Physicians Toolkit

This physician toolkit is brought to you by the people who understand the business of medicine. Today's patients are a different breed than those of 15 or 20 years ago. Thanks to the internet, they are better informed and have higher expectations.

We have designed these three steps to help you reach and keep those patients. Step 1: Market the Patnership. Step 2: Create a website. If you have any questions, please contact your local hospital marketing director.

Step 1: Marketing A Physician/Hospital Patnership

New Generation Marketing

• Where are the patients coming from?
• Where are the patients getting their healthcare info?
  They are more informed with global, instant access to medical information like the internet, broadcast new stories, and pharmaceutical ads.
  
• Today's Patients...
  Have higher expectations reguarding knowledgable physicains, personalized service, treatment options, convenience, and nice facilities.
  They also have concerns about the cost of healthcare, changing insurance plans, medical errors, their privacy (HIPAA).

Expanding the Patient Base

• How do we direct our patients to our offices
  • Why patients choose a physician and why they leave:
         Billing Issues = 33%
         Care and Treatment = 33%
         Communication = 20%
         Bad Service = 10%
         Lack of Convenience = 10%
         Enviroment = 5%
  • Practice Analysis - Evaluate you practice by patient surveys, review competitors, and take a critical look at your office enviroment.
  • Practice Development - Develop a plan by setting long and short-term goals, identifying your target audience, and implementing action plans (how you will reach your target audience).
  • Practice Development - Pateint Retention:
         Motivate your staff with appointmet scheduling, patient registration, and telephone techniques.
         Educate your patients.
         Communicate with appointment reminders, inactive patient letters, and unexpected perspectives.
  • Get to know your Hospital's marketing director, be familiar with media relations, newsletters and speaking engagements.
  • You can take action with advertising, brochures, open house, Yellow pages, and referrals.
  • Practice Development - Measuring success.

Success with the Media

• What's Driving News Today?
  The proliferation of news outlets, smaller and less experienced news staffs, increased emphasis on instantaneous coverage, and pressure to get breaking stories and "exclusives."
• Types of health stories.
  • Medical breakthroughs, like cures, new treatments, and technological advances.
  • Riveting patient stories like miracles, saved lives and emotional impact.
  • Consumer helath information like news you can use, trends and warning signs of illness/disease.
  • Health business like health insurance, new services and merger and acquisitions.
  • Honors and recognitions like awards, accolades and designations.
• Elements of a good health story.
  • The patient, a "real person" who can share a very "personal" experience.
  • The physician/healthcare professional, an "expert" who can explain details and add perspective.
  • The visual support, pictures that tell the story.
• All reporters want breaking stories, exclusive stories, access, one-stop shopping and good soundbites.
• Print media.
  You should expect deatiled questions, follow-up questions, the reporter to take notes and your answers to be quoted and paraphrased.
• Broadcast media.
  You should expect the reporters to cut your answers to 10 seconds, the same questions more than once, cutaways and everything you do and say to be recorded.
• Preparing for the interview.
  Negotiate the interview time, place and information that will be covered, anticipate questions, rehearse responses and just relax.
• In deciding what to say, determine your most important point, limit yourself to three "key messages," practice your points and plan to state your most important point in response to the first question.
• During the interview DO...
  • Listen to the reporter's questions.
  • State your most important key message first.
  • Bridge back to key messages often.
  • Maintain eye contact.
  • Keep answers concise.
  • Challenge rumors, correct inaccuracies.
• During the interview DON'T...
  • Use jargon.
  • Repeat negatives.
  • Argue, be defensive, evasive, or untruthful.
  • Use verbal barriers.
• For your on-camera presence pause for thoughfulness, speak clearly and audibly, vary your pace and tone, use natural, comfortable expressions, convey the appropriate emotion and keep your feet on the floor.
• For controversial subjects, respond quickly, tell only what you are responsible for telling, only tell what you know, communicate concern and stop an ambush

• Websites provide consumer and patients with:
  
  • A resource for health care information
  • Information about medical practices and staff - 24/7/365
  • Provide millions of pages of healthcare information
  • Answer Frequently Asked Questions
  • Link physicain web sites to hospital for maximum exposure

Step 2: Physician Websites

ehcMD is the fast, free and easy way for you to get online! You and your staff can create a high quality and feature rich website using the ehcMD web-based tool. The simple and intuitive user interface speeds you through the process.

Click Here for ehcMD Physician Websites