. . . Practicing Medicine with a Retailer’s Mindset –
Part I
The rules of medicine have changed.
To remain successful today, physicians must consider not only
all-important quality-of-care but also the quality of the referrer and patient
experience. For many, that’s a new mindset and an added challenge in an already
difficult environment. Physicians have to learn to think like marketers and
deliver added value and service.
Drawing on our years of experience supporting not only the clinical but
also the business aspects of medicine, IDS has seen many of these challenges up
close and helped practices thrive in difficult business environments.
In our new blog series, The Customer Comes First, we draw on this
background and offer insightful advice on how to rise above these challenges .
. . and the competition. We invite you to return for our continuing
series. Please enjoy…and prosper!
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Let’s be frank – It’s a new world in medicine. Patients are playing an ever-increasing role
in their own healthcare decisions, including choosing the specialists who treat
them. While most have insurance, some
are paying with cash and even shopping around for pricing.
Additionally, the doctors you depend on for referrals are
also increasingly demanding. They clearly understand the value of their
recommendations and expect you to cater to their needs and preferences, from a
rapidly returned phone call to timely patient reports in the style and format
of their choice. They also expect their
patients to receive high quality service—not only clinically but on a personal
level as well. The patient experience
you deliver reflects both on your practice and on referrers, who in turn want
to keep their customers happy.
Granted, you have years of training, advanced equipment, IT
technology and carefully devised workflows that keep your practice functioning
effectively and efficiently. But in
today’s competitive environment, physicians would be wise to take a cue from
the from the retail industry. Customer service is king—or at least gives you a
strong competitive edge. Today, Have it Your Way is more than just a
slogan. It’s an integral part of
business . . . so make sure you hold the pickles and add the onions if that’s
what the customer wants.
Of course, while catering to referrers and patients, you can
still practice medicine with conviction, passion and for profit. But making smart choices is key. Technology can go a long way to boost your
customer experience, from initial exam scheduling right through referrer
reporting. And it can even help you manage your marketing to both physicians
and patients.
This blog continues tomorrow, when we’ll provide a
sampling of the tactics we’ll cover in
depth going forward as this series continues.
