Metabolic Syndrome - International Academy of Homotoxicology

More documents

Recommendations

Info

) Marketing Your Practice Practical Tips for Improving Your Marketing Strategy By Marc Deschler Marketing specialist ) 18 Practitioners often mentally equate marketing with advertising, but in fact marketing serves multiple goals: tapping into the market, winning over patients, market protection, and patient loyalty. It is important to know that just under 70 percent of patients in a practice are there because of the practitioner’s personal charisma, making that a good foundation for marketing when fostering patient loyalty is your goal. But before you even begin to think about new and improved marketing behavior, first evaluate the current state of your practice. Get clear on your current status by answering the following questions: 1. Why do patients come to us in particular? Is it the location? Absence of competition? (Not likely!) Are we exceptionally friendly? 2. Which patients come to us? What is their age, gender, social class? 3. Why don’t other patient groups come to us? 4. What do we do differently, better, or worse than other practices in the area? 5. How do our patients feel in our office? Welcomed and well treated, or rushed through and out of place? 6. What do we offer? Is there anything we offer that patients are especially happy about, or anything they almost never take advantage of? 7. What do we do well and gladly, and what do we do less well or only reluctantly? 8. Is there anything special about our patient service, any particular offerings or support services? 9. Do our patients know the full range of what we offer? Do we make them aware of it only in passing, or do we provide printed information? Answer these questions yourself and then ask your patients to answer some of them. Determine where you stand now and base your future marketing efforts on an adequate understanding of your current status. Handling complaints How your practice handles complaints is important in developing patient loyalty. Wouldn’t you know it – patients who complain but get satisfaction are six times more loyal than patients who never have a problem with you, so when a patient does complain, your complaints management needs to be excellent. Keep in mind the following points for working things out with those problem patients: 1. Listen, listen, and listen some more. Let the patient “let off steam,” even if he or she says the same thing several times. Journal of Biomedical Therapy 2008 ) Vol. 2, No. 1
) Marketing Your Practice When a patient complains, listen carefully and make sure you understand why he or she is angry. If possible, let the patient offer a solution. © iStockphoto.com/Marcin Balcerzak 2. Ask questions and more questions. From his/her point of view, the patient is certainly right, and you need to understand why he/ she is angry. (Understanding is not the same as acknowledging that you’re at fault.) 3. Solutions: Let the patient solve the problem. If you can accept a solution he/she offers, the issue simply evaporates. If you can’t, suggest one or more possible compromises. 4. The most important thing is to follow through with everything you promise, or else your effort will be wasted. 5. Check with the patient again to make sure that everything has been resolved to his/her satisfaction. Marketing in the waiting room Actively marketing your practice is especially important in your waiting room because you’re not there to make a good impression yourself. © iStockphoto.com/Ivonne Wierink You can, however, use your waiting room as a learning opportunity for your patients. Instead of standardissue furniture, get together with a local supplier and arrange to test balance ball chairs, or demonstrate how to adjust a desk chair for back support. Provide related handouts so your patients can see how to use ergonomic devices as they try them out on the spot. Videos for patients to watch while waiting are also instructive, but not all patients want to be inundated with medical information, so make sure there’s a corner where they can get away from it. Having ordinary TV programming available is more problematic because the patients have to agree on what to watch. There’s nothing worse than sitting around in an oppressive atmosphere waiting for your name to be called. Whether to have the radio on or a CD of relaxing music playing in the background depends on your patients’ tastes. If you resort to canned music, don’t forget to change it at least once a month so it doesn’t become too monotonous for everyone. If patients have to wait for their appointment, their waiting time should be as pleasant as possible. There is nothing worse than sitting in an oppressive atmosphere. Journal of Biomedical Therapy 2008 ) Vol. 2, No. 1 When choosing reading material for your waiting room, don’t just opt for the standard subscriptions or put out your own back issues. Maybe you’d be happy with the Financial Times, but how would it go over with your target group? Instead, ask yourself what issues you’d like your patients to raise with you, and select material that addresses topics you want to discuss. For example, many women’s magazines regularly include articles on medical topics, so you need to be prepared to answer questions about them. Under no circumstances, however, do your medical journals belong in the waiting room! Offering hot and cold drink service also has a place in the perfect waiting room. If drinks are available, make sure there’s a sign telling patients that they can help themselves free of charge. Make sure someone is assigned to ensure a constant supply (and let in a bit of fresh air at the same time, if needed). If you have a bulletin board, check it regularly to make sure that the information posted is up-to-date and of interest. It’s not always possible to avoid making patients wait for their appointments, but when it happens, their waiting time should be as productive and pleasant as possible. That’s also part of good office ambiance.| ) 19
Page 1 and 2: d 2.00 • US $ 2.00 • CAN $ 3.00
Page 3 and 4: ) A Challenge for the Future: Fight
Page 5 and 6: ) In Focus Table 2: Effects of adip
Page 7 and 8: ) In Focus Elevated blood pressure
Page 9 and 10: ) What Else Is New? Educational aid
Page 11 and 12: ) From the Practice factors, in thi
Page 13 and 14: ) From the Practice Photo by Ann Mu
Page 15 and 16: ) A r o u n d t h e G l o b e ACAM
Page 17: ) Refresh Your Homotoxicology Natri
Page 21 and 22: ) S p e c i a l i z e d A p p l i c
Page 23 and 24: ) Practical Protocols Detoxificatio
Page 25 and 26: ) Making of ... Left: The fodder of
Page 27 and 28: ) Crossword Puzzle Re s e a r c h H

Metabolic Syndrome - International Academy of Homotoxicology

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?