Medical Practices: 12 Takeaways from 2013

As I wrap up a second year of blogging for Physicians Practice’sPractice Notes, I find myself reflecting on the past years worth of blog posts, roughly 50 of them so far in 2013, in fact.

As I look over the various topics and comments, I am so grateful to share my strategies with all of you and sincerely hope that in 2013 I have given you real actionable steps or at least got the wheels turning for you to push the boundaries of success and make lasting positive changes in the way you operate your clinic.

Here are 12 my favorite takeaways from 2013:

1. Try expanding your horizons when marketing to patients. If you have an interest in holistic or alternative medicine, or any other subset of patient care, go forth and find your ideal patients who would be receptive to it.

2. When looking to hire or promote for leadership in your clinic, your ideal prospect is mentally tough and agile, loyal, a phenomenal communicator, nurturing, and humble enough to desire to learn more and improve.

3. Some simple and great methods for increasing referrals include having a professional website and blog, taking call duties, and positioning yourself as an expert.

4. Don’t wade through the mountains of EHR options alone. Get help!

5. When your clinic receives negative feedback, don’t blow up and don’t over react. Take the learning opportunity you have been given and maximize it to turn your patients into raving fans.

6. Starting your day off right can be as simple as writing down a few things your are thankful for.

7. Routine staff and/or departmental meetings are important to your success.

8. You must market yourself to your ideal patients in order to attract them to yourpractice and build a business that satisfies you.

9. If you're not utilizing social media, you are missing out on potential patients and community building at its finest.

10. Hiring and keeping good staff is imperative to having great customer service and customer service is the new marketing.

11. Maximizing marketing to existing patients is nine times less expensive than acquiring new patients, so start with the low-hanging fruit.

12. Gratitude is tangible and transformational. Begin a personal gratitude practice and then branch out to introducing gratitude in your office among your coworkers and even include patients with a gratitude board for everyone to share.

I am looking forward to sharing more outside of the box strategies with you in 2014.

Have a happy and safe new year!