5 Reasons Your Practice Needs A Facebook Page

So whether your a new doctor looking to attract patients or a practice that is already established but not yet on Facebook. Here are five reason your practice needs a Facebook Page.


#1 To connect with patients in a new way.
Social media is a tool that medical practices should be using to enhance the patient experience. It is a tool to create a conversation even when your patient isn't in your office.

#2 Great place for reviews.
When patients love the experience they had in your office or with you and your staff they will tell others of their experience. On platforms like Facebook patients are free to leave reviews right on your practice page. Having great reviews shows potential patients they can trust you.

#3 Gets your practice in front of potential patients.
People tend to use Facebook as a way to tell people what they are doing. With Facebook's status updates and check-in features patients tend to let everyone on their timeline know where they are and what they are doing.This could work well for a doctor's office. If a patient uses the "check in" feature while at your practice now everyone on their friends could potentially see your practice name and have your information in just one click.

#4 Search ranking is improved.
When patients search for healthcare providers on search engines having a Facebook page can increase your chances of being seen on the search engine and could result in a higher search engine ranking.

#5 Cost-effective
Facebook is currently one of the cheapest advertising platforms and if used correctly it could help grow your practice. With an advertising agency it can costs thousands of dollars to advertise your practice but with Facebook you can set a monthly budget of $200 (or less) and see a great return if done correctly.

Tuesday Tips: Social Media Platforms

This video is an episode of Tuesday Tips. This week's tip was about different social media platforms like Facebook & Twitter. In the video I discuss what age group is on each platform and what types of posts your practice should be posting on different platforms.

Patient Retention

 Okay now your schedule is full and your seeing more patients, now what can you do to keep these patients? If you are giving your patients an experience they will talk about you and even give you a great review online. That will give you word of mouth marketing. Keep your patients happy and they will become loyal. Maintain communication with patients and remind them that you are here to service them whenever they are in need. This includes sending reminder cards, sending newsletters, patient education concepts (pec). Patient education concepts are not only good to educate your patients but it is also a great way to keep communication flowing. Getting patient feedback is highly effective. Creating surveys for your patients to complete is a great way to find out your practices strengths and weaknesses. Don't take the feedback personal but use what you learn to build your practice/brand.

Reducing Wait Times

Another part of the patient experience is how long the patient has to wait before they actually see you (the doctor). I know some people feel that good services are worth waiting for but not if the wait is for hours. If you have your patients wait long every visit they will leave your practice and go down the street to another practice that gets the job done faster. Today's patient wants their doctors to be fast and thorough. If you’re in a practice with a high wait time it’s time for you to analyze your patient flow because there is something internally that isn't connecting. Could it be a lack of communication? It may be time to implement a wait time playbook. Find out what is causing the wait time and come up with strategies to reduce wait times.

 An area to look at when dealing with wait times, is scheduling. (Some Questions to consider) Are you being overbooked? Do some of your appointment times need to be extended? Are you spending way too much time with patients? 
Emergencies do happen and there are times you cannot predict wait times but you can create distractions. When I say distractions I simply mean ways to keep patients mind off of having to wait. Some of these distractions include Wi-fi; your computer savvy patients may need to check emails or create reports, which can keep their mind off of their wait. Having an open Wi-Fi access will help them do other things while waiting. TV is also another distraction and can be great for pediatric patients. Many offices now offer complimentary coffee and snacks this can be used as a distraction but this area needs to be maintained and cleaned. You have staff do not be afraid to utilize them.

How are you reducing your wait times?

What Social Media Platform is right for my practice.

Many healthcare professionals struggle with social media. In this video I answer the question that many providers are asking about social media which is what social media platform is best for my practice.

Do you have a question? Send me a message

2016 Medical Practice Marketing Goals

2016 is finally here now its time to make sure you have all your marketing goals in order for the first quarter. A lot of practices and facilities that I have worked with in a past have always struggled with goal setting. Many times they have goals but their goals are not specific.

Broad Goal Example: I want to grow my practice.
Specific Goal Example:I want to have 1000 patients for the month of January.

Whenever setting goals you want to make sure your goals are specific  Being specific helps you come up with a better action plan to achieve your goals. In the broad goal example above there are so many ways to grow a practice. The broad goal isn't measurable. With the specific goal you have clarity on what it is you are trying to achieve.

Here are some specific goal examples to help you on your marketing journey:

• Sell 2000 pairs of glasses for the month of Janaury
• Get 10 referrals per month
• Increase revenues by 20 percent
• 10 likes on Facebook per week
• Get new pediatric patients