Hi Ozbargainer
I have a limited marketing budget to market my medical practice. I need help to choose the cost effective way to reach my target audience.
Cost Effective Way to Grow a Medical Practice
cuteduck on 25/05/2018 - 17:39
Last edited 25/05/2018 - 17:43 by 1 other user
Last edited 25/05/2018 - 17:43 by 1 other user
Poll Options
- 78Digital marketing - social media
- 8Search Engine Marketing - Google AdWords
- 4Shop A docket
Comments
- 1
- 2
Obstetrics and gynaecology
I've seen some paediatric dental clinics where the entrance is an open mouth and the waiting seats are teeth.
Perhaps you can draw some inspiration?
Ps. A few potted hedges, like manicured shrubs, outside the entrance let's prospective patients know you're a nature loving person.
A few potted hedges, like manicured shrubs, outside the entrance let's prospective patients know you're a nature loving person.
Some untrimmed wild growing hedges even more so.
the medical centre is within the hospital :)
@lovesabargain77:
I was thinking more of a vertically tapered decorative arch. Of course, you still have to have inner doors, prefebly folding out (incase of patient collapse, doors will not be obstructed for emergency workers).A siren at the top of the arch could be a useful security function too.
@cuteduck: Does the hospital offer the same service you do through the public system? If not, I bet the MOs / consultants (Potential referrals) wouldn't mind you sponsoring a free lunch / etc to get your name around.(not sure if legal though)
You need an apprentice?
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Some ideas:
- Hand out free pink macarons iced with your name to mums at shopping centres.
- Take an oven to school fetes and bake some fresh buns. Fill them with cream, wrap them with a paper printed with your name and hand them out to mums.
- As above but with roast beef sandwiches at children's sporting events.
- Acquire some ultra thin, ultra cheap condoms printed with your name and hand them out at university open days.
This is actually genius.
Section 133 of the National Law prohibits advertising that:
• offers a gift, discount or other inducement to attract a user of the health service without stating the terms and conditions of the offerThe use of gifts as part of an advertising campaign may be a breach of this.
Do you have a website?
Get yourself an awesome anaesthetist (ahem)
Under medicare, patients need a referral letter from GP or another specialist before they can see you, so you should be making yourself known to other local GPs who will refer patients to you?
Consumers rarely have a choice in the specialist they see, usually referred by their current doctor.
I'm guessing you dont have kids or if you do you (very wisely) went public
Consumers rarely have a choice in the specialist they see, usually referred by their current doctor.
Very true for some specialist areas but not for obstetricians or a gynaecologists like OP.
In our circle of friends, 4 saw the same guy based on recomendations of others. If you're having a baby privately it's an entire ordeal selecting the "right" person.
We went with him too only to have him on holidays when the baby arrived - the replacement guy was fine.
Is this Dr Nick?
Hi Dr Nick!
Hi Everybody
Just in case you've not seen this
Guidelines for advertising regulated health services
http://www.medicalboard.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record…It would be within AHPRA guidelines
Google - Search engine marketing plus Google Maps - make sure the information there is accurate, linked to your website and site location and get some reviews.
I think SEM combination with social media would be the best. I have no experience in using traditional marketing
If my wife needed to see a obstetrician or a gynaecologist I doubt anything would put me off more than a doctor with Adwords and an aggressive active social media campaign…but that’s just me
like @Halo375 said make sure your basic details are correct on maps and your website. Ensure your location is prominent - however good you are people aren’t driving 2 hours to see you
Add a blog or knowledgebase section to your website offering real information on the pregnancy process. Spend 1 hour a week writing a single quality piece. Expecting parents would love this, forward their friends, post it on facebook etc.
Do not engage an SEO company to write content create backlinks for you. Spammy lets get a 100,000 page impressions, guaranteed first page in 3 weeks crap will do you more harm than good.
Work slowly and build a quality repository of pregnancy information and people will link to you from quality reputable sources
Why not target your referral base… Local GP's. Get out meet them for Lunch. Run a education session and get your name out there. Most patients trust their GP to pick a specialist to refer to
Yeup. It is number 1 priority and been doing it.
Regular education session and annual CPD meeting :)
It is not cheap to use healthengine :)
Can you offer kickbacks to GPs that refer patients to you?
God I hope this is illegal. Would rather not be referred to someone just cause my GP gets a kickback.
Don't worry, it is illegal ;)
I most certainly hope it’s illegal too, but I bet it happens on the sly
GP gets kickback for everything, it's sad reality which new specialist, pathology, physiotherapy physiology and radiology faces everyday. Kickback are not cash but in the form of alcohol, food, free event passes !
I work in the industry. Kickback is Very rare. Rarer than you think. Most specialist grows their list slowly, often splitting between public and private appointments. What GP likes most is close relationship. You call the GP about everything that's happening to the patient. It will re-emphasise your name in their head and make them think that they are part of the treatment team, rather than just a docs who hand patients to specialists.
Make sure other agencies can very easily refer their patients to you. So often it's a drama - a smooth referral pathway makes a huge difference in getting repeat business.
Subscribe to Connecting Care and deploy Argus so that other agencies can transmit referrals to your patient management system eg. Medical Director) hassle free.
Disclaimer: I don't work for TelstraHealth, but I work with their products.
Don't kill patients.
Word will get around if you do…………….
Any publicity is good publicity!
usually…..but maybe not in this case
If he was a GP he could poison a few of the neighbours when business was slow. Just a little bit, mind you. Doesn't really work in his field though.
dead people tell no tales.
In Caribbean, they do 😂.
Reach out to the small business department run by your state government for tips on marketing. e.g.
https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/business-advice/marketin…
They have a lot of good free tools, even access to some databases that help you target your audience.
The best publicity in your field is word of mouth. Also be listed on readily accessible sites like ratemds or get listed on sites like https://www.truelocal.com.au/
Yes. that is true..most of my referrals are through WOM :)
My wife is a Doctor and I'm a Marketing Director. Might I suggested you would get the most benefit out of Local Area Marketing? Let's print out some flyers and go mail box dropping.
That is the tackiest thing I have ever heard. Good Doctors don't advertise, their business growth is organic.
Yes, organic growth is the best but it takes time to grow. You have to compete with established specialists as well.
So be patient. You're going to get your million bucks a year eventually, just put up with a C200 for now, and you can grab yourself an AMG GT in a few years time. Otherwise you risk harming your reputation.
Local area marketing when done well is effective. Pamphlet delivery companies offer 10-20 percent discounts if you ask quite often too
@smuggler: 700 series? So they drive none existent cars? Rich Doctors most defiantly do drive AMGs, 6 Series are super popular too, as are BMW Ms. If you go to the car park of any private hospital, this is abundantly obvious.
@cuteduck: How can you be smart enough to get into OBGYN but stupid enough to consider pamphlet drops to market your business? Be professional, be patient. You will make a lot of money in your lifetime as an OBGYN, don't be greedy now and sacrifice your reputation.
in this day and age, you need to do anything you can to get your foot in the door, even if it is letter dropping. no harm done. when we first came here in the 80's my dad did this (electrician) to kick start the work. a few years later, he couldnt turn enough people away the workload was so much.
An electrician is not a obgyn.
As others have said, don’t do pamphlet drops or any such thing
I know it goes against what we believe in this highly technological age. I'm in my late 20's and specialise in Digital Marketing but with the limited budget of OP local area marketing is the best 'bang for his buck'. Just letting your local community know you've opened is very powerful. I'm glad you think it's tacky and that you shouldn't have to advertise because your reputation is outstanding. But in todays day and age people expect your service to be outstanding and the Doctor to be good. It's no longer a competitive advantage. Listen to an expert or don't, it doesn't bother me, It just means there's less competition when we start our own practise.
Go speak to local GPs. Take some lunch if you want to. Take a flyer.
Bulk bill at least at the start.
Send the GP letters quickly.
Be nice when GPs call.
Be nice to patients.
Referrals will come in.Sounds a bit cheap to advertise your specialist medical practice directly to the public
This.
And make sure you get good reviews from the people that come in. Within obs/gyn reviews can really make or break your business (more so than most other medical specialities…).Yes I do agree with above. This is how I build my initial referral base. Woman does talk :).
However, this post is about growing referrals to "medical practice"
- Dont prescibe the right drugs so they keep coming back
- Bulk Bill for first 2 years
Bulk billing is not an option unfortunately :)
The best advertising is word of mouth. It especially applies to pregnant women. If you have an excellent/exceptional caring manner, your waiting room will overflow with patients. If you can do this, women will ask their GP to be referred to you and will also tell others of their experiences. Be careful what you wish for, or you will be overloaded with patients….
Seedy giveaways?
1 in 10 wins a prize when you open the box.
you open the box.
Um…
I hope this is not a troll post as I do find it rather funny this question is being asked on OzBargain.
I'm a GP and have done Dip Obs. I would have to say the number one factor influencing my referral pattern is whether I've had personal observation of a specialist' s skill (I.e. they're competent), and secondly whether they had a good bedside manner (combination of patient care but also how they treat and teach me).
The second thing I've noticed is there must be some sort of patient forum where mums share info as I've had a few request specialists via that method. However I always check out the specialists profile if I haven't heard of them before so make sure you have that updated.
Yes, agree with all above. However, I have $amount (but limited) to be spent on marketing, hence the poll options.
Being a public specialist does help to grow my profile. Social media (facebook mother group) is important to target the obstetrics patients.Google AdWords for a specific suburb / area would be most useful. I turn to Google when I don't have any idea for a patients preferred location. (I have a few patients whom no longer live in the area but still come back to the practice)
Build a tin shed
Sponsor family events?
Local school fetes are where all the breeders are. Pick a suburb with high earnings.
Easy, post special deals on ozbargain…you can offer discounts on appointments with a code like PULL10 or a FREE Xiaomi digital thermometer with every visit. You'll have a line outside your clininc in no time.
Just mention "OZbargain" and will be bulkbilled :)
O&G? Make sure your FB page has a photo of you holding the baby you've delivered next to the Mum. That's the thing that's left a lasting impression on me wrt social media and obs.
:)
I used to be employed by a company as a kind of medical rep and doing GP lunches. You could get your receptionist to help do a mail out to all the medical clinics closeby. I remember seeing a lot of doctors write letters to all the clinics around whenever they moved into a new area. It would be pinned to the notice board so that the GPs could refer to someone closeby. They would often add the doctors address into their system as well so any new GPs into the clinic had something to search for. To stand out and for them to keep you in mind, maybe give them a cheap little pen or something with your clinic on it. (of course you can have someone more interesting than pens but I can't think of anything atm)
I find that GPs are more likely to refer to people very close by due to convenience if service is identical. Only if the patients come back and say the doctor is mean or the doctor is clueless will they change their referring ways and refer further away.
To be honest you really should not worry about advertising budget. If you spend $1000 on writing letters and giving our promotional pens, you would only need about 4 Initial specialist consultations to actually have a positive return on your investment. (More likely you will need 2 patients that have an initial and follow up consult/s). I think during a growth phase even getting a negative ROI would be ok as you need to develop the confidence in the referring doctor community. GPs will talk amongst themselves about services and specialists since they work so close to each other. We had lost the business of an entire clinic because of bad service in the past and doctors at the clinic all talked about it when I went to do a lunch there.
my nutritionist was recommended to me by my gp as they know each other very well, which works for me, as i only go to medical professions recommended by people i know, i rarely 'cold call'
op should also remember they are running a business, and should read up on business literature. i remember reading an article about how the clark rubber ceo turned it from a failing business to a now successful one. he said regardless, he spent 10% on marketing. get the word out there. and it worked.
Bulk bill
Specialists don't bulk bill.
Exactly!
Some do!
Agree with RJW.
I'm not a doctor, For me, the worst medical practices are always the ones that over market. I know you need to advertise, but I want competent healthcare and sound advice. Too often I get upselling (dentists) or people trying to bleed me dry (physios).
Avoid at all costs copying the "Wellness" model. Only quacks need to advertise like that, because they need to convince people to buy an unnecessary and frequently ineffective product or service.
Honestly, a reputation for competence, a great patient relationship and ease of access is what I look for. Try to market those things, not gimmicks.
And transparent pricing.
print some large scale posters from office works:
"Obstetrics and gynaecology dojo: strike first, strike hard"
Cause a widespread medical emergency around your area and have your staff on standby.
Can I suggest an order of 10,000 brown snakes followed by 10,000 orders of antivenom? That way you could take all the supply and your competition wouldn't be able to treat the regulars who go there, and death is bad for business (but good for yours!).
Seriously though, just be as good if not better than the other practice and be more reasonable in your billing. There's nothing else you can do. This isn't Asia or America, our culture doesn't care about medical advertising, it really doesn't. We care about how much everything costs and if they come recommended, not if they are instagram famous, in fact that will sour people away here having tall poppy syndrome as a national past time.
Oh, and parking. Have better parking around the facility than your competitor, old/sick people hate having to look (or even worse, pay for) a parking spot that's not very close to the practice. Even worse if it's timed and have to worry about parking time left.
It's an OBGYN. I'm not sure I know where you're going with the brown snakes… Ahhhhhh I see, you say dog.
But yeah. Advertising medical cervices rarely does much for a practice. Word of mouth is slow but builds a strong patient base.
Since you'll likely be targeting within several suburbs, CPC will have minimal reach. SEO is easy for local area searchers eg. 'medical practice (suburb name)'.
At least that's my experience with a local tax accounting practice. Easy SEO traffic, minimal CPC reach. I didn't test Facebook which is targetable by area, but other things like directories (eg. Yellow Pages free listing) brought no noticeable benefit.
Working on the in-store marketing (as in, improving the experience) would be important too, since lots of people will be walk-ins, so you'll want to improve the odds of them returning or telling other people.
It is correct - a targetted local population-. however, most modren women will use "google" to search for diagnosis and social media for opinion.
Social Media + SEO + Local SEO
What is SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is part of SEO which helps businesses promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they're looking for them.Social Media and Adwords (SEM) do produce very quick results but quite expensive over long-term. SEO and local SEO has cost in short-term but gives much better ROI in long-term.
Nothing screams professional medical practice like seeing ads for it on social media..
Nothing new… look at IVF clincs :)
That is what my thoughts are. I think SEO and local SEO will cost me $$ but help in long term. I try to avoid SEM if possible.
Take up a public hospital VMO post and arrange for follow up to occur in rooms.
Yeup, I have admitting rights with tertiary hospital. I try to separte my public vs. private works
Hey, let me suggest something here.
I work as a digital marketer and have helped an OBGYN market her practice. So I could give you a couple a basic tips.
The first thing to note here is; focus on educating NOT advertising. Remember what’s important here, help patients make informed choices and help them make their lives better. This is key.
1) The first thing to do is obviously set up your online profiles - get a website (but without proper planning , a website is really an expensive brochure）you need to figure out how to get traffic there
2) get on directories and other listings - google my business is the most important one.
3) set up ONE social media platform (don’t try multiple platforms , just start with one) - I suggest Facebook just because I’ve had great success with it for obgyns, you can reach people of all ages. This platform is great if done right because you can use this to help educate people (Q&a, articles) and it’s great for local marketing … Caz you can target people that live around the area. It’s very focused- by gender / pregnancy etc
4) write useful articles and put them up on your website. yes it’s difficult to write (u need some flare for it otherwise u can hire people to do it - I help doctors re-write their articles so it’s more readable) .. write about topics people don’t commonly talk about - the real deal.. inside scoops and opinions and stories
Then use Facebook ads to promote what you wrote. This one is a little tricky. But the easiest is to boost your post. Do that once a week if you can. Spend $50 or so to boost a post is plenty for the week. And it will help drive traffic to your website and also get people finding more about you. Helps with getting your website noticed by Google as well.
That’s the easiest, start with a social calendar. Plan what you want to write for the month and put aside 1-2 hours and write a week. Then you can publish it on your site and promote it. Then you can slowly increase this frequency.
You can choose other things besides writing articles - so just be creative. You can create videos etc.
All these are doable with a small budget - but you need to invest some time in it.
Hope that helps. If you need some other advice let me know. There is lots more you can do but this is a great start.
Yes.. all those points are suggested to me. Thanks for your suggestion
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What medicine are you a practitioner in?