If you are practicing medicine in an urban environment or near to a city, the probabilities are great that there are competitors lurking about, ready to take your patients and attract those that would be your prospective patients. Many of these competitors will take the same insurance plans.
So, how do you gain visibility, and distinguish yourself from being the “me too” practice? How do you stand out from the crowd?
Analyze the services you provide. Is there a new way to present them to the community or away that you can tweak them to be a little different, or in a way that gives patients better options?
Look at what HealthSpot is offering as a great example. They take blood samples for laboratory tests. So do many others like Labcorp and Quest.
The difference is that HealthSpot plans on offering results in 7 minutes! You can go to a retail drugstore clinic and after getting your finger pricked for blood samples, wait for results to your cholesterol and sugar levels, liver tests, and many others.
HealthSpot has already differentiated themselves by incorporating virtual healthcare providers and will integrate laboratory visits within these consultations.
Using HealthSpot’s telehealth platform, physicians can examine patients virtually using their equipment.
So HealthSpot which gives the same blood tests offered by other labs, is setting themselves apart and disrupting the lab industry status quo.
5 Tips to Distinguish Yourself and Strengthen your Brand
Identify the “thing” that separates you from the pack and market it aggressively.
Things to try:
- Offer free eBooks to everyone that attends your teleseminars
2. Offer a webinar
3. Volunteer your time for community health fairs
4. Offer a free examination or consultation to be auctioned off at a local charity event
5. Offer to speak at the Library or medical associations- offer a copy of your slides to anyone that emails you requesting them (thereby capturing their name and email for your database)
Now consider whether the actions above or others is in keeping with your business plan.
Medical Business Plan
Regardless of the size of your medical practice, whether it is a one-two person group or a large conglomerate health facility, every business needs a detailed business plan. Think of the plan as your vision for the practice formalized on paper. Write it done, look at it, think about it and refine it, but get it on paper (or computer). By going through the process, you will be amazed at the process that gets your practice to evolve and shape into a solid business and act as a map to success.
- Consider your Core Values and do them better than anyone else. If this includes empathy, set aside time to make calls or have the staff call after any procedures to find out if the patient is doing well post procedure. If it is a new medication regimen, call and ask the patient if he or she understands the new program and have them repeat it to make sure.
- Innovate– are there new procedures, techniques or alternative options that are now approved that you can implement? If so, let your patients now. There are always going to be improvements. Don’t let your patients and the community think of you as stale and not up-to-date.
- Bide your Time– don’t be in a hurry to implement new techniques or medications until it is accepted medical practice. Maintain the ethics and integrity of your medical practice.
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