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Social media in healthcare – it has to be used correctly
Social media is great for healthcare practices – it’s free (at least it can be), it’s easy (once you know what you’re doing), and it’s fun. The thing is…social media also has to be effective in order for it to make sense for a healthcare practice, and this isn’t always the case.
Check out an article from HealthLeadersMedia.com (below) which discusses how – at least in the hospital environment – social media lacks the traction that many healthcare marketers hope for.
Nine in 10 hospitals use social media to some degree, but most of them say they’re having little luck attracting new patients with it, and only one in three has a formal social media plan in place, a new study by Greystone.Net shows.
via Few Hospitals Use Social Media Effectively, Says Study.
Vantage Forums: Breakeven analysis for medical practices
For those starting a new medical practice, program or medical service, knowing at what point your investment will “break even” is important to determining whether or not the venture will be economically feasible. The breakeven analysis provides medical practice owners with valuable information with regard to the production and time factors involved with starting a new medical practice, program or service.
Here is a link to a free breakeven analysis calculator tool (http://bit.ly/Breakeven) which will help you determine when your medical practice, program, or service will break even based on the entry of a few key data inputs.
If you have any questions about the breakeven analysis tool, or you’d like more help determining the feasibility of your new medical practice, program, or service, don’t hesitate to contact us directly for a hand.
Tannus Quatre PT, MBA
Principal | Consultant
Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc.
www.vantageclinicalsolutions.com
(888) 827-5613
via Vantage Forums: Breakeven analysis for medical practices.
Vantage Forums: 10 Tips for Developing a Meaningful Market Analysis
I came across a succinct market analysis resource today and thought it was worthy of posting. It’s a list of 10 tips that can be used to develop a solid market analysis. Many of these tips were discussed during my market analysis presentation in Colorado Springs, but there are a few new ones in there as well.
10 Tips
1. Segment your market
2. Prioritize market segments
3. Collect and organize internal data
4. Collect and organize external data
5. Shop the competition
6. Conduct your own research
7. Explain market needs, growth, and trends
8. Develop metrics to compare your company with the competition
9. Understand your strengths and weaknesses
10. Apply the information
Here’s a link to the resource: http://www.stengelsolutions.com/tips_11.htm
Regards,
Tannus Quatre PT, MBA
Principal | Consultant
Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc.
www.vantageclinicalsolutions.com
(888) 827-5613
via Vantage Forums: 10 Tips for Developing a Meaningful Market Analysis.
Remind patients: The end of the year is near (and deductibles will be renewing)
Believe it or not, it’s that time of year again.
As we quickly approach the end of October, today marks just 70 days until calendar year medical benefits will reset for many of your patients. Renewed deductibles, expiration of existing insurance plans, and the zeroing of health savings accounts will — in very short order — mean more money out-of-pocket for your patients. As you’re aware, this has a tendency to accompany the delay of non-urgent care, resulting in decreased volumes and revenues for healthcare practices shortly after the first of the year.
This cyclical nature of medical benefits should come as no surprise, as it is something we see year in and year out. The fact that there is something that can be done about it now is something that many practices neglect to realize however, leaving opportunity out on the doorstep even in light of this predictable, annual occurrence.
So, what do you do about it? The answer is simple – remind your patients. This is a busy time of year, and while patients also realize that their medical benefits will be resetting in just a few short months, day-to-day life often trumps important details like this that can result in the savings of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
A simple form letter sent out by mail merge, a mass email distribution, individual phone calls, or in-office reminders can all be acceptable ways to remind your patients that if they anticipate the need for medical, physical therapy, or dental services in the next few months – now is the time to act.
A gentle reminder to your patients may go a long way toward saving them money, ensuring their health, and making them appreciate that you’re looking out for them in more ways than one. If you’d like some ideas on how to communicate this important message to your patients, along with examples of sample letters, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.
Protect your patients, protect your practice
Just a very short piece here to remind all practice owners that a very simple and thoughtful step toward protecting your patients and protecting yourself against germs is to have hand sanitizer readily accessible to patients (and staff) throughout your practice.
H1N1, or “Swine Flu” is on just about every television channel and every news broadcast, so your patients are really thinking about germs right now. Anytime you have everyone focused in the same direction on a topic like this, it becomes much easier to be relevant and current with your clientele by responding responsibly. Your patients will likely appreciate your thoughtfulness in offering the simple option of keeping their hands clean as they are in your presence, and you might just kill a germ or two.
Oh, and racking your brain over your next promotional giveaway at an upcoming event? You guessed it – give people something they will actually use – small, travel hand sanitizers with your logo proudly displayed on the bottle.
Breakeven analysis for medical practices
For those starting a new medical practice, program or medical service, knowing at what point your investment will “break even” is important to determining whether or not the venture will be economically feasible. The breakeven analysis provides medical practice owners with valuable information with regard to the production and time factors involved with starting a new medical practice, program or service.
Here is a link to a free breakeven analysis calculator tool which will help you determine when your medical practice, program, or service will break even based on the entry of a few key data inputs.
If you have any questions about the breakeven analysis tool, or you’d like more help determining the feasibility of your new medical practice, program, or service, don’t hesitate to contact us directly for a hand.
_________________
Tannus Quatre is a private practice consultant and principal with Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc., a nationwide healthcare consulting and management firm located in Bend, OR and Denver, CO. Tannus specializes in the areas of healthcare marketing, strategy, and finance, and can be reached through the Vantage Clinical Solutions website.
Gen X and Y providers continue to push the edge on Facebook
I’m not sure why, but I’m never too surprised when I hear about healthcare professionals who get themselves into hot water using social media platforms such as Facebook. We’ve blogged about it before, and here is yet another article which speaks to the potential pitfalls of casting your personal thoughts, pictures, and stories online for the whole world (including your patients) to see.
To be clear, I’m not phobic when it comes to social media – I have an online profile myself with Facebook and Twitter. I just think online socialites need to think things through and have a bit of a filter – especially if you’re a healthcare professional.
Imagine that there was a technology that would allow the entire world access to what you think, see, and feel, but only when you let the world in. Wouldn’t you want to maybe clean up your act a bit – at least when the door to the world was open? I would.
Amazingly, the technology exists, yet many refuse to acknowledge its power to crush even the most sturdy of reputations when used carelessly. The technology is called Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and every other social media platform out there, and its right there for the taking – to either make or break you regardless of your economic status or social circle.
By all means, connect with friends online – connect with strangers. Just know that anyone may be watching, including your employers, patients and community.
Here’s a good article from HealthLeadersMedia.com on some of the issues that can accompany social media use by hospital employees.
Social networking Web sites and modern communication media, such as text messaging, e-mail, and smartphones, are a part of our daily lives. Although such technologies have a place in society, they are taking a toll on the professional image of tomorrow’s physicians.
In fact, 60% of medical schools that responded to a recent survey reported incidents of students posting unprofessional content online, according to a study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Medical schools also reported finding frequent references to intoxication (39%) and sexually suggestive material (38%).
Medical students are not the only Gen Xers or Yers divulging too much information online. A 2008 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that residents are also posting information that they may not have otherwise shared with patients.
Physical therapy marketing course coming to Portland, OR
Vantage Education is proud to announce that a new physical therapy marketing course will be making it’s way to Portland, OR on Saturday Nov 7th, 2009 titled, Six Step Marketing for PT’s: A sustainable approach to physical therapy marketing. The one-day workshop will be lead by Vantage Clinical Solutions principal and marketing consultant, Tannus Quatre PT, MBA, and will take place at the Courtyard Marriott City Center in downtown Portland from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
The one-day physical therapy marketing workshop will introduce a simple and effective physical therapy marketing framework through which any physical therapy practice can achieve successful marketing results. The physical therapy marketing approach presented in the workshop has been developed by Vantage Clinical Solutions and is the same approach used in the development of physical therapy marketing strategies for physical therapy practices throughout the United States.
The physical therapy marketing course will present practical concepts, marketing techniques, and marketing tools that can be used quickly and effectively in the marketing of physical therapy services, regardless of practice setting or location. During the physical therapy marketing course, attendees will also be provided with the Six-Step Marketing Tool which can be implemented immediately upon course completion.
The Six-Step Marketing for PT’s workshop is intended for physical therapy practice owners, administrators, marketing coordinators and staff, and is guaranteed to change the approach used for physical therapy marketing practices. For more information on the course, or to register by phone or fax, please download the Six-Step Marketing for PT’s flyer or call Vantage Clinical Solutions at (888) 827-5613.
Seats are still available, but registration for this event ends on October 30th, 2009 at 5:00 pm PST, so hurry to guarantee your spot today!
Medical practice management 101: Budgeting
Creating a medical practice budget is one of the most important elements of running a profitable physician practice, doctor’s office, or physical therapy clinic. The medical practice budget provides physicians, office managers and administrators with a gauge from which financial performance can be measured and operational issues identified.
There are many ways to create a medical practice budget, however our firm often recommends use of a budgeting format which clearly distinguishes those revenues and expenses that are variable in nature (change from month to month) from those that are fixed (relatively consistent from month to month).
To create a medical practice budget which outlines revenues and expenses in this way is quite easy to perform, and the reporting that comes from this type of budget is of the most easily understood.
Starting with revenues, create a list of all sources of revenue for your medical practice. Use large categories to capture the largest sources of revenue, then gradually break down the large categories into smaller subsets of revenue.
For example, if your physical therapy clinic provides two main types of services – physical therapy and fitness classes – then these might make up your two main revenue categories for your medical practice budget.
You may wish to further break down the “physical therapy” category into subcategories such as “orthopedics,” “pediatrics,” and “women’s health.” Your fitness classes may also be broken down into subcategories such as “weight management,” “strength training,” and “flexibility.”
It is a good idea to capture your “adjustments to revenue” within your revenue section as it is normal to collect much less than is charged to insurance companies. These adjustments are captured in the revenue section of the medical practice budget, along with any refunds that are credited back to clients through the course of business.
Moving to the expenses category, start by breaking all of your expenses down into “variable” and “fixed” expense categories. A rule of thumb that is often used to determine which expenses are variable versus fixed is to consider all expenses that would diminish or cease upon closure of your medical practice for a period of a month or so. Expenses such as clinical staff (often paid based on production or hours worked), hourly office and administrative staff, most utilities, office supplies, and repairs/maintenance would likely diminish or cease, and are therefore examples of variable expenses in some medical practices.
Expenses that would remain unchanged if your medical office closed for a month or so are considered “fixed” and would likely include your fixed management salaries, lease payments, loan repayments, dues/subscriptions, and contractual advertising expenses.
The rules for breaking medical practice expenses into variable and fixed categories are not hard and fast, but are rather dependent upon the operations of the medical practice, as well as the reporting that is desired of those that will be managing the medical practice budget.
After all revenues and expenses are accounted for within the medical practice budget, all expenses are subtracted from all revenues to come up with a number known as “net income.” Net income reflects the profitability of the time period examined by the medical practice budget, accounting for all recorded revenues and expenses.
You can likely see that without a medical practice budget, the ability to truly understand where, why and how revenues and expenses are generated is nearly impossible. By creating a medical practice budget, sticking to it, and revising it annually, your medical practice will have much more chance of success and profitability, and is therefore highly recommended.
If you’re interested in starting or improving your own medical practice budget, please visit the Vantage Clinical Solutions website to download a free medical practice budgeting tool that can be used within your medical practice, doctor’s office, or physical therapy clinic.
_________________
Tannus Quatre is a private practice consultant and principal with Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc., a nationwide healthcare consulting and management firm located in Bend, OR and Denver, CO. Tannus specializes in the areas of healthcare marketing, strategy, and finance, and can be reached through the Vantage Clinical Solutions website.
Medical practice management 101: Scalability
In this new series on The Healthcare Entrepreneur Blog, we’ll be taking a look at a number of medical practice management concepts that medical practice managers, administrators, and clinic owners should consider as part of their planning and day-to-day management. The principles we’ll be outlining as part of the Medical Practice 101 series are applicable to all types of medical practices including general medicine, the surgical specialties, and rehabilitation services such as physical and occupational therapy.
Here, we’ll discuss the concept of scalability as relevant to medical practice management. Scalability is the ability for a medical practice to expand its current systems, infrastructure, operations, and staff alongside the growth of the practice over a number of months or years. Scalability is an area of medical practice management that is not always fully considered when planning for the implementation of electronic medical records and business systems used to run and administer the medical practice, and can end up costing a medical practice severely in terms of time and money in order to meet the changing demands of a practice over time.
When planning for the use of electronic medical records (EMR) and practice management software (PMS), one of the scalable solutions that we like around here is the the use of web-based software or software-as-a-service (SAAS). The use of web-based or SAAS solutions allows a practice to operate one medical facility just as easily as operating two or more sites because the infrastructure used to link each user with the medical practice database exists via the internet. The need for a robust hardware infrastructure, including servers and virtual private networks (VPN’s) is minimized, and with it – the upfront cost of implementation.
Web-based software is typically provided on a per-user license basis, meaning that as additional providers or staff join the practice, additional licenses (or ’seats’) are purchased which allow the medical practice to easily grow, or ’scale’ their investment alongside the growth of the medical practice. Web-based software is a very scalable solution when it comes to medical practice management, which is why our medical practice consultants often recommend web-based solutions to our clients when determining solutions that will allow them to continue with their medical practice management infrastructure over the long haul.
_________________
Tannus Quatre is a private practice consultant and principal with Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc., a nationwide healthcare consulting and management firm located in Bend, OR and Denver, CO. Tannus specializes in the areas of healthcare marketing, strategy, and finance, and can be reached through the Vantage Clinical Solutions website.
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