It’s an interesting dilemma that we often see new practice owners face.  That is, they want to keep their expenses low and end up tackling every business-related task that there is, and at the same time want to see as many patients as possible to get cash flowing as rapidly as possible.  What usually happens is that the business-related tasks begin to eat away at time that the provider should be in front of patients.  Patient time = cash flow.  Less patient time = less cash flow.  One hour with patient = more money made than it costs to have someone else perform business-related tasks.

A key challenge to handling business growth is whether you are able, and willing, to give up control and delegate certain business tasks to others who are:

• More skilled at the task
• Able to complete the task at a lower hourly rate than you
• Easily trainable to do the jobs that you dislike or are no good at

Here is a quick down-and-dirty to figure out your own “hourly rate”.

Let’s imagine you want your business to gross $300,000 in 2008. And you plan to work a 40-hour week (good luck if you can get away with this!) for 48 weeks in the year.

Your hourly rate is $300,000 ÷ 48 = $6250, and $6250 ÷ 40 = $156.25. In order to make $300,000 in a year, you need to be bringing about $156 an hour in revenue. That means that when you are answering your own emails, you are costing your business roughly $156 an hour to do so.

In her recent post, Kennealy tells us the four tasks that MUST be delegated to someone else, either in-house or to an outsourced company: 1) Housekeeping, 2) Bookkeeping, 3) Administrative support, and 4) Managing technology.  These are tasks that you can find someone that will cost less than your time to do the same job and perhaps a better, more effecient job.

Kennealy goes on to discuss three things that the owning provider MUST hold on to: 1) Strategy development and business planning, 2) Marketing, and 3) Content creation or program development.  These things are critically linked to the owner’s vision, goals and selling efforts.  This doesn’t mean that outside help can not be employed to assist with these things (i.e. consultants, branding companies), but the provider definitely needs to sacrifice some patient time to focus on these elements…these are the elements that get more patients in the door.

There’s a lot to be learned from the cross pollination of marketing and business techniques between industries.  Our company provides marketing services to medical, dental, physical therapy, and other types of healthcare practices, and we’re always a bit quizzical when competing medical marketing companies approach the topic in a way much different than is found in retail or entertainment.  No matter what the industry, you’ve got a customer (we call them patients), you’ve got a product (we call it healthcare), and you’ve got a price (we’d like to call it cash, but usually agree to “reimbursement.”).

By overcomplicating the marketing of healthcare practices I think we’re doing more damage than good.  Remember that the principles of marketing are not too terribly complex, and are almost completely transferrable between industries.  What made you choose to buy Coke over Pepsi just might have more to do with getting patients in your door than you think.  You need to see a product or service (impressions), you need to recognize the value a product or service (the value proposition), and you need to have access to a product or service (distribution).  In a nutshell, that’s it.

This article from Medical Economics does a good job at speaking to many of the most common marketing techniques used in the marketing of medical practices, and you might be surprised to know that the same techniques also work for selling cars.

For many practices, marketing is a survival tool. But with so many ways to approach it—public speaking, print media, radio ads, the Web—it’s a tool that doctors often use haphazardly, or not at all. “One of the biggest mistakes physicians make is that they don’t develop a marketing plan,” says Keith Borglum, of Professional Management and Marketing in Santa Rosa, CA. “In medical terms, it’s like doing treatment without a diagnosis.”

In marketing, as in medicine, you’re much more likely to achieve your goals if you take the time to determine what they are. Begin by setting quantifiable parameters. How many additional patients do you want to attract? Can your practice’s staff and internal systems handle that number of new patients? How much time and money can you invest in marketing? Are you seeking a particular type of patient? If you’re hoping to attract 20-and 30-somethings, say, you’ll probably need to develop a website and fashion an ad campaign aimed at luring that cohort to the site.

Another good post from the Independent Urologist - some simple ways to develop a competitive advantage in your local market. 

It doesn’t have to be rocket science; just find a way to do something that your competitors are not (or do it better).  If you provide a quality service, and you’re willing to put in the effort, you CAN differentiate yourself and communicate your unique value to your patients and referral sources, no matter how big you are or deep your pockets.

What makes you so special? Why would patients go to you over someone else? While it may be difficult to compete with an established group or a large group, you can try to level the playing field–or perhaps tilt it a bit in your own favor–by developing a competitive advantage the amplifies your strengths and exploits your competitors weaknesses. Having Saturday hours when others do not may represent one such competitive advantage. Here are some others:

Here are some useful tips on marketing and advertising a startup home health business from Fortune Small Business.

Begin promoting your business by identifying medical providers in your community. “Look for primary care practices and internal medicine practitioners and send a flyer or letter of introduction about what services you have to offer,” says Joe Cobo, President of the National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants.  “Also send them to surgical practices. Those patients need services when they’re released.” Cobo also suggests advertising in community newspapers in areas that contain an older population or adult communities.

“Connect not only with physicians who make referrals, but also discharge planners at hospitals,” says Wendi Lynagh, Executive Director of the Home Care Association of Washington. You can list your business on her organization’s web site, where users can search by region or by the type of service they’re looking for.

Whether you’re a physician, physical therapist, dentist, or anything in between, the importance of marketing your private practice to your community and referral sources is of paramount importance.  This post from Peter Lucash over at the Medical Practice Business Blog poses some tips for improving your marketing efforts in 2008.

Even with a full practice, a sound business practice for the long term is to continuously invest in marketing your practice. Marketing – how your work with patients, your price, place and promotion – means that you are always working to improve your practice organization. Patients will leave, and new patients are looking for good physicians. Running a business means constant renewal.