Nitin 360

The Real Asset of a Private Practice

Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 by Nitin in Grow Your Private Practice

Do you know what the biggest asset is in your private practice?

Is it your list of past patients?
Local physicians?
The number of testimonials you have?

It’s none of the above.

The biggest asset of your practice is your RELATIONSHIP with patients and referral sources.

Here’s the old school view on relationships:

- They are built over a period of time
- They need a gradual, ‘defensive’ approach
- They are NOT associated with multi-media contact.

Here’s the truth.

- Referral relationships can be built in days, not months
- They can be instantly created with ‘joint ventures’
- Multi-media integration of phone, email, postcards and faxes to deliver the same message works better than traditional single-approach media.
- The quality and frequency of the message is CRITICAL. The higher the quality, the more your patients WANT TO hear from you.

The ability to engage, captivate and influence the patients healthcare decisions while email, phone, regular mail contact is a priceless asset.

More patients are lost than gained by the average private practice.

Every person who walks into your clinic can become a potential referral source.

What are you doing to cultivate it?

Imagine having an army of patients singing your praises every single day! Think of them as walking, talking human billboards who promote your practice at every social occasion they attend.

The presence of such team members can transform your practice, while their absence can sink it.

A tribe of raving patients takes months of planning and effort. The results are worth their weight in gold.

It is important to treat your patients as a gated community.  Imagine yourself as a farmer guarding a herd of cows.  As a therapist, never ever take your patients for granted and surround them with a wall of information and credibility describing your practice.

In a competitive economy coupled with declining reimbursement rates, many businesses and professionals are standing by to steer patients in a different direction away from your practice.

A patients’ attention is priceless.

Conversely, patients who are made to feel unimportant or under-appreciated may be lured away from your clinic.

Creating a sense of tremendous value with your patients begins the personal contact and is reinforced with alternative modes of communication, spread strategically throughout the year.  These ‘communication points’ can consist of email, least desirable to a phone call (most desirable) during the period after discharge.

The following are just some examples or opportunities for you to communicate with patients and remind them about your practice

Thanksgiving
Christmas
New Year
Birthdays, Anniversaries

Here’s a good strategy – not more than two weeks should go by without a communication point with each patient.  This allows the patient to subconsciously associate with and build trust in you.  Quality communication points help foster quality of service, proximity of location, consumers’ preferences and the referral generation of that particular patient.

Related posts:

1. Banjo, The Scruffy Hairstylist My hairstylist is a scruffy guy called Banjo. Yes, I...
2. The 7 Day Private Practice Tune-Up – Part 1 Halloween last week was a lot of fun… My wife...
3. The 7 Day Private Practice Tune-Up – Part 2 Thanks to Joe, Sarah Tim, Larry, Beth and everyone for...
4. Real World Fitness and Physical Therapy Marketing Technology helps bridge the gap between an impersonal web based...
5. The Power Of Google Analytics In Personal Trainer Marketing And Physical Therapy Private Practice Tracking involves the science of analyzing your website traffic, listening...

Tags: Grow Your Private Practice, physical therapy business, physical therapy marketing