Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Take What You Have and Run With It !

Imagine that you are an ophthalmology practice that shares space with an optometrist. The possibilities are endless for collaborative enterprises.  You might want to offer a plan where patients can receive a free eye exam and eyeglasses for a price just above wholesale.  Purchase a selection of wholesale frames for the patients to choose from and then offer the plan free to the human resources department of every small business or organization in your area. Print membership cards that offer this benefit to employees and to their families.  In our case, in 1994, we charged $ 29.00 for an eye exam and glasses.

Think about the number of new cataract and glaucoma patients you could discover from offering an exam and glasses well below market price.  Discover how many patients will upgrade to more expensive frames.  Then think about expanding your efforts into producing safety eyewear and contracting with labor groups who require this service and who will also need annual eye exams.  In the early 1990's, I was shocked to find that the eyeglass frames that I spent $200.00 buying cost the optician $5.00.  I am sure that the same level of mark-up exists today so believe me when we charged the patient $29.00 for the exam and glasses, we still made a profit.

This is an actual success story that I brought to my first job in medicine as the director of marketing.  The idea was the brainchild of an extremely well know ophthalmologist who was as devoted to marketing as he was to his specialty.  He had a talent for looking at his practice and envisioning how it would move forward each year.  The "Eyes Plus" program was a huge marketing bonanza for the practice; a simple idea that translated into a new source of revenue.

Any practice looking to grow and change has the ability to tap into the current trends in medicine and the resources already exist if you use a little imagination and are dedicated to your specialty.  For example:  It is widely known that women face an additional risk of fatal heart attack simply because they may present with symptoms so different from their male counterparts.  A Cardiology practice with concerns for these differences may be wise to promote a women's heart program with marketing materials that outline the risk markers designed especially for this demographic group.  This type of program will go over well with women's groups, OB-GYN practices, infertility practices, cosmetic surgeons, endocrinologists and on and on...

Growing your practice by expanding on your established skills not only has the potential for increasing practice revenue but it can also provide your physicians with a chance to diversify their current patient base and add new challenges to the daily routine.

Tomorrow :  Playing With the Big Boys

No comments:

Post a Comment