By Nancy J. Beckley, MS, MBA
Do you have enough patients in your practice? Are you making enough money? It has been several years now since the glory days of Medicare cost-based reimbursement and a lot of outpatient rehab has ended.
If you are waiting for the return of the good old days, or hoping one of the national rehab trade associations can bring them back, your competitors may have a good start on you, if they stopped worrying about the good old days and started buzzing about what is going on now.
WHAT IS BUZZ? My recent round of consulting and training activity across the country has convinced me that the therapy practices that want to thrive and grow have expanded their horizons by positioning how they want their practice to succeed into the future. They are creating a buzz about who they are and what they do, and carving out the niche to make it happen. These practices have simply focused on attracting non-Medicare referrals as the mainstay of their business—they have focused on other areas of target penetration and have succeeded.
What exactly is "the buzz"? The buzz is simply creating a lot of word of mouth publicity simultaneously on multiple fronts and sustaining and building it for a period of time. Most important, you get everyone talking and eager to share the word. Patients and referral sources start talking, the media starts inquiring, and the cycle continues to ramp up.
One type of program that can create buzz for a practice is a driving program for seniors that is designed to bring their skill level up, as well as to assess their ability to drive safely. The statistics regarding older drivers and accidents are staggering. In fact, the use of mandatory driving testing for seniors is a politically charged topic. The good news is that you do not have to take a political stand on the topic, but rather a programmatic stand that states: "Driving programs enhance the ability of participants to sharpen their road skills for safe defensive driving."
Once the program is in place, to get the word out and create excitement:
To leverage this program and create buzz:
I am sure you get the drift of what I am trying to do. All the talent is probably readily available on your staff or within your circle of trusted colleagues. It is the effective brainstorming followed by some market research that will help get you to those programs for which people are willing to pay.
BUZZ UNDER THE RADAR Some of the best buzz can be created the old-fashioned way, by simple word-of-mouth. A schoolteacher I know needed help with incontinence—an embarrassing common problem with women, but a well-kept secret. Treatment with drugs was contraindicated due to another medical condition she had. After she confided in friends, she heard about a physical therapist in private practice that dealt exclusively with this problem: the waiting time was more than 1 month to get in for the initial visit, but she was told it would be worth it.
Once she was there, the treatment protocol and procedures were reviewed. Treatment was virtually guaranteed to meet with a high level of success if the plan was followed. Payment for the program was expected up front in cash. Cash was gladly laid on the table, and the program was followed, and success was achieved. The teacher discreetly let others know, she is aware that others have gone to the program, but she doesn't exactly know who—most women want to keep this a secret…but they will buzz under the radar, so to speak.
GETTING STARTED Let us get started on your own buzz. First, identify those services you are doing now where you really consider your clinic has a specific level of expertise. For example, one of your therapists is also an athletic trainer, or has aquatic certification.
Create a new niche in the marketplace. Once you identify this niche, with proper positioning you can own it, and then it is your niche to keep or to lose. How can you outdo your competitor if they decide to invade your niche? Think through the following: Is your product or service of better quality? Better price? Better service? What is your angle?
Create a buzz plan. Do your research, find pertinent and compelling statistics, and look for natural community partners to get the word out appropriately.
Put your customer service plan in place based on preliminary market focus research. What hours do you need to be open? Where does the price point need to be for the service to make people willing to pay for it?
Do not forget the Web. Get a blog going or, better yet, have one of your satisfied customers mention it in their own blog. For an example of a physical therapy blog, go to www.sportscenteraustin.blogs.com.
Finally, work your buzz plan. Like any other marketing effort, it has to be sustained, evaluated, and readjusted as necessary.
The buzz you create around your program will not only create publicity for your program, but, according to one clinic manager in metropolitan Chicago, good buzz could create a high interest among therapists wanting to be part of your organization, making recruitment of the best clinicians in the market much easier.
You probably have a lot of programs in your clinic right now that you can use to create the buzz. My expert advice is to look for those programs where your potential clients see the benefit of their participation, and the value in it for them to want to give you their credit card, or open their wallet. Stay away from the programs where people feel it is the responsibility of their insurance company to pay for services. A well-orchestrated buzz will help create the sense and urgency to hurry on.
Nancy J. Beckley, MS, MBA, is the president of Bloomingdale Consulting Group and Rehabilitation Seminars in the Tampa, Fla, area. She can be reached at (888) 999-0275.
