As nursing home residents slowly took their seats and adjusted their oxygen tubes before his presentation, urologist Neil Baum, MD, realized he needed to change his approach.
"The last thing they wanted to hear about was a talk on sexual dysfunction," says the New Orleans physician. "I'm a magician, so I asked for a deck of cards and I did magic tricks."
But his adlibbed presentation wasn't for naught—one of the nurses took Baum's card and sent him her mother.
Giving speeches to local groups is just one of the ways you can reach out to potential patients without embarking on an expensive marketing campaign. Often, getting your practice's name and expertise out in the community is more beneficial than a billboard.
1. Writing articles
"The best way for a practice on a low budget to reach out to the public is writing articles and public speaking," Baum says. "Writing articles is not expensive. It does take a little bit of time for the doctor or staff to put together, but most publications are eager to hear from physicians."
Publications that may publish health-related articles include:
- Local newspapers
- Local magazines
- Health and fitness publications
- Blogs and Web sites
"It would be good to pick a topic that is timely, that is in the news," Baum says. "It's best to include a patient if you can and put out why you are the one to write the article, how common it is in the community, and offer solutions to the problem that help is available and tell them where to go. Also, at the end, be sure to provide your name and contact information."
2. Giving presentations
Providing and collecting contact information is also important when speaking to a local organization, Baum says.
"If I give a talk to an AARP group, I get their e-mail addresses and I continually send them updates about what's going on in my practice and what's new," he says. "Constantly keeping your name in front of them in a positive fashion and doing it frequently is the best way to keep the public engaged and knowing that you exist."
Organizations that may welcome a physician speaker include:
- Service clubs, such as the Rotary Club, Lions, and Junior League
- Church groups
- Crowds at local fairs and block parties
- Large employers
At the end of the presentation, it's important to take questions and give the audience a way to get in touch with you.
"I always say, 'Anybody who would like more info, please sign up on this sheet and we will continue to give you more info,' " Baum says. "I also take someone from my office with an appointment book and schedule appointments right there at the meeting. And I always bring a handout with an article, usually something I've written."
These talks may not always result in immediate business, but attendees will be more likely to remember you down the road when they have a medical problem that you addressed. Baum says he recently saw a patient who had remembered him from a presentation 10 years ago.
3. Pounding the pavement
Huron Medical Group, a Cleveland Clinic practice located in East Cleveland, OH, practices patient outreach by integrating their efforts within the community.
"We've looked at innovative ways to do this because we have a lot of challenges that we face in the community that we serve," says Michael O'Connell, MHA, FACMPE, vice president, operations and physician services for Huron Medical Group. "A large portion of the patients we care for live below the poverty level and a significant proportion of the people we care for have diabetes or other chronic diseases. We also have the second most penetrating trauma patients in the state of Ohio, so we have a lot of gunshot and knife wounds."
So Huron talks to patrons in barber shops, holds a free breakfast with Santa for children, runs a program for at-risk youth, and constantly visits fire stations, police stations, grocery stores, and libraries to keep the community informed of their services.
"We go out to barber shops and we go out to beauty parlors and we give information to them and they do screening there and it's a great way for people to come together," O'Connell says. "It's been great to be able to do something like that. It really doesn't cost us any money—it means getting some commitment from beauty parlors and barber shops to do something like that."
4. Creating a great experience
Of course, one of the easiest ways to keep patients coming in is to provide a friendly, efficient experience for your current patients.
"Make sure you take outstanding care of the patients you got because they go out and talk," Baum says. "Each patient knows several dozen people that they can talk to about their healthcare problems. Each of those people know dozens, so if you take outstanding care and you're known as a compassionate caring physician—that you see people on time, that you call people back in a timely fashion, that you have a staff that is kind and gentle—if that word gets out there there's no better marketing or practice promotion than good word of mouth."
It's also important to be inviting when you're giving a screening or seminar, O'Connell says. Huron often gives participants relevant takeaways, such as gift bags filled with body wash, lip balm, soap, and a pedometer.
Making a little go a long way
All of the outreach methods mentioned here can make a big impression on your community without making a large dent in your budget.
"We don't have a lot of resources and we had to be creative and innovative in our approach," O'Connell says. "We've been able to achieve a growth of 10%-12% over a three-year period. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money—it's really about relationships and thinking about who you want to communicate to."
This kind of outreach doesn't necessarily mean you have to hire a community liaison; existing employees and brand advocates can easily fill that role.
"It's not about saying we need $100,000 for a marketing budget and if we don't have that we're not going to be effective," O'Connell says. "Our employees are wonderful advocates to spread the word about the services we provide. It doesn't have to be one person you hire to do this. You can get the current people that you have to build these different efforts and you have to build on that success."
Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.