2. What is Orthopedic Medicine
What it’s not:
Your specialty (PM&R, Anesthesia, Osteopathic)
What it is:
IT’S PAIN!
3. WHAT IS MARKETING?
The process of getting and keeping the right kind of
customers
In other words:
doing what attracts the right patients
Not doing what drives them away
4. How to Market your Practice
Analysis
Strategy
Audience
Tools
Advertising
Public relations
5. How to Market Part 1: Analysis
Understand your practice
Understand yourself
Strengths- alone and as compared to your competition
What do you offer?
Why are you unique?
What are your opportunities for growth?
What resources do you have?
What are you willing to invest in time and resources?
6. These can be some of your
strengths:
Be good at what you do
Be nice
Be visible
Be available
Be different—look for the unique selling proposition
Sell what you have:
Young doctor—recent training
Old doctor—experience
Sex appeal
Great training
Ethnicity
Personal interests
Your staff
Your location or building
Your reputation
Your connections
If you aren't different, get different!
7. Analysis cont.
Position your practice against your best competitors'
weaknesses.
Create a mission statement to guide your marketing
efforts—get all your team members pulling in the
same direction.
8. Understanding your practice
Weaknesses (introspection)
Physical plant/Espre décor
Everything counts approach
Customer service
Get patient/referral source feedback. What are the common
complaints?
Communication
Are you good at getting your messages out?
What are you unhappy about in your practice?
9. Are you ready to market?
Can you accept an increase in volume?
Do you have a practice worth marketing?
How does it look
How does it run
What does it offer
Are you happy with the name? Logo? Signage?
Is your customer service up to speed?
Are you getting new patients but not keeping them
Internal vs. external marketing
10. Internal marketing-Everything counts
Done by Disney with great success
Looks at the practice through naive eyes
Looks at the practice through ONLY the eyes of the
patient
Done every day by a different staff member using a
checklist
Looks at structure, organization, customer service,
aesthetics, sights, sounds, smells
You must be willing to fix what is wrong
11. Marketing Plan Part 2: The Strategy
Develop e a message
Brief-2-3 paragraphs
Clear
Consistent across all your media
Highlight your strengths, avoid trashing your
competition
Consider this is an opportunity to educate patients and
referral sources on appropriate pain treatments
12. Marketing Strategy, cont.
Define your target audience
Patients
Doctors
Industry
Measure you current status
# of patients per month
Revenue by procedure
Set goals for growth
What is your goal? Eg,10-15% more new patients
How will you know that you are there-how will success be
measured
Set up the data collection before you begin
13. Getting your message out
How to deliver this message
Depends on your audience
Doctors
Your report
Brochure
grand rounds
face to face with lunch or dinner
Cold calling
Direct mail
Hospital newsletters
Your own newsletter
14. Getting your message out
Patients
Website
Newsletter
Print material
Brochure
Industry
Brochure
Newsletter
Lectures
Send in lunch
15. Consider alternative providers to
market alternative treatments
These providers and their patients will be more
receptive to your approach than the average doctor
Their patients are already paying out of pocket for
care
Examples:
Chiropractors
Rolfers
Massage therapists
Accupunturists
Energy workers
16. What are the tools
Print Materials-basic
Brochure
Bio sheet
Pictures
Patient information sheets
Practice philosophy/mission
Diagnosis sheets
Procedure sheets
Patient testimonial reprints
17.
18.
19.
20.
21. More Tools
Face to face meetings
Cold calling
Grand Rounds
Lectures
Direct Mail
22. CME Program
Target primary care, chiropractors (they control the
patients)
Educate them about pain so they can make better
decisions for their patients
Reduces reflex “send to the surgeon” behaviors
Positions you as the authority on pain issues
Opportunity for you and the referring docs to interact
on a personal level
23. More Tools
Website
Newsletter
Lunches/dinners
Your report
To referring physicians
To patients (The Mayo clinic does!)
24. Web sites
Why you need one
How do you start
What's it cost?
Where do you find content?
Patient stories
Pictures/colors
Animations helpful
Ease of navigation
Call to action
30. PRP/Prolo/Interventional Pain
Animation Videos
For practices wishing to license these animations for
their site, they can go to:
www.swarm.md
http://www.swarm.md/patient-
education/viewmedica-for-web.html
888-GO-SWARM (888 467-9276 )
31. Newsletters
Don’t start one unless you can continue
Begin quarterly
Recycle your patient information sheets, articles, and
testimonials
Key to community events, national issues, seasonal
issues
Email distribution
Start collecting now
32. Direct Mail
Basic format
Peer reviewed article or your own research
Cover letter
Has to connect you to the article
2-3 paragraphs max
2 case studies (with positive outcomes!)
Bio and contact info/cards
Target your audience properly
Must look very professionally done
33. Stumbling Blocks
Can’t write
Hire a medical writer
Can’t design a brochure or other graphic materials
Hire a graphic artist
Too daunting a task
Start with just one project
No time
Maybe you are busy enough?
If not hire it out to a professional or pt. time AA
34. Level 2 Marketing- Advertising
Are you ready for the investment? How much?
Must be professional looking
Target audience will determine placement
Lay medical newspapers are best for patients
Trade journals for businesses/workers comp
Each community has it own resources
Hit and miss despite good planning
Need to be prepared for a trial investment
Shows the importance of data collection
35. Advertising
Print media (magazines, newspapers)
useful for most situations
try for article plus the ad
needs a long term commitment
Radio
much more expensive
needs to be unique and targeted in message
try a couple of months and review results
TV
local cable channels probably the most affordable
Internet
36. Level 3 Marketing-Public Relations
What is it?
Gets your message out to the public
Exposes you to the public
Uses topics of public interest and news items that don’t
require direct payment
Exposure is placed in 3rd party outlets providing
legitimacy to you that advertising cant
37. Public Relations examples
Speaking at a conference
Being interviewed by news media about something
that you do (this is arranged)
Being identified as the expert on something
Being part of an event that is newsworthy
Having an article that you wrote or written about you
published as news
38. How to measure success
Need to know where the patients come from
Referral doctor
Family/friend/coworker
which ad or article
Website
Lecture
newscast
Hard copy vs. electronic
Importance of asking the right questions
E.g. “Who sent you here” vs. “How did you first hear
about our practice”
Even with the best data, it’s still not exact