We hope that this Holiday Newsletter finds you well. This month we interviewed one of your peers and we’d like to shine a light on how his practice found success in advertising. We’ll also share marketing best practices.
Practice Spotlight
Thousands of hemorrhoid patients have sought out Dr. Eric Ibegbu of Atlantic Medical Group, in Kinston, NC, after seeing TV commercials, billboards and other advertising for the CRH O’Regan System. We caught up with Dr. Ibegbu to gain further insight into his banding practice.
CRH: What made you want to offer this particular technology as a hemorrhoid treatment for your patients?
EI: When I first was introduced to the CRH O’ Regan System , I was reluctant to adapt as I was an ardent Infrared coagulator (IRC) user and had just purchased two of those systems for my practice, a project that was a major capital investment for my young practice. The desire to look at CRH came as a result of ineffective treatment for patients who were waiting three months in between IRC treatments, a lack of results in a timely fashion and significant overhead for my practice. CRH Medical offered a great tool without any upfront costs that had undeniable clinical efficacy and tremendous patient satisfaction.
CRH: How long after your initial training did you decide that you wanted to increase awareness around the procedure?
Within 6 months of offering banding in my practice, having received positive patient feedback and seen excellent treatment results, I knew it would be unjust to keep this technology limited.
CRH: Please describe how you have gone about building your banding practice?
EI: From a branding perspective, we have distinguished ourselves as a non-surgical hemorrhoid treatment center. In my experience, that designation is most attractive to patients. Many people believe surgery is their only option. Knowing that they can part ways with what may be a lifelong unwanted companion, in the form of hemorrhoids, is most inspiring for a patient who is undecided about seeking help.
Great deals of people suffer in silence with hemorrhoids because, even in the age of information, hemorrhoid discussions are still very private for most and highly embarrassing. Proactively discussing treatment options with my patients has been most valuable.
Then from a marketing perspective, we have stepped up efforts in all media outlets including television, newspapers, press releases, radio and social media campaigns.
CRH: What advertising method has been the most effective?
EI: The most effective tool for us has been television ads followed closely by billboards and newspaper ads.
CRH: What CRH marketing materials do you prefer to use? Why?
EI: My preferred marketing tool is the small brochure entitled “Say goodbye to hemorrhoids”. It is concise, clear and allows me to compare CRH to other treatment modalities listed on the brochure including traditional banding and IRC among others.
CRH: Do you have any advice for other physicians and practices wanting to increase the number of procedures they do?
EI: My advice to my colleagues looking to increase their procedural volumes is that foremost, they themselves have to passion to treat hemorrhoids. I believe if passion is present, then the confidence that it will work will be translated to the patients effortlessly.
I understand that different practices are structured differently and we all have our individual areas of interest, but from my experience, as someone who has treated over 10,000 hemorrhoid patients in the last 7 years, when I take charge of the discussion rather than deferring the discussion to other well qualified surrogates in my practice, I see more tangible results and sustained treatment outcome. I believe the physician should spear head discussions of hemorrhoid therapies with the patient.
Want to increase awareness?
Here’s what other practices are doing:
In addition to our array of marketing materials, which are available to you at no charge, we also encourage you to reach out into your community and get creative with your CRH hemorrhoid marketing. We’ve created a best practice marketing guide to stimulate your creative juices – ask me for help and where you can view the examples.
Looking for more ideas? Don’t forget t-shirts!
The staff at the Center for GI Health in Sellersville, PA, are taking the embarr-ASS-ment out of hemorrhoids and increasing banding awareness by wearing our “Got Hemorrhoids” t-shirts! Ask for yours today.
All the Best,
The Practice Support Team
