MARKETING
Practice Marketing for Medical Professionals
The purpose of this series of articles is to give physicians a realistic
view of what “Marketing Your Practice” is really all about.
It will not only explain how important it is to market to payors,
referring physicians and the general public, but most importantly
why. It will clarify the need for goals and objectives and ways you
can reach them. If you are actively marketing your practice, or have
recently discovered the need for it, we trust this will be a valuable
source of inspiration and knowledge.
About the Author
Marcy
T. Rogers, M.Ed. is currently President and CEO of SpineMark Corporation.
For over 30 years, Marcy has worked with leading healthcare professionals,
facilities and medical device manufacturers to advance her goal of
creating awareness and resources for tertiary specialty care systems.
I. Why should you market your practice?
II. What is the difference between “good marketing” and
“advertising”?
III. Internal Analysis
IV. External Analysis
V. Where do you want to go?
VI. General Marketing
VII. Marketing to Specific Segments
VIII. Tracking & Planning
IX. Case Study
I. Why should you market your practice?
There are many reasons why you may want to consider marketing your
practice. Some examples are:
• Gaining market share
• Increasing revenue
• Building patient volume
• Changing patient mix
• Managed Care
• Lower reimbursements
• Addition of a new office location
As you know, the medical industry has changed tremendously over the
past years. You can no longer sit back and wait for patients to come
to you. Patients are demanding quality care, timely service and most
importantly customer satisfaction. In planning for the future of your
practice, you must remember it is better to be proactive, not reactive.
II. What is the difference between “good marketing” and
“advertising”?
There is a major misconception in the medical industry today that
“marketing” is “advertising”. There are subtle,
tactful ways in which you can use “good marketing” techniques
within your practice to market yourself and your services.
• Good Marketing - In creating “good marketing”
there are several things that you will need to accomplish. Every good
marketing department has to have a Strategic Marketing Plan. A Strategic
Marketing Plan is complied of specific goals in which you will define
certain objectives and action plans to meet those goals. It will establish
not only how you will meet your goals but most important why. It will
challenge you to look inside your practice and evaluate your strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats (the SWOT). You will analyze
your competitors and research the demographic areas that you service.
The Plan should focus on tracking results. Results will be the key
indicators in defining what is working for your practice and what
should be changed. It is also important to understand that marketing
is a long-term commitment and you will not see results overnight.
A Strategic Marketing Plan is a well thought out, calculated plan
that will always have a PURPOSE that relates to a GOAL. Marketing
is a way to educate your patients, referring physicians and the community
about your practice and its’ services, without the expensive
medium of “advertising” in the weekend paper.
• Advertising - Advertising is very expensive whether it is
print (i.e. newspaper, magazine), TV, radio or billboard, etc. Advertising
is a quick, impersonal means of reaching a large demographic audience
with a certain message and/or product. You will reach people you may
or may not consider as “good patients”. Some people, especially
the medical community, may frown upon “advertising” and
consider it flashy and unprofessional. It is not to say you shouldn’t
implement advertising media within your marketing effort. However,
there is an approach, a time, a place and a reason for doing so.
III. Internal Analysis
How to get started - Once you have decided to market, you will first
need to evaluate your practice inside and out. Here are some questions
you should ask yourself before you begin to market your practice.
• Do you have enough physicians and staff member to handle the
increase in volume of patients?
• What kind of patients would you like to see more of? (Discovery,
capitated patients, etc.)
• Are you billing correctly?
• Is your office space big enough to handle the increase of
patient volume?
1. What sets your practice apart from the competition in your area?
- Is it your level of service? Commitment to the community over the
past 20 years? There are several factors that set you apart from your
competition. Determine what they are and capitalise on them.
2. Internal Marketing Audit - You will need to outline a detailed
description of your marketing efforts for the year.
3. S.W.O.T. Analysis - Your strategic marketing plan would be useless
without this. It is essential that you know what your Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats are within your practice.
4. Who are your patients and where do they come from? The answer to
this question is imperative for developing and implementing your strategic
marketing plan.
IV. External Analysis
After you have looked at your practice internally, it is time to look
externally. Learning and understanding your market is vital to the
success of your practice. An external analysis will allow you gain
insight into the communities you service. In evaluating your demographic
area, you will see where and how your practice fits within your community.
You will learn there are several external factors that are crucial
to identify and understand for the success of your practice.
1. Demographic analysis of the areas your serve
It is very important to know the demographic area that your practice
services. You need to know what your community has to offer and where
it is going within the next five to 10 years. This will allow you
to gain insight into every aspect of your community. The only way
to truly know your community is to gather, review and analyze the
collected data. You may be surprised as to what you find out. Here
are a few examples of what you will need to evaluate.
a. General overview of the area
b. Population / Age Median
c. Cost of Living / Income Data
d. Employment / Unemployment
2. Specialty Analysis
Within the specialty analysis, you will begin to understand your “market”.
It is important to realize how your specialty of care fits into the
communities you service. By defining and understanding your specialty
of care “market”, you will begin to know where to focus
your efforts. You must identify who else is practicing within your
market and what their services and plan of action are for the present
and future. If you don’t, others will capitalize on “your
patients” and you will see a decrease in your volume and not
understand why or know what to do about it.
A. Understanding of your specialty of care -
o What is your specialty?
o Who else is treating those specialty patients (chiropractors, orthopaedics,
internal medicine, etc.)?
o What are the national statistics of the injuries/disorders/diseases
that your specialty treats?
o What are the laws regarding patient claims?
B. Where is your specialty of care being provided? -
o Office
o Hospital
o Etc.
C. Payment of your specialty of care
o Who is paying for the product (i.e. Medical Aid, Self, Employer
etc.)?
D. Promotional media
o What promotion vehicles are available in your market?
o Print (newspapers, magazines, hospital publications, etc.)
o TV
o Radio
o Billboard
o Education (i.e. employer safety meetings, study groups, health fairs,
etc.)
o Public speaking (i.e. community awareness, health fairs, etc.)
3. Competitive Analysis
It is vital that you know your competition. Remember that competition
is positive and people today want choices when deciding on a physician.
The key to success is finding ways to set your practice above and
apart from the competition. You will have to use your own strengths
and opportunities and capitalize on your competition’s weaknesses
and threats. It is important that you do not get caught up in doing
everything that your competition does. Carefully evaluate the marketing
strategies of your competition but stick to your own strategic marketing
plan. Be proactive, not reactive. Remember that your competition has
vulnerabilities too! Find them and use them to your advantage.
a. Who are they?
b. Where they?
c. How many physicians do they have?
d. What are their strengths?
e. What are their weaknesses?
V. Where do you want to go?
The time has come to reflect on the data that you have collected from
Sections I - IV and implement them to fit the philosophy of your practice.
By defining a mission, goals and objectives you will know that your
practice is going in the direction in which you want it to grow. Set
your standards high, stay focused and you will succeed.
1. Mission - A very specific statement regarding the core values of
your practice (should only be one to three sentences).
2. Goals - This is a general statement about purpose. Goals point
towards a level of productivity that the practice wishes to achieve
without mentioning specific actions.
3. Objectives - Usually contains three standard “operating characteristics”
criteria: patient load, earnings and profitability.
VI. General Marketing
Once you have established where you want to go, then you will have
to work to get yourself there. Before you get started it is important
to realize that regardless of who you are marketing to, there are
“general marketing” issues that you need to implement.
It is vital that you develop a strategic marketing plan. Your strategies
and action plans should be clear, precise and to the point. In developing
and implementing the following points, you will create the foundation
of a solid marketing resource. Here are a few examples:
A. Create and implement a Strategic Marketing Plan - This Plan will
be the “bible” of your marketing efforts. It is vital
that you put everything in writing and make people accountable. Without
it being in writing, it holds no merit. The Plan should entail EVERY
aspect of marketing and should be monitored and updated annually.
Also if there are any questions about what marketing is and what is
does for the practice, you will have proof to show that marketing
works - if done correctly.
B. Create Physicians Marketing Committee - This is an internal committee
of physician(s) within the practice created to assist the Marketing
Representative with marketing related issues and give insight into
the direction of the practice.
C. Create print media - You will need an image brochure that tells
people about your practice, the physician(s) and your services. This
will allow you to mail information to new patients, distribute information
regarding your practice at health fairs, to payors, etc.
D. Create a practice website - Patients are becoming more and more
computer savvy. If they are looking for a new physician, they want
to research them to make sure they are credible. Plus, patients want
to research their injuries, diseases and disorders. By giving them
a resource of your website, you look credible to patients, referring
physicians and the general public. Also, a website is a great way
to tell potential physician recruits about your practice and its’
services.
E. Create a practice newsletter - Newsletters are a great way to reach
patients, referring physicians, and payors about the happenings of
your practice and new and innovative procedures. They are great for
a positive public image and are a wonderful educational tool.
F. Create and monitor budget - You should spend at least 1% of your
total gross revenue on your marketing effort. After the first year
of your marketing effort, you should have a good understanding of
what it will take. If you are going to commit to the marketing effort,
you have to be willing to spend money, but spend your money wisely.
VII. Marketing to Specific Segments
1. Payors
Targeting payors is very important in your marketing efforts. Payors
include but are not limited to:
A. Insurance providers
B. Third Party Administrators (TPA)
C. Self-insurers Employers
D. Attorneys
E. Workers’ compensation (case managers, adjusters, rehab nurses)
Ways in which you can market to payors are as follows:
• Satisfaction Surveys
• Distribute holiday recognition
• Presentations
• Sponsorships & booth participation
• Health fairs & presentations
• Practice newsletter
• Courses & In-services
• Site visit
• Announcements
2. Marketing to Referring Physicians
• Referring physician offices
• Satisfaction Surveys
• Distribute holiday recognition gifts
• Announcements
• Practice newsletter
• Grand Rounds, Presentations and In-services
3. Marketing to General Public
• Patient Satisfaction Surveys
• Health fairs & Community Expo’s
• News releases and announcements
• Practice newsletter
• Presentations for community events
VIII. Tracking & Planning
You will need to create a system to monitor success of marketing efforts.
The data you collect is only as good as what you do with it. Tracking
surveys and referring physician and payor referral trend analyses
is vital. This information will let you know who you should visit
or support and why. It is also important to track and implement ideas
from your Satisfaction Surveys.
• Referring physicians
o Satisfaction surveys
o Referral trend analysis
• Payors
o Satisfaction surveys
o Payor mix
• General public
o Satisfaction surveys
o Overall patient mix of the practice
An Action Plan Timeline should be developed when planning marketing
events. This will allow you to look at the events of the year at a
glance. It is a way to quickly find and review what you need to do
and when it needs to be accomplished.
IX. Case Study
This Case Study is based on a practice of 10 orthopaedic surgeons
in the southeast U.S. with several locations within the same demographic
area.
1. Why should you market your practice?
The Practice decided to begin their marketing effort in October 1998.
The goals of the marketing department were to increase the overall
revenue of the practice by 20% by year-end as well as creating exposure
for the practice by establishing a positive public image within the
community.
2. What is the difference between “good marketing” and
“advertising”?
The Practice decided to hire a full-time Marketing Director to oversee
all aspects of the marketing effort. A Strategic Marketing Plan was
developed in approximately eight months, in which a mission, goals,
objectives, action plans and a budget were developed and implemented.
3. Internal Analysis
First, all ten physicians agreed to support the marketing effort and
understood that things would not happen overnight. They accepted that
it would be a long-term process that would require their participation
and assistance. They decided on a mission statement for the practice
as a whole. A SWOT Analysis was performed exposing the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A major strength of the practice
was its’ existing workers’ compensation department. The
practice had designated employees to servicing workers’ compensation
representatives only to ensure they were providing the highest levels
of service and developing relationships. Workers’ compensation
reimbursement rate is high for this area and it was decided that workers’
compensation would be the target market for the marketing efforts.
A weakness of the practice was a poor public image within the community.
A threat for the practice was a larger orthopaedic practice within
the area that was considered the “good old boys” network.
An opportunity for the practice was the workers’ compensation
market. No other orthopaedic practice in the area was aggressively
marketing to employers, self-insurers and other workers’ compensation
representatives. All marketing efforts that were done in the past
were discussed at length. In meeting with the office managers, it
was determined that the practice would be able to handle the anticipated
increase in patient volume in the physician’s daily appointment
schedules as well as with the current amount of employees.
4. External Analysis (Demographic, Specialty and Competitive Analysis’)
Demographic analysis - In creating the Strategic Marketing Plan, the
practice looked at their area demographics. Since workers’ compensation
was going to be their target market and research was done on the employers
in the area, employment/unemployment rates, what businesses were moving
into town, which businesses were closing and/or leaving town. A complete
understanding of the population, the median income per household and
cost of living were defined.
Specialty analysis - Upon completion of the specialty analysis, the
practice gained a better understanding of how orthopaedics fit into
their community. It was determined that orthopaedics was in demand
in the area due to the extracurricular activities (softball leagues,
soccer teams, rugby, etc.), minor league sporting teams, as well as
local college and high school sports programs. Also, because they
were located in a port city, workers’ compensation was in high
demand. It was decided that they would not promote onto TV, radio
or billboards. They would only use newspaper as a means of news releases
of new physicians, new office locations or new procedures. Ads were
run in the local newspapers to for “announcing” new physicians
only. The practice would utilize education of workers’ compensation,
referring physicians and the community as the means of their marketing
plan.
Competitive analysis - The practice evaluated their competition. They
defined the services that their competition had to offer the community
as well as the other specialties offered within their practices (i.e.
pain management, physiatry, etc.). As stated previously, a threat
of the practice was a larger orthopaedic practice in the area that
was considered as the “good old boys”. This particular
practice provided treatment for workers’ compensation, but did
not provide the level of service to workers’ compensation representatives.
A second competitor of a smaller size made it known that they did
not particularly care to treat workers’ compensation patients.
Upon review of the competitive analysis, the practice was confident
that workers’ compensation was an opportunity they could capitalize
on.
5. Where do you want to go?
Now that the practice had defined where they wanted to go, it was
time to put it in writing. The mission, goals and objectives were
documented and specific people were held accountable for each action
within the plan. This gave the entire practice, from the physicians
to the staff a complete understanding of not only what their goals
were, but why.
6. General Marketing
The Marketing Department first addressed General Marketing General
marketing issues. As stated above, a full-time Director of Marketing
was hired for the practice. The Strategic Marketing Plan was virtually
a “work in progress” for the first year. It took approximately
eight months to complete. A Physicians Marketing Committee was implemented.
The Committee was composed of the Director, the practice Administrator
and five physicians. One physician was appointed to be the liaison
between the Committee and all other physicians to update them issues/events
of the marketing department. A practice image brochure was designed
and distributed. Phone book advertising was completed and specialty
items with the practice logo were ordered. These specialty items would
be used for workers’ compensation events, health fairs, general
community sponsorships, etc. A database of referring physicians, workers’
compensation representatives and media contacts were developed and
maintained. The budget was a “work in progress” for the
first year and spending was closely monitored by the Physicians Marketing
Committee.
7. Marketing to Payors (Insurance providers, TPA’s, Employers,
Self-Insurers, Etc.)
Some marketing efforts to workers’ compensation payors were
already in place. The practice continued to support their local workers’
compensation organizations with their annual conferences. Satisfaction
surveys were created and distributed to all workers’ compensation
representatives, employers’ and self-insurers. The practice
physicians and physical therapists provided presentations to local
employers and self-insurers. Physicians visited local employers for
tours of their facilities to gain a better understanding of their
patients work environment and participated in numerous health fairs
to promote employee safety. Holiday gifts were distributed to all
local workers’ compensation representatives in appreciation
of their support throughout the year.
8. Marketing to Referring Physicians
The physicians provided presentations for local hospitals for educational
purposes. A referring physician’s satisfaction survey was created
and distributed to monitor the level of service being provided by
the practice. The practice worked with local hospital media relations
departments for interviews in their hospital newsletters. Holiday
gifts were distributed to local physicians in appreciation of their
support throughout the year as well as holiday cards that were sent
“in donation of” the referring physician’s name
to a local non-profit organization.
9. Marketing to General Public
The practice participated in local health fairs and fitness expos
to promote “orthopaedic injury awareness” and show their
support to their community. Sponsorships were provided to local organizations
such as little league baseball, high school athletics and local dance
teams. A patient satisfaction survey was created and implemented so
the practice could identify what was working as well as those areas
for improvement. The physicians provided TV and newspaper interviews
on new procedures and orthopaedic injury education for the community.
10. Tracking & Planning
The Director compiled the results of the workers’ compensation,
referring physicians and patient satisfaction surveys and distributed
the results to the physicians and the staff. Monthly reports were
generated to monitor referrals from referring physicians, workers’
compensation and to review the increase/decrease in patient volume
and revenue.
What are the plans for the future?
The Director utilized the Planning Calendar to monitor the actions
of the plan so the practice would not deviate from their set goals
and objectives. The Director kept a running list of the ideas for
future marketing efforts that would be considered for next year’s
plan.
Who should you choose to market your practice?
As stated above, the practice chose to hire a full-time Director to
oversee their marketing efforts. The Director had previous marketing
and public relations experience, but was not familiar with the medical
industry. The Director was initially hired with a base salary and
no bonus or incentives.
During 1999, the first year of implementation of the structured marketing
department, the main goal of the practice was to increase revenue
for the practice by 20% by year-end. At year-end the practice maintained
a 25% increase in revenue from the prior year. The total amount budgeted
for the Marketing Department, including the salary and benefits of
the Director, was less than 0.07% of the total gross revenue for the
year. This increase was by far more than the practice was anticipating.
During 2000, the practice developed a webpage and continued to focus
the expansion of their workers’ compensation patient base. Three
new physicians were added to the practice. One physician was well
established within the area, the other two had no patient base. Physicians
and staff members were participating in local community events, presentations
for hospitals, employers and worker’s compensation conferences.
After the second year of implementation of the plan, the practice
showed a 20% growth in revenue verses the prior year. The Director
salary received a pay increase plus four quarterly bonuses up to $1,000
each. The total amount budgeted for the Marketing Department was 1.1%
of the total gross revenue for the year.
Into the third year of the marketing effort, the practice still maintained
growth in their year-to-date numbers. Workers’ Compensation
is now over 31% of the practice. There is a team of four employees
who solely handle workers’ compensation patients and payor representatives.
Now the practice advertises on local TV and radio stations as well
as with a statewide Internet site. They are contemplating billboard
advertising for 2002. The practice has cut their Phone Book advertising
to less than 1/3 of the budget amount in 1999.
After the first year, all 10 surgeons were sold on the idea of marketing.
They realized that the medical industry was changing and marketing
their practice wasn’t a “bad thing”. Their public
image and public awareness of the physicians and practice were five
times what it had been in the past. The practice was tactful in their
marketing approach and it is evident they were doing things right.
It is amazing to see how far the practice has come over the past three
years and the places that they are daring to go in the future.
Appendix A
Overview
Goal: Increase group profitability by 20% each year.
I. Maintaining a quality driven marketing department for a solid foundation
for the future of the practice.
A. Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan to ensure continued professionalism,
vision and growth of the practice.
1. Create and implement a detailed Strategic Marketing Plan.
2. Monitor and update the Strategic Marketing Plan throughout the
year.
3. Analyze the successful and unsuccessful events of 2002 to establish
the foundation for the 2003 Strategic Marketing Plan.
4. Develop a written 2003 Strategic Marketing Plan by implementing
the successes of 2002 with new ideas.
B. Strategy
II. Increase volume of patient base for higher reimbursement rates
by expanding payor relations.
A. Maintain existing accounts and develop new relationships with payors
to increase workers’ compensation.
1. Identify target market by reviewing monthly payor reports to determine
who is referring you patients and how many.
2. Attend conferences and seminars to support workers’ compensation
and network with representatives to maintain existing accounts and
capture new business.
B. Strategy
C. Strategy
III. Increase referrals from physicians within the community to raise
the volume of surgical cases to ensure profitability.
A. Develop and maintain relationships with referring physicians and
their employees by exemplifying courteous behavior and providing a
high level of service to increase referrals.
1. Identify surgical procedures each physician would like to expand
on and market to those referring physicians.
2. Identify those physicians that refer patients without your predetermined
surgical procedures on a quarterly basis.
3. Schedule (12) appointments to visit referring physician offices
on a quarterly basis to show your appreciation and interest in how
you are servicing your referring physicians and what you can do better.
B. Strategy
C. Strategy
IV. Promote a unified PRACTICE image by participating in events to
target large audiences and demonstrate your concern for the community.
A. Participate in community events educating the public about the
PRACTICE and your services.
1. Participate in local Runs, Health and Fitness Expos, etc. to raise
PRACTICE awareness within the community.
2. Organize PRACTICE Team for local non-profit organizations (American
Heart Walk, Walk for Life, Blue Jeans for Babies, etc.) to show your
support to those people stricken with heart disease, stroke, cancer,
birth defects, etc. within your community.
B. Strategy
C. Strategy
V. Develop a tracking system to monitor the success of your marketing
department to ensure quality service and continued growth for the
PRACTICE by evaluating past activities and focusing on what works.
A. Track activity from referring physicians to analyze the changes
in referrals.
• Set up two reports to track referring physicians to ensure
we know where referrals are coming from within the community.
• Track results of the referring physician satisfaction surveys
to present the results to physician(s) and office staff to acknowledge
what is working and define those areas for improvement.
B. Strategy
C. Strategy
Appendix B
2002 Strategic Marketing Plan
Goal: Increase group profitability by 20% each year.
(O1) Objective:
Maintaining a quality driven marketing department for a solid foundation
for the future of the practice.
(S1) Strategy:
Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan to ensure continued professionalism,
vision and growth of the practice.
Action Plans:
(A1) Create and implement a detailed Strategic Marketing Plan.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved:
Target Completion Date: Set date
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A2) Monitor and update the Strategic Marketing Plan throughout the
year.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved:
Target Completion Date: Quarterly
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A3) Analyze the successful and unsuccessful events of 2002 to establish
the foundation for the 2003 Strategic Marketing Plan.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Administrator
Target Completion Date: Set Date
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A4) Develop a written 2003 Strategic Marketing Plan by implementing
the successes of 2002 with new ideas.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Administrator
Target Completion Date: Quarterly
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
Appendix C
2002 Strategic Marketing Plan
Goal: Increase group profitability by 20% each year.
(O2) Objective:
Increase volume of patient base for higher reimbursement rates by
expanding payor relations.
(S1) Strategy:
Maintain existing accounts and develop new relationship with payors
to increase workers’ compensation. Action Plans:
(A1) Identify target market by reviewing monthly payor reports to
determine who are referring you patients and how many.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Computer Support Team
Target Completion Date: Quarterly
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A2) Attend conferences and seminars to support workers’ compensation
and network with representatives to maintain existing accounts and
capture new business.
Sponsorship/booth participation at the Annual Workers’ Compensation
Organization conference to network with workers’ compensation
representatives to establish and improve relationships and service.
Date(s):
Location:
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Workers’ Compensation Specialist(s)
Contact: Name and phone #
Target Completion Date:
Cost:
Success:
Sponsorship/booth participation at the Annual Self-Insured Association
conference to network with workers’ compensation representatives
to establish and improve relationships and service.
Date(s):
Location:
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Workers’ Compensation Specialist(s)
Contact: Name and phone #
Target Completion Date:
Cost:
Success:
Appendix D
2002 Strategic Marketing Plan
Goal: Increase group profitability by 20% each year.
(O3) Objective:
Increase referrals from physicians within the community to raise the
volume of surgical cases to ensure profitability.
(S1) Strategy:
Develop and maintain relationships with referring physicians and their
employees by exemplifying courteous behavior and providing a high
level of service to increase referrals.
Action Plan:
(A1) Identify which surgical procedures each physician would like
to expand on and market to those referring physicians.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Computer Support Team
Target Completion Date: Quarterly
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A2) Identify those physicians that refer patients without your predetermined
surgical procedures on a quarterly basis.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Computer Support Team
Target Completion Date: Quarterly
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A3) Schedule (12) appointments to visit referring physician offices
on a quarterly basis to show your appreciation and interest in how
you are servicing your referring physicians and what you can do better.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved:
Target Completion Date: Quarterly - Set Dates
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
Appendix E
2002 Strategic Marketing Plan
Goal: Increase group profitability by 20% each year.
(O4) Objective:
Promote a unified PRACTICE image by participating in events to target
large audiences and demonstrate your concern for the community.
(S1) Strategy:
Participate in community events educating the public about the PRACTICE
and your services.
Action Plan:
(A1) Participate in local Runs, Health and Fitness Expos, etc. to
raise PRACTICE awareness within the community.
Date(s):
Time(s):
Location:
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: All Physician(s), Staff
Contact:
Target Completion Date:
Date Completed:
Success:
(A2) Organize PRACTICE Team for the local non-profit organizations
(American Heart Walk, Walk for Life, Blue Jeans for Babies, etc.)
to show your support to those people stricken with heart disease,
stroke, cancer, birth defects, etc. within your community.
Date(s):
Time(s):
Location:
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: All Physician(s), Staff
Contact:
Target Completion Date:
Date Completed:
Success:
Appendix F
2002 Strategic Marketing Plan
Goal: Increase group profitability by 20% each year.
(O5) Objective:
Develop a tracking system to monitor the success of your marketing
department to ensure quality service and continued growth for the
PRACTICE by evaluating past activities and focusing on what works.
(S1) Strategy:
Track activity from referring physicians to analyze the changes in
referrals.
Action Plan:
(A1) Set-up two reports to track referring physicians to ensure you
know where are referrals are coming from within the community.
A. Review a report that tracks referring physicians to the PRACTICE
as a whole per quarter.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Computer Support Team
Target Completion Date: Set Date
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
B. Review a report to track referring physicians per PRACTICE physician(s)
per quarter.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved: Computer Support Team
Target Completion Date: Set Date
Next Review Date:
Date Completed:
(A2) Track results of the referring physician satisfaction surveys
to present the results to physician(s) and office staff to acknowledge
what is working and define those areas for improvement.
Person Responsible: Marketing Director
Others Involved:
Target Completion Date: Set Date
Next Review Date:
Date Completed: