Dissecting the business of a private pediatric practice for the purpose of examining its parts & discourse
I wrote a piece for FiercePracticeManagement last week that I wanted to share with you all. The piece talks about an experience I had while I was on vacation. I was trying to reschedule an appointment I had the next day with my doctor. The experience turned into a little ordeal that frustrated the heck out of me. One part I didn't mention in the piece due to word limit constraints is that during all this rescheduling fiasco, I was out of … [Read more...]
One of our core values in our practice, is empathy. It is so important to us, that we include it in our practice charter. Here is a little summary of our Empathy and Compassion section of our charter. Central to our core values is treating our patients with compassion and respect. Understanding how our patients may be feeling and being sympathetic about that is essential to how we provide care. We are committed to maintaining a deep awareness … [Read more...]
A while back, I had the chance to fly JetBlue for the first time. I was excited to fly JetBlue because I had heard so many cool things about the airline. "Ah, you are going to love their DIRECTV feature and their leather chairs," people said. Others mentioned how cool JetBlue’s JFK terminal looked. Needless to say, I was looking forward to it. As I was finally boarding the plane, I realized that the overhead compartment was too small for … [Read more...]
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know about my e-book, 101 Ways to Transform Your Practice. If you haven’t picked it up (it is free by the way) I wanted to give you a little nudge to do so. Not everything in the ebook is going to work in your practice. But at the very least, I think the ebook will spark ideas that you would have not had otherwise. If you are still not convinced, then let me share this little … [Read more...]
Today, we are going to takle a few customer service tips. But these tips are a little different because they come from a mom. That is right. These tips are from a mom of two that has had her share of visits to the pediatricians office. Her name is Deb Beaulieu. And with this post, she gives us some ideas from a parent's perspective, on how we can improve our service. By the way, we are not Deb's pediatrician's office. If it was ours, she … [Read more...]
Have you seen those signs in doctor’s offices that read, “The best compliment you can give us is a referral?” Some say this is a great way to get referrals. Simply asking for one. I’ve also heard “healthcare marketing professionals” suggest that doctors ought to spend time in the community networking with other physicians like OB/GYNs, neighboring schools, daycares or any other person that can send a patient our way. At Salud … [Read more...]
Today's guest post comes by Jill Fahy. Jill does a fantastic job of reporting from the pediatric front lines. In this article, she talks about the concierge model, but from a pediatric perspective. We always read about concierge practices, but hardly ever do we hear the issue addressed from a pediatric practice management perspective. I think the article provides very good insight into this growing trend. I hope you do … [Read more...]
Yesterday, as parent was walking out, he says to the staff member that was helping him check out “Oh, wow! Look at that. You guys got new cards.” Then, the parent got a little embarrassed for his excitement over a business card and in an apologetic voice said “I guess it is the little things that impress me the most.” My office is next door to the checkout counter, so I often hear the conversations that happen during the check out … [Read more...]
According to a Pew Internet study, 87% of adults use search engines (mostly Google) to find information. And an increasingly amount of those searches are for local stores and establishments. Seventy-three percent of all online activity is related to local content, according to data released by Google. One of the ways to take control of your listings on search engines is to sign up for a free service by Google called Google Places. This free … [Read more...]
I enjoy watching Iron Chef America. I am amazed that the Food Channel can create a show about cooking that is exciting, competitive, informative, nail biting and fun all in a single show. Theoretically, a competitive cooking show sounds boring. What is fun and exciting about that? But Iron Chef makes you root for a guy to pull out a lobster from the boiling water so he can plate it in time, while the other guy is running franticly chopping … [Read more...]
