I hope this month’s edition of the Newsletter finds you well! We know that the beginning of the year can present difficulties in finding new patients and increasing the number of procedures done, particularly elective procedures, due to high deductibles. In this month’s newsletter, we discuss what you can do to avoid these difficulties, as well as share new marketing materials with you!
Leaving opportunities on the table?
Many practices inform patients that they have hemorrhoids after being diagnosed, but the patients aren’t always presented with treatment options or educational information on how to manage their diagnosis. Whether or not the physician is having the conversation with the patient or the MA/nurse, it is important to educate the patient so that he/she can make an informed decision as to whether to proceed with treatment or not.
Are more patients being diagnosed than scheduled?
Do you see a lot of no-shows, cancellations or experience challenges in scheduling a patient for an office procedure if they were diagnosed in the ASC? Yes? Well, you’re not alone. This is one of the biggest practice problems we hear about as Account Managers. So what can you do to mitigate these?
Send out email appointment reminders in advance of patient banding.
Have a staff member call the patient and confirm their appointment (make sure that the staff member is familiar with hemorrhoid banding and can answer any patient questions. If they are not comfortable speaking to the patient, let me know and I’ll provide you with a cheat sheet!).
Follow up with no-shows and get them back on the schedule.
Set the expectation that a patient will likely require 3 treatments. Along these same lines, inform patients that they may feel better after their first treatment but they are likely to see a recurrence of symptoms quickly if they do not complete the full treatment.
If patients are diagnosed in the ASC and banded in the office, determine a process where the diagnosis is communicated to the office staff so that they can schedule the patient for banding.
Not sure where to begin? We work with groups every day to set up processes that make sense for them. We can find a system that will allow you to make the most of hemorrhoid banding at your practice. Get in touch today.
Want to increase awareness? Use our free marketing materials!
You asked. We delivered. In our Fall 2013 survey, many of you indicated that stickers would be a simple and effective tool to adhere to the back of your existing business and appointment cards for all of your procedures. We now have “Got hemorrhoids?” appointment stickers. Get yours today!
You asked. We delivered – again! We have added to our Spanish content and we now have the patient questionnaire available online as well as the print ad.
Let us know if you have another material request. We’re always looking to help practices out and add to our toolkit.
Here’s what other groups are doing to create awareness in their communities about hemorrhoid banding:
Marketing Campaign Winner!
A big thank you to all of the groups who participated in our marketing campaign contest over the past three months. We are pleased to announce our winner, Dr. Sherry Ellis of the Borland-Grover Clinic in Delray Beach, FL! She has won a product credit valued at 50% of the cost of her recent patient postcard campaign. Congratulations!
Stay tuned for an announcement regarding our next contest!
Thanks, and I look forward to continuing to work with you in the near future.