Practice promotion
Some typical ways to market your new practice are through:
- website or other presence on the internet
- listings in telephone books
- letters of introduction to potential referring doctors
- listings of professional practices in your town or suburb
- press releases in local papers
- involvement in community activities
- involvement in leisure and semi-professional activities
- sponsorships
- radio
- brochures
- business cards
- newsletters
- advertisements in trade magazines and journals
- advertisements in other relevant magazines and journals
The latter three points must comply with the Medical Board Act,
AHPRA and advertising regulations applicable to your state of
practice.
Medical boards and AHPRA in each state provide information
regarding appropriate and ethical advertising. Please contact your
state medical board. The Australian Medical Council (AMC) website
listed in this section's links
has addresses for all state medical boards.
Important tip: word of mouth can be one of the most successful
ways to increase your patient base. Try to do the following on a
regular basis:
- Find out how patients found out about you.
- Find out why they chose to come to you.
- Encourage them to tell their friends, family, acquaintances and
work colleagues about those aspects of your service they most
enjoy.
- Make sure your staff know the strengths of your practice and
are able to highlight these in appropriate situations.
Knowing your patients/clients is essential for successful
business. How can we get to know the qualities and characteristics
of our patients?
- Patient surveys: periodically survey patients about different
aspects of the practice. Be careful to only ask questions that are
useful and that you can actively do something about.
- Focus groups: meet with small groups of representative patients
to discuss how services can be improved and presented to
patients.
Promotion of your services
In the materials and other media you make available to existing
and potential patients, refer to the services you offer,
particularly those that may be different from other practices in
your area. Though you know your services intimately, you cannot
assume the same will apply to your patients. It is important that
you clearly state your areas of greatest skill and expertise, and
to inform them of any particular areas of interest you pursue.
Consider how and where you will promote your service. The type
of practice that you have will determine a large proportion of the
marketing. General practices market directly to the public,
specialists market predominately to potential referrers, as well as
to the public.
Your main market will determine the how and where of your
marketing program. If direct to the public, conventional means such
as Yellow Pages and White Pages are a good starting point, although
diminishing in effectiveness. Online marketing is now crucial and
should include, as a minimum, publicity in Yellow Pages online and
a practice website. A profile can be set up on main social media
sites - in particular Facebook, using safe social media principles.
Letterbox drops can be surprisingly effective as well as
traditional marketing material such as a practice information
sheet/booklet, business cards, signage, magnets and newsletter.
Emailed newsletters are very useful, although you must obtain
patient consent first to use their email address in this manner,
and ensure that an 'unsubscribe' option is available.
If marketing directly to referrers, printed material, emails,
phone calls, letters of introduction, and introduction type lunches
can be very effective. The most effective technique is to make
initial introduction, and to ensure that the first few
contacts/services are efficient, friendly and leave a positive
impression. This is likely to lead to repeat referrals via the
referrer and word of mouth from the patient.
Another aspect of marketing that must be considered is any
public image of the practice. This is most relevant externally from
the building, sponsorship of community events/groups, and when
advertising a position/room vacancy for administrative or clinical
staff. As many of the public will view these forms of advertising,
it is crucial that it provides a good representation of the
practice.
Networking
When you set up your new practice, other health
professionals need to know about YOU! Advise other health
professionals of your areas of interest so they may be more likely
to refer appropriate patients to you.
Here are some suggestions about how to introduce yourself to
other professionals:
General practitioners
- Visit other general practices in the area.
- Join the local division of general practice.
- Go to educational meetings.
- Your practice manager may attend network groups, and this could
introduce your name locally.
- Make yourself known to local pharmacies and local community
health centre/s.
- Send a letter of introduction to specialists and allied health
professionals you may be working with (e.g. surgeons,
psychiatrists, physiotherapists, psychologists, dieticians).
Specialist practitioners
- Visit other specialists in the area.
- Visit general practitioners in the area.
- Offer to speak at education sessions for general
practitioners.
- Send a letter of introduction to general practitioners in the
area.
- Send a letter of introduction to allied health professionals
you may be working with (e.g. physiotherapists if you are a
surgeon).
Improving your practice
Whether you are a general practitioner or a specialist:
- Get to know all other practitioners in the local area you are
servicing.
- Attend local clinical meetings.
- Ask your practice manager to regularly attend practice manager
networking meetings.
- Encourage employed nurses to regularly attend nurses'
networking meetings.