Category Archives: Physicians
VP of business & client development Jeff Ziegler was quoted in Medical Office Today’s premium content section in an article about Do-it-yourself – and when not to “DIY” – and medical practice marketing.
Here’s a snippet of the content:
Why not D-I-Y?
Jeff Ziegler, VP of business/client development for Crane Creek Communications in San Francisco, which specializes in medical marketing, adds that D-I-Y is best left for gardening and car repairs (if you are an enthusiast), “although I wouldn’t recommend changing brake drums and pads unless you are very confident in your ability. D-I-Y has always been a popular option for professional practices—doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.—especially when it comes to areas of the practice where the practitioner has a ‘bit of knowledge’. Many say that ‘a little knowledge can be dangerous,’ and in many D-I-Y instances, it’s true!”
Some practitioners who own and manage their practice have an entrepreneurial spirit that encourages D-I-Y. “They run their business with the same commitment and dedication they give to treating patients,” says Laurie Kendall-Ellis, a physical therapist in Alexandria, Va. “They want to do it all.”
5 things in your practice that are not D-I-Y
Experts say you should always get professional input and often execution for the following:
1. Marketing, advertising and public relations—Marketing issues are far removed from the competencies of most medical and medical-related practices, but because many doctors believe they are experts at everything, they try to take this on as well … “Most do it poorly, if they do it at all. Some of the worst marketing and tactical implementation I have seen in any industry as a whole is in the medical profession.” Instead, speak with several experts in this field to determine which one will best promote your business to the public.
(Read MOT’s article, “Scoping Out the Competition—What are You Up Against?”)
2. Social media and website design—This arena is still fairly new to most people, especially professionals. Utilizing social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and other online tools effectively can be a full-time job, and, along with website design, falls under the category of marketing, advertising and public relations as something most providers shouldn’t try to tackle themselves. “What are you going to do today: operate on a patient or update your Facebook page?” … Ziegler says a practice’s website, social-media presence and patient views can make or break the decision of which provider to choose for many new patients, so it’s important to get it right. The right professional can help you do that. “A vast majority of medical websites are botch jobs that were done by website designers who know little about what medical practices need to achieve from websites and marketing—mainly because medical practices don’t know what they need to achieve. This is both unprofessional and alarming and shows a lack of understanding of the market, patients and the Internet-savvy medical consumer. In many cases, it is insulting to patients who want to have a greater say in their medical care.”
(Read MOT’s article, “5 Reasons to Use Social Media in Your Practice”)
If you want to learn more – read the article here it’s premium content, so you need a subscription). Well worth it, we think!
Or, copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.medicalofficetoday.com/article/5-things-your-practice-aren%E2%80%99t-d-i-y?page=0,1
Posted: Jeff Ziegler
Categories: Healthcare, Marketing, Physicians, PR, Social Media, Team Crane Creek
Synopsis: It’s official. Back in Nov 2010, the AMA recognized that “Social networking websites and blogs can be an effective and efficient way to communicate”. So, the AMA has created social media guidelines for physicians.
On one hand, the AMA advises doctors to be responsible in their communications and regularly track their online presence. It also advised physicians and medical students to proceed with caution. On the other, hand “71% of state medical boards have investigated doctors for violating professionalism online.” These are the facts!
Physicians who write blogs, use Facebook, Twitter and/or other social media tools must take extra care to manage their online reputation. Any and all online presence – whether as part of practice relationship marketing or on personal accounts – must adhere to certain protocols. Doctors, unlike most public persons, must accept full responsibility for their communications and use appropriate language when communicating online. Additionally, security settings must be kept at the highest levels on all online platforms (particularly access to personal information and to abide by patient privacy laws). Doctors and practices must also take extra precaution to ensure they are not hacked – or have their professional persona hijacked.
Social Media Guidelines for Physicians – Online Communications:
“Using social media can help physicians create a professional presence online, express their personal views and foster relationships, but it can also create new challenges for the patient-physician relationship,” said AMA Board of Trustees Member Mary Anne McCaffree, MD (at a November 2010 AMA meeting).
Google studies found that more than 90% of U.S. physicians use the Internet to gather health and medical information. Most doctors also use the Internet for personal communications beyond the workplace, and physician reviews are becoming more commonplace – so it’s imperative for a doctor to proactively manage their online reputation.
By 2014, an estimated 15% of social media reviews are expected to be fake, according to the technology research firm Gartner Inc. Eighty-five percent of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase, according to a Harris Interactive study. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 61% of Internet users look online for health information.
Competitors may posts fake physician reviews. It happens to other professionals, so doctors will not be immune.
This is why it’s so important to maintain appropriate doctor-patient boundaries and keep professional and personal content separated online. Physicians should be mindful that – even with privacy filters – most online communications will still be searchable, long-lasting and available to millions of people.
Though the Internet might create feelings of anonymity and impenetrability, doctors should not post anything online that they would not be prepared to express in writing (a letter or medical note in a chart, for example) as it could have serious negative professional repercussions. Although the AMA advises self-regulation (and reminds physicians to be cognizant of their obligations to patients and not do anything to jeopardize patient privacy or confidentiality) the temptation to ‘spill the beans’ can still sometimes be overwhelming and result in serious misconduct charges and malpractice suits.
On all social networking websites, physicians should use privacy settings that block their information from public view. They also need to recognize that those settings may not completely or permanently prevent outside access, the policy says.
Careful communication
Physicians are cautioned against having nonclinical communications with patients because doctors may see something about a patient online that could have implications for their medical care. In the report that led to the creation of this policy, CEJA members gave an example where a photo was posted online of a patient smoking – after the patient had told the physician s/he was a nonsmoker. Seeing that photo – and knowing the patient may not have been truthful – could affect how the physician interacts with the patient in subsequent visits.
Although it is part of a physician’s professional obligation to monitor the internet for their own content (as well as content posted about them or colleagues) some doctors have expressed concern about physicians approaching colleagues they believe have posted unprofessional content online.
While it shouldn’t be another doctor’s obligation to police online activities for colleagues, physicians have the public’s trust and must take that responsibility seriously. It is no different from existing standards that physicians report colleagues for unprofessional behavior they witness.
Physicians should recognize that their actions online and the content they post may negatively affect their reputation – both among patients and colleagues – and may have consequences for their medical careers.
Posted: Jeff Ziegler
Categories: Healthcare, Marketing, Physicians, PR, Social Media, Team Crane Creek, Technology, Uncategorized
Synopsis – Social Media for Medical Professionals:
Social Media is not a panacea but is now an integral part of all practice marketing and bedside manner. Regardless of who you are, what your practice is, who your patients are and where they come from, Social Media must be integrated with the website. Further, your online reputation is going to be vital to your practice – the key is knowing when, how and why to respond to patient reviews, how to handle them on the web and use them as a marketing tool. Your personal profile as a physician and the personality of the practice must be ‘felt’ across your website and in your tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn profile, etc. How can a doctor make a website an integral part of his/her practice and patient care? By using simple language – no jargon – and being human!
Building a web presence:
The key to building a successful web presence for any MD, hospital, medispa, dentist, etc., is that you should NEVER even think of doing the website yourself. D.I.Y. is for gardening and car repairs – it has no place in marketing if you want professional, measurable results.
Remember: lack of focus = lack of message = lack of results
One of the key problems with practice sites is that they are no longer like “wind-up” toys – just set it up and let it run – they are now long-term strategic marketing projects. Sites need to integrate with other marketing activities and vice versa. Classic symptoms of this are ignoring the reality of how Social Media for Medical Professionals should be integrated, and by not including web addresses, Twitter names, Facebook links, etc. on correspondence, brochures, business cards or newsletters — or publishing a website that looks even vaguely different from your branding messages.
Find ways to tell your patients and prospective patients about your site, follow-up immediately with inbound email or phone messages, and maintain the site with content updates and appropriate refinements. Pay someone to do it. You will not regret it … The nexus you create around your site and with your social media presence is a serious element of your overall Marketing Plan – and will help your practice grow, prosper and thrive.
Going forward, your website and your online presence needs to be a balance of patient and practice. Here are some of the main things that you are beginning to see now, but will be a necessity in 2013-2014:
- EHR integration including online records access, scheduling and prescription refills
- Health education via website and integrated social channels
- Customer support beyond a phone number in the billing department
- Projection of the “personality” of the practice (read: integrates with marketing and branding)
- Dejargonization (but not dumbing down of medicine)
- Extending the “bedside manner” via community involvement and development
- (One could hope for price transparency…)
The Next Great Thing:
Social media will be vitally important, too — it is not a panacea but has already become an integral part of practice marketing and your ‘virtual’ bedside manner. It helps maintain your online reputation and it helps keep patients informed of various practice ‘goings on’. Online reputation management is becoming more and more vital to doctors, too – this means having the sense and sensibility of knowing when, how and why to respond to negative patient reviews – and how to show dignity whenever you may see them on the web (without having to grow rhino skin).
The true personality of your practice must also now be ‘felt’ on your website and through your total online presence. This means spending 25-30 minutes a week with your marketing support person (or an outsourced partner) to draft blog posts, Facebook posts or a few Tweets about the practice and what is happening. It could be a chance to disclose personal experiences and aspirations for the practice. If you show humanity within your online nature, then that should come across from your website, your in-person bedside manner and be reflected in your online reputation.
We were discussing this in the office on Friday. And we came to the consensus that it is more important than ever.
It all boils down to this simple point: are you going to get the patients you want or just the ones that you get in a post-ACA world.
Despite the ACA, the medical field still needs to focus on marketing and practice development. Maybe even more than ever before.
The fact that there is going to be a ‘flood’ of new patients is going to change the competitive landscape, but MDs will still need to market practices as if there was no influx.
If the net result is to be chosen by a patient as a “practitioner of choice”, then positioning, branding, consistency of the message and the ‘virtual bedside’ manner will all make or break each and every practice’s ability to grow faster than others.
Marketing and communications, via branding, consistent messaging and positioning will separate the mediocre, “able to get by” practices from the high growth ones, and will highlight the practices that patients will choose to want to use.
Bottom line: Marketing is the only way practices will be able to overtly themselves differentiate from other practices and to indoctrinate the patient populations that they want and need.
What is your take on this?