About Me

Hello 

Healthcare Professional,

My name is Quonda Renee. I am a Freelance Healthcare Marketing & Social Media Consultant. I have over 10 years Marketing experience and 8 years of Healthcare Marketing experience. I help clients; from doctors to healthcare consultants find creative solutions to their marketing problems. I specialize in developing social media plans and content, medical practice marketing, social media audits, healthcare/physician blogging, website maintenance, office mystery shopping and so much more.



Author of The Patient Experience What Every Healthcare Professional Needs to Know About Marketing
  

I love helping others and I love to travel.


If you have any questions or would like to see something on the blog feel free to contact me. 

I look forward to connecting with you.

10 Reasons Why Medical Practices Need A Email List (Email Marketing for Doctors)

Ok so you're on Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social media sites, but did you know there is something more powerful and more effective than being on social media? Yes! Its an email list. Let me give you 10 reasons why you need an email list.

#1 Keeps you (the healthcare provider) on the patient's mind.
Once the patient leaves the office and your Facebook post gets buried at the bottom of their timeline you need a way to keep the communication going. (Remember you are in a relationship with your patient)

#2 Like the saying goes "there is money in the list." Sending appointment reminders or reminders to book annual exams gets patients booked and money coming in your practice.

#3 People check their email multiple times a day. This is the best way to reach and connect with patients.

#4 Cost effective. Years ago mailing out appointment reminders were effective but now sending out an email cuts costs tremendously. On Facebook you have to pay to play if you want your patients to see your post with an email it's basically free & this can be automated.

#5 Saves time. An email can be typed up within a few minutes and sent in the matter of seconds. Your receptionist and secretaries no longer have to call all of your patients and remind them to schedule their yearly exam one email can reach thousands of patients at a time.

#6 More effective than Facebook & Twitter by 40%. With Facebook & Twitter your reach depends on your likes & followers, the time of day, & and who is currently online. With emails that email will sit in your patients inbox until they check their email.

#7 You own your email list. Your email list is YOUR email list. You own and have control over it. With social media you don't own it you are just renting space like all the other businesses out there. If Facebook crashed tomorrow and you have an email list you still have a way to communicate with your patients.

#8 You have control of the message & who sees the message. With email you can type whatever you like. On social media ANYONE can see your message and social media platforms have a right to control whats being posted on that platform.

#9 Email builds trust. When people sign up for your email list it says that they are beginning to trust you and your brand. They have given you their email (value) in exchange for something. (value)

#10 Drives Traffic
Sending out an email that has value can get you traffic. Traffic to your website, blog, a book, and even traffic to your practice or clinic.

Do you have an email list?

Branding: Through Your Staff

What is branding?

Yes branding is the logo, the tagline, the brochures, the newsletters, and the fancy website but the full measure of branding is how you and your staff deliver the experience to your patients at every visit. The experience must give the patient all that you say you are in your mission statement, your vision statement, and your company values.  Your advertising and fancy website will mean nothing if you and your office staff don't live up to who you say you are.

Staff

Its great when you (the health care professional) knows your brand, your target market, and what your promise is to your patients, but does your staff know? Your staff is the face of the office they will be around your patients longer than you will and the patients will have an experience with your staff long before they have an experience with you. With that being said your staff needs to know your brand and what your practice stands for. If your staff doesn't know or understand what you represent it will not be communicated to your patients.

Tips to help your staff get on board:

Communicate with your staff. Communicate with your staff; they need to know what your organization represents and what you expect from them. Set goals and have meetings as often as possible.

Reward good behavior and positive results. Challenge your staff to be greater and reward positive behaviors. If your employees see that you appreciate them and their efforts they will be loyal to you and their brand.

Inspire them. Just like you, your staff has a life and a world of problems outside of the office. Inspire and encourage your staff it will help them throughout the day. Something that works for me is in the morning I read inspirational quotes and get that quote in my mind and it sets the tone for the rest of my day. Create a positive atmosphere for your employees and they will respond positively.

Lead by example. If your employees notice that you are not delivering an experience to your patients they wont either. Your practice is a reflection of who you are good or bad.

Remember your brand is who you are, what you represent, and how that is communicated to your patients (the experience.)

Tips for Inspiring your Staff

Inspiration and encouragement is something we all need from time to time. In an office full of different personalities at times we need even more inspiration. Below are tips for inspiring your staff to be great while at work.

Set a positive atmosphere. When your staff arrives in the morning post a note or send an email that lets them know today will be a great day. If your staff knows you believe this they will follow suit. (Either the day runs you or you run it.) Have positive words posted in your break room or employee lounge that way they see it and it becomes branded in their mind.

Appreciate your staff. If your employees know they are an asset to your organization and know you want them to be successful they will work harder for you. Tell them you are grateful to have them in your organization.

Get feedback. Your employees and staff will see more than you do (in your practice) on a day-to-day. They will know what is working for your practice and what isn't working. Hold weekly or monthly meetings, listen and take notes you will learn so much more about your organization.

Invest in your employees. Never be afraid to train or educate your staff. If they are an asset to your organization investing in them will help them and your organization grow. Allow them to take continuing education classes or courses, and attend seminars that relate to their position in your organization. The more they know the more they can help your practice grow.

Communication. The work atmosphere will be very productive if you have proper channels of communication. Do not only talk with your employees but also listen. As stated before your staff sees a lot more than you do. Express your goals to them and tell them what you wish to accomplish in this day, week, month, or year. With a clear understanding your staff will work harder at meeting goals.

What have you done to inspire your staff?

Before You Hire, Utilize What You Already Have

We all know that hiring can be a stressful task, it can be expensive and very time consuming. You have to train the new person, they have to learn your software, and your day-to-day routine. But before you start to hire new employees: Stop, Breathe. Wait and re-evaluate your current staff.

It doesn't take much to pull out your employee files and re-evaluate resumes of current staff. You may be surprised by some of the skills your staff may possess. There may be someone who has management or problem solving skills in which that person can add to your organization.  You may be able to give this person more responsibilities and a raise which is way cheaper than hiring another employee in your practice.  Your current staff  members know your software, your work ethic, and they know the ropes of your organization.

What to look for on the resume?

This can vary by position but look for key factors like diversified software experience, customer service, problem solving skills, other languages, and someone with an objective to grow with your organization. Look at the employees who are hard workers and who will be excited to take on more responsibilities.

Utilize what you have!

2 ways to grow your healthcare practice

Out of every field I have worked in I must say I have learned the most from working in Healthcare. I have worked with and for practices that have been very successful, I have worked with practices who struggled their way to success, and I have worked with practices that have just failed miserably. It always made me wonder why some practices failed and why others succeeded. So being the inquisitive person that I am I started to analyze what was working for the successful practices and what was not working for the unsuccessful practices. Two things I realized were identity and growth.

Identity

When I started to compare Practice Successful to Practice Failure I quickly noticed identity. Practice Successful knew who they were. They knew exactly who they were servicing and why they were in business. Everyone at Practice Successful knew what the  practice mission and vision statements were all about and displayed this to their patients daily. Practice Failure struggled tremendously because they did not know who they were and that was easily translated to their patients. If you don't know who you are how can your patients?

Growth

Growth is essential in every area of business if your business is not growing its probably not really a business anymore. With that being said its important to grow your employees. If you grow your employees they will grow your business. Investing in your employees gives them a chance to grow and expand which will then in return grow your business. The more they know the more they can add to your practice. It’s harder to retain employees if you aren't offering your employees some type of personal development. People like to grow and if you won’t allow them this opportunity they will look for someone who will.

For more information on the laws of business check out my new book on Amazon. 

The 10 Laws of Business: An Entrepreneurs Guide to Success. 

Branding Tips for Doctors

If someone walked in your practice or healthcare facility and asked you or your staff to describe your brand in five seconds or less, could you or your staff answer? After working with many practices I have realized that many practices don't know who they are. When a practice does not know who they are this is easily translated to their patients. If your website states your practice is friendly, then when a patient walks into your doors your staff needs to be friendly. Patients are NOT loyal what your office staff won't do another office will do it.

A lot of healthcare practices struggle heavily on the internet. On a website you will see one thing and then on their social media pages you will see an entirely different company. Every platform you are on needs to portray the same message. Another thing I notice with some facilities is that they have all these social media pages but its not being updated. Whats the point in having a Facebook page or Twitter page and your information or posts are two years old?

Tips for Branding

First of all what is branding? Branding is the process of identifying and differentiating your practice from other practices. Its a promise that you make to your patients. Its what makes you unique.

Tip #1 Know your brand

You may think you know what your brand is but if your staff was asked would they have the same answer as you? If you asked your patients about your brand what would they say? Think of it this way, what is your promise to your patients?  What makes your practice different from others? What is the purpose of your practice?

Tip #2 Be who you say you are

If your promise is to provide excellent healthcare then everything your practice does should represent excellence. Your staff needs to be excellent at all times if not this makes your brand very inconsistent.

Tip #3 Be consistent

If you have a website make sure its updated regularly. Patients are tech savvy now a days and they take notice to everything. Your website represents you and on some occasions your website is the first impression of your practice.

The Patient Experience

I have worked with many doctors and many practices and what I noticed most is that they weren't given their patients an "experience". What is a patient experience Quonda?? I'm glad you asked! The patient experience is everything that patient experiences from the time they find out about your practice, to what they see when they enter into your practice, to their first encounter with you and your staff in the practice. It sounds simple but many practices lack this. If your patient has a good experience most likely they will tell one person but if they have a bad experience they will tell as many people as they can. To avoid this here are some areas to look at within your practice.

Image

Image is everything especially in a doctors office or health care facility. What you may not realize is when a new patient comes into your office they look at EVERYTHING! I mean everything. They are looking at the floor to see if there is tissue on it, is your carpet clean, is your wall paper current, is the paint chipping. Yes the littlest details that may be your norm are things that are actually being critiqued. Your practice should be clean at all times especially the waiting area. I cant tell you how many times I have walked into a waiting  room and noticed magazines scattered everywhere and tissues on the floor.

Front Desk

The front desk is the face of the office with that being said your face must be neat and tidy. There shouldn't be charts all over the place (I hope you don't have charts!). Your front desk staff needs to be professional and outgoing again this is the face of your office. Review and analyze the people at your front desk is their personality friendly and caring or is their personality more for a billing position.

Communication

Communication is vital in any relationship; your relationship with your patients and the relationship with your staff. Communicating with your patients allows your patients to build confidence and trust in you and your practice. Patients come to you out of a need and its your responsibility to meet their need and keep them in the loop regarding their health. Your staff needs to be knowledgeable about what is going on with your practice so that they represent you and your brand well.

For more on The Patient Experience check out my Ebook.