How Can I Get More Patients in the Door?

Posted by on April 4, 2011 · 2 Comments 

For this month’s medical marketing column we sat down with President of Orlando-based Insight Marketing Group, Jennifer Thompson. Insight specializes in healthcare practice related marketing, specifically in relation to how to increase referrals and online presence.

The following is a transcript of an interview with Thompson discussing various methods and tips to improve your practice’s patient count and patient awareness.

1.       What can I do to increase referrals at my office immediately?

Take a look at where you are getting your best referrals now and work to strengthen those existing relationships. I see so many offices that assume they will always continue receiving referrals from their trusted relationships, but it’s important to remember that relationships take work. You must continue to connect with people. Always assume that there is someone else out there trying to earn the same business that you’ve already got and it’s up to you to continue cultivating those relationships, doing everything you can to ensure those referral sources are still strong.

2.        What’s the biggest trend you see coming this year for medical marketing?

Online rating websites are going to be huge. Over 70% of all new patients are going to the internet first to find out about your office and the physicians within it. If you do a Google search of your practice, take a look at where a lot of the results are coming from. You’ll see your website, maybe some ads you have and then online physician rating sites populate much of the rest of the list. Smart practices need to be proactive in making sure that the information on physician rating sites is correct and that you have a policy in place for responding and reacting to negative comments. Any opportunity you get to humanize the doctors or practice you should take.

3.       In your experience, what works best to grow a practice with a very limited budget?

There are three things that I think work really well here. First, strengthening existing personal relationships is always huge as I mentioned earlier.  Next, your practice should have a strong internet presence with a social media strategy. You should have a dynamic, informational website that allows patients to not only get to know what you are capable of as an office, but also who you are as people. You do more business with people you trust or like – consider this a business transaction. Lastly, I would suggest marketing to your existing patients. You’ve already got the captive audience, so you might as well use them. Consider sending out newsletters, fliers, postcards – whatever you can afford, really – in an effort to get them to recommend you or come back themselves.

4.       What can I do to get my practice featured in the news?

This might not be the answer you want, but it’s the best one I can give: hire a professional. Getting in the news is complicated and it requires a fair amount of time and specialized knowledge. The best way to do it, and save yourself a lot of time – and probably a big headache – is to let a professional handle the intricacies.

5.       How important is my office staff to help grow my practice?

Extremely important! Your staff is what you will be judged on by your patients as they are typically the first and last thing patients see. It’s as simple as being greeted with a smile. In this day and age, it’s still important to put on a happy face and put your best foot forward. It goes a long way, especially when so many businesses lack customer service.

6.       Do contests and giveaways work to help me grow my practice?

Not really, no. They can help you gain some followers on Facebook and Twitter, but as far as actually growing your practice, not so much. Unless, of course, you’re giving away a prize big enough to get you an inordinate amount of publicity, something a seasoned professional would know all about.

7.       I don’t collect e-mail addresses from all patients. Should I? What should I do with them?

Collecting email addresses is an easy way to build a strong, accurate customer database.  Have a plan for communicating your marketing messages to your patient database, be that e-mail newsletters, appointment reminders or even birthday messages. Remember, if you’re on a limited budget, marketing to your existing patients is a great way to stay top of mind and grow your practice.

8.       How often should I update my practice’s website?

It depends. You should be making changes to your website on a very regular basis – adding practice events, open-houses, speaking engagements, testimonials, etc. The more you make changes to your website, the higher you will most likely be in search engine rankings.  That said, integrating a focused social media plan is a great way to strengthen your web presence without having to constantly update your main website that will have a similar effect.

9.       Do I really have to blog?

No, but it helps. Even if you’re posting relatable news stories to supplement original content, it can help increase site traffic, search engine visibility and reader loyalty. Like I said, you don’t have to, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt.

10.   What type of print advertising really makes a difference to my bottom line?

As always, it depends on your target audience.  Who are you trying to reach?  Where are they receiving their media? I tell my clients all the time that we want to put ourselves in front of the best eyes possible, not necessarily the most. What I mean by that is it’s better to have the right audience, even if it’s smaller. If they are all potential targets, the size difference is irrelevant. Best of all, those smaller distribution sizes usually mean cheaper ad rates.

As Published in the May 2011 issue of Florida MD.

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