you have no interest in.
Realize that no one practice is the same and thus not each of these points will work for you, but I thought it might be helpful and thought you could use this list to develop personalized programs for you for your practice.
1. Providing the highest quality dental care and service to your patients. This creates great word of mouth.
2. Getting your staff further training for their jobs as well as a general staff member. A highly trained and professional staff can make all the difference in the world. As part of this there should be job descriptions for each job and good general policy for the staff to following.
3. Encouraging referrals – when a new patient calls in, find out who referred them. This of course is done by the receptionist over the phone. Make a point to acknowledge the person whom referred the new patient. For example, if Sally Smith referred the patient, the receptionist would say something such as “My, Sally Smith’s such a nice lady, isn’t she? It was so kind of her to recommend our services to you!” This if the first time the new patient hears about referrals.
The new patient then comes into the office and fills out a New Patient form on which it has a question, “Who may we thank for referring you?” This is the second time the new patient’s attention has been directed to the idea of “referrals”.
Finally, the Doctor introduces himself to the new patient, looks at the forms, and notes who the patient has been referred by and says, “I see Sally Smith referred you. We all really enjoy her.” This is the third time the patient has thought about referrals. This impresses upon the new patient the fact that referring new people to the practice is very much encouraged and is appreciated.
4. Meeting with professionals and businesses in a related field to yours and providing promotion and information about your practice to create potential referral sources for new clients.
5. A modern web-site that is inviting, provides information and turns curious patients into future patients.
6. A Facebook page created to promote your practice.
7. A Linkedin page to promote your practice.
8. Writing a blog that promotes you practice by providing useful information to your prospective patients.
9. Website has been optimized so that when any prospective patient is searching the web your practices website is on the first page and stands out as the place to get what ever service the patients needs.
10. Using Google Maps, Yelp and Angie’s list to help prospective patients find out. This also helps you stand out on the web.
11. Other forms of social media to promote your practice.
12. Send a “thank you” letter to all clients/patients who have referred new people to the practice.
13. Send flowers to all patients/clients who refer.
14. Send gift certificates for dinner to people who have referred more than 5 new clients/patients.
15. In conversation with every person you meet, let them know the 3 W’s. Those are WHO you are, WHAT you do, and WHERE you are located. When indicating where your practice is located, mention landmarks that are easily visible. Sometimes an address is not really enough. Always offer a business card.
16. On the back of your business cards, print some sort of “offer”, such as “free exam, x-ray and consultation, stating the usual cost for such a service. Include an “expiration date” for the offer extended. If when you give a card to someone who has a doctor already, suggest that they pass the card onto someone else who might be in need of your services.
17. Arrange speaking engagements. Acquire a list of all clubs and groups in your area from your local Chamber of Commerce. Contact these organizations and offer to give a short lecture on some topic of interest. At the end of your talk, pass out business cards and practice brochures.
18. Become active in sponsoring things such as a baseball team. This gets you out into the community and creates goodwill. Send letters to the parents and children involved letting them know who you are and that you appreciate donation your time to the activity.
19. Arrange to give presentations at schools. Prepare handout packets to give the children after the presentation. Include things such as stickers, balloons, toothbrushes, anything that my have your logo on it, a letter to the parents introducing yourself, business cards, brochure, complimentary offer.
20. Create attractive displays in your reception area which communicates more information to your patients/clients on the services you offer. Remember that generally speaking people are coming to you initially because of some problem. They may not know what else you can do for them.
21. Send a practice brochure or some sort of information letter with all statements.
22. When you go to a restaurant, and you leave a tip, leave on your business cards along with a generous tip.
23. Send Birthday cards and Christmas cards.
24. Send a “Welcome to the Practice” letter to all new patients/clients.
25. Always greet patients and clients by name. If you run into a client or patient when you are out in the community, and cannot remember their name, greet them warmly just the same. Always make people feel important.
26. Send out a regular newsletter; monthly or quarterly.
27. Promote broadly with Direct mail.
28. Make up coupon books with discount coupons for your client/patients to use or give to friends.
29. Run regular newspaper ads. Keep the ad simple and readable in approximately three seconds.
30. Be enthusiastic about what you are doing at all times. If you’re enthusiastic, you’ll attract enthusiastic clientele. Discuss this regularly with your staff.
31. Create “clubs” for your patients and clients such as a “No Cavity” club for a dental practice or a “Weight Loss” club for veterinary clients with pets on diets.
32. Give gifts to youngsters (pumpkins at Halloween, stockings at Christmas.)
33. Give toys to child patients. For veterinary practices, give a low cal pet snack to the per after each visit.
34. Send notes to good patients and clients who are adhering to your treatment plans.
35. Hold patient or client appreciation events.
36. Serve coffee and tea to patients/clients in your reception area.
37. Place brochures for special services in businesses that cater to clients who may be interested in your services. For example, for the dental practice, place brochures on cosmetic dentistry tanning and beauty salons. For the veterinary practice, place brochures in Grooming Parlors. For the podiatry practice, place brochures in shoe stores.
38. Give lectures to high school students for career days. Hand out promotional packets as with the earlier mentioned school presentations.
39. Show educational films in your practice on interesting and informative topics.
40. Send flowers or some other gift after a patient or client has completed a large case.
41. Place a sign in your reception area stating that you do accept new patients.
42. Establish new office hours (offering extended hours).
43. Redecorate the office to create a more contemporary look.
44. Add new, unusual attractions to your reception area.
45. Create marketing incentives for your staff.
46. Hire a marketing coordinator.
47. Design new practice stationary.
48. Design new office signs.
49. Create a practice brochure.
50. Send feature articles to newspaper editors.
51. Hold open houses.
52. Give office tours.
53. Put on an educational fair for the community.
54. Create displays for public places.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
HOW TO FIX YOUR PRACTICE
PRACTICE DIAGNOSTIC CHECKLIST
A practice, like any other business, must run like a well-oiled machine.
We know that a machine functions only if the gears are aligned properly, the pistons
are oiled correctly, etc. To do a proper diagnostic of a machine, we must check that all
the lines are connected, there are no wires crosses, it is oiled, aligned, there is fuel and
that it is flowing properly.
As the owner or manager of a practice or clinic you are its “mechanic”,
the “technician” responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the machine (your
practice) and its long term operation.
Obviously, it is very important to be able determine the well being of a practice,
clinic or any other business for that matter. The truth is that the health of your patients
depends on the continued smooth operation of your practice. So it is clear that the
smooth operation of your “machine” is very important. But how do you determine what
needs to be fixed or if anything needs to be fixed at all? There could be hundreds and
hundreds of things that might be the cause of a poorly running machine. It could be
a fuel line, crossed wires, a missing nut or bolt, etc. Only if we run a proper and rapid
diagnostic can we locate the real cause and repair it.
I’ve found that when one point on this checklist breaks down, generally the rest start
to follow.
The use of this checklist provides a tool to diagnose what is wrong with a medical
practice and provides direction for a full repair of the practice. The list lays out each
operation in relation to the others and in the order of importance one should address
them. Start from the top and work your way down, point by point marking which is in and
which is out.
From there you can determine what steps and actions you need to take to get any
points that are out back in and as a result improve the general operation of your practice
and get it humming again.
Again, this checklist is laid out in order of importance.
_______
1. Brochures and information sheets on the different services, important client
information, etc that enlighten your patients on everything you have to offer them
in broad circulation.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
2. Proper receipt of incoming communication such as calls, mail or email. Keeping
it on the correct organizational channels, handling it quickly with no undue wait by
the sender: ensuring that payments are correctly invoiced, calls are properly
routed and messages taken are routed to the right person to handle.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
3. Responding the same day to all inquiries by the doctor or other practice staff.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
4. Seeing all patients at scheduled times, with no wait.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
5. Verifying payment method when scheduling appointment and when the patient
comes in for treatment.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
6. In each examination or treatment presentation do a comprehensive examination
and sell the patient on the full health program necessary to get them doing as
well as possible.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
7. Pre-appointment each patient that comes in for their next visit.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
8. Filling all prescriptions and other cash orders quickly (immediately as possible )
and giving good service. No lost orders.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
9. Collecting payment immediately after service has been provided.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
10. Run an internal referrals campaign to get your staff to activate patients to bring
new patients in. Use games and awards to make it exciting for your staff.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
11. Run an external referrals campaign to get your patients activated to bring new
patients in. Use games and awards to make it exciting for your patients.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
12. Offering and up selling additional general services or products provided by your
practice.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
13. Deliver the best possible treatments with the fullest possible improvements for the patient.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
14. Keeping record of all inquires as potential future clients. You should have at least
their contact information for fallow up calls and mailings.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
15. Keeping accurate and complete records (either computer records or paper files)
on every patient receiving service or who has ever received service.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
16. Training patients on proper care to address whatever ailment and to give them
greater knowledge in how to better care for themselves.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
17. Staying connected to your patients between appointments by use of social media
marketing (such as facebook, Linkedin, tweeter, etc), sending out regular
newsletters or information letters. Ensure it is informative, briefs then on the
practice, upcoming specials, services your practice provides, etc.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
18. Contacting new patients by use of traditional marketing and social media
marketing (such as facebook, Linkedin, tweeter, blogs, etc), posting ads where potential
new patients may find see them.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
19. Regularly work on reactivating past clients and getting them back in the office to
complete their wellness programs or come back in for a new comprehensive
examination and further treatment.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
20. Handle business affairs properly. Such as bill payments, updating addresses,
administering special offers, hiring of well qualified staff, etc.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
21. Keep all legal basics in. Such as properly handling insurance claims, taxes, etc.
Also, keeping in good order with the bank.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
22. Keeping the public image good by keeping bad reviews out of the internet as
necessary.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
23. Answering general letters, emails and calls.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
24. Acknowledging staff through an awards game, bonuses and social gatherings for
staff.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
A practice, like any other business, must run like a well-oiled machine.
We know that a machine functions only if the gears are aligned properly, the pistons
are oiled correctly, etc. To do a proper diagnostic of a machine, we must check that all
the lines are connected, there are no wires crosses, it is oiled, aligned, there is fuel and
that it is flowing properly.
As the owner or manager of a practice or clinic you are its “mechanic”,
the “technician” responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the machine (your
practice) and its long term operation.
Obviously, it is very important to be able determine the well being of a practice,
clinic or any other business for that matter. The truth is that the health of your patients
depends on the continued smooth operation of your practice. So it is clear that the
smooth operation of your “machine” is very important. But how do you determine what
needs to be fixed or if anything needs to be fixed at all? There could be hundreds and
hundreds of things that might be the cause of a poorly running machine. It could be
a fuel line, crossed wires, a missing nut or bolt, etc. Only if we run a proper and rapid
diagnostic can we locate the real cause and repair it.
I’ve found that when one point on this checklist breaks down, generally the rest start
to follow.
The use of this checklist provides a tool to diagnose what is wrong with a medical
practice and provides direction for a full repair of the practice. The list lays out each
operation in relation to the others and in the order of importance one should address
them. Start from the top and work your way down, point by point marking which is in and
which is out.
From there you can determine what steps and actions you need to take to get any
points that are out back in and as a result improve the general operation of your practice
and get it humming again.
Again, this checklist is laid out in order of importance.
_______
1. Brochures and information sheets on the different services, important client
information, etc that enlighten your patients on everything you have to offer them
in broad circulation.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
2. Proper receipt of incoming communication such as calls, mail or email. Keeping
it on the correct organizational channels, handling it quickly with no undue wait by
the sender: ensuring that payments are correctly invoiced, calls are properly
routed and messages taken are routed to the right person to handle.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
3. Responding the same day to all inquiries by the doctor or other practice staff.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
4. Seeing all patients at scheduled times, with no wait.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
5. Verifying payment method when scheduling appointment and when the patient
comes in for treatment.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
6. In each examination or treatment presentation do a comprehensive examination
and sell the patient on the full health program necessary to get them doing as
well as possible.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
7. Pre-appointment each patient that comes in for their next visit.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
8. Filling all prescriptions and other cash orders quickly (immediately as possible )
and giving good service. No lost orders.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
9. Collecting payment immediately after service has been provided.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
10. Run an internal referrals campaign to get your staff to activate patients to bring
new patients in. Use games and awards to make it exciting for your staff.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
11. Run an external referrals campaign to get your patients activated to bring new
patients in. Use games and awards to make it exciting for your patients.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
12. Offering and up selling additional general services or products provided by your
practice.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
13. Deliver the best possible treatments with the fullest possible improvements for the patient.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
14. Keeping record of all inquires as potential future clients. You should have at least
their contact information for fallow up calls and mailings.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
15. Keeping accurate and complete records (either computer records or paper files)
on every patient receiving service or who has ever received service.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
16. Training patients on proper care to address whatever ailment and to give them
greater knowledge in how to better care for themselves.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
17. Staying connected to your patients between appointments by use of social media
marketing (such as facebook, Linkedin, tweeter, etc), sending out regular
newsletters or information letters. Ensure it is informative, briefs then on the
practice, upcoming specials, services your practice provides, etc.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
18. Contacting new patients by use of traditional marketing and social media
marketing (such as facebook, Linkedin, tweeter, blogs, etc), posting ads where potential
new patients may find see them.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
19. Regularly work on reactivating past clients and getting them back in the office to
complete their wellness programs or come back in for a new comprehensive
examination and further treatment.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
20. Handle business affairs properly. Such as bill payments, updating addresses,
administering special offers, hiring of well qualified staff, etc.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
21. Keep all legal basics in. Such as properly handling insurance claims, taxes, etc.
Also, keeping in good order with the bank.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
22. Keeping the public image good by keeping bad reviews out of the internet as
necessary.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
23. Answering general letters, emails and calls.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
24. Acknowledging staff through an awards game, bonuses and social gatherings for
staff.
IN: _____ OUT: _____
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