Wood Side School Laura25

octors think that their practice is unique but they never really take the time to look at what they do that makes it one. You generally get better results on some techniques than on others. Do you know which techniques and treatments are most effective for you? Probably, quite a bit, because the beauty of private practice is that you tailor it to your likes, dislikes, hours, procedures, etc. Have you utilized this knowledge in all of your marketing and networking? Extraordinary practices communicate this to their patients and their community by effective positioning. But most offices never effectively communicate this, and thus they leave a tremendous marketing opportunity on the table. I am not talking about big buck campaigns here. These are just simply what your staff and your patients should perceive, as to why they should be in your practice and refer patients to YOU!

Mission statements

Do you have a mission statement that clearly states what your practice is about and where it’s going? Have you applied this statement to all of your policies, marketing, employee policies, patient policies and decision-making. The mission statement is one of the most important steps in building your practice and making it unique. The mission statement identifies where you are going and what you are all about. The fastest way to do this is to create a list of things you enjoy the most about your practice. After all, this should be about your own fulfillment, as well as excellence in patient care. Once you have completed your mission statement, look at all of your policies. Do they agree with your mission statement? Your newsletters, notes and publications, do they agree with the mission statement? If not they all need to be changed to agree with your mission statement. Your mission statement will always be an extension of you!

Finding the focus

Now that you have your mission statement, check if your meetings, newsletters and business cards reflect this statement? If not, find out why not?

You should immediately start applying this statement into everything you do. You can start by weaving a common thread into staff meetings, patient newsletters (which you do every month, right?) and even your phone messages. This statement should live and breathe in your practice all the time.

Once this is accomplished, make sure that your staff and patients know it. Include it in your newsletter and post it in a prominent place in your office where your staff, your patients and any other visitors will see it. Why is this important? Because if you live and breather your mission statement, your community, patients and staff recognize one thing that is said loud and clear: “I care!”

Defining your mission

First of all, what is your favorite case type or types? What types of conditions do you treat best, for example, and how do patients identify them. A good example here is asthma, scoliosis, or what other conditions that you’ve best at treating. Most staff is really observant about this part, and will gladly help you. What you are best at is always the case types that interest you the most. Your staff and patients can tell which they are because of the excitement and energy in your voice.

Maybe yours is a family practice, and your focus is athletic injuries or nutrition counseling. One of the things that will help you the most is a short catchphrase. So, you might use a statement like “Preferred Practice of Local Athletes”, “Ask about our Energy Boosting Programs” or “We Care for the Entire Family”. Just be sure it is short, simple and concise. Beware of too short or too general. Although “We care” may be great, it does not communicate what you care about! Watch out for the common phrases everyone is using. Ones that are too common are hard for people to remember. Take a common one and twist the phrase a little and you have one that you can remember.

Next, use simple tag lines, which identify what makes you unique, like “Practice dedicated to Families”, “Early Morning Convenience” or “Four nights a week ’til 7 PM” (which is ours at HSG) in all your communications and advertising. What ever this tag line is, it should be so much apart of you and your practice that when people hear the phrase they naturally think of your practice. This simple measure will start to drive more referrals to your practice, with very little expenditure or effort. This is “Guerilla Marketing” at its finest. If you do the newsletters and other letters and pamphlets in your office with publishing software, all you have to do is change the template and each time you do a new pamphlet or newsletter it is already included.

Next, set up every marketing system in your practice to be congruent with this, and make sure every system is set up to be on autopilot, as part of your Perfect Practice Platform. All you have to do to fix this is simple; whatever you do ask yourself this question, “Does this agree with my mission statement?” This technique will always have you on autopilot. When you always compare everything you do to your mission statement and your focus for your practice, it will automatically point you in the right direction. Always keep your direction and mission statement in focus.

Lastly, evaluate yourself regularly; ask your staff and your patients if you are still in focus and following the mission. Read over it yourself. Check yourself against what you have written as your mission. Do you still feel the same way? If someone questions it or says that your system is not in line with the mission statement, sit down with them and find out why they feel that way. And above all else LISTEN to what they say. Although you may not agree with what is said, you may learn something. Never be afraid to make a change. However, make sure that it is called for before making the change.