Georgette PascaleIn the surgical world, the term “barrier to entry” is used to denote the financial or temporal obstacles associated with implementing a new technology or technique. A new modality might offer faster, better, or safer treatment, but the first things any buyer will ask almost always include: “How much will it cost me?” and “How much time will I spend learning it?”

As healthcare regulations grow stricter and reimbursement continues to decrease, small practices must commit more time to managing budgets and boosting revenue by getting more patients in their waiting room. However, as the need to develop and implement an effective promotional plan reaches an all-time high, I meet many small practitioners who shy away from executing promotional tactics, citing associated costs and a perceived staff time burden – their “barrier to entry” — as reasons to stick to the routine.

Here, I’ll share a few simple tactics designed to help small practitioners build their brand, create a compelling narrative, capture local media attention and ultimately, drive awareness among a local community full of prospective patients.

Start by building a brand

If you want to evangelize your practice to the local media and reap the benefits that come with media attention, you must first develop its unique brand. Just as consumer brands like Apple and Samsung dedicate time, resources, and intelligence to differentiating themselves from the competition, your practice will need to tell a story that helps it stand out in the crowd.

O'Dwyer's Sept. '14 Beauty/Fashion & Lifestyle PR MagazineThis article is featured in O'Dwyer's Oct. '14 Healthcare & Medical PR Magazine

Creating a “premium” practice environment is an easy way to increase appeal among prospective patients and inspire loyalty in current ones. Highlight the specialized services or technologies you offer that nearby competitors don’t, especially if the practice is the first in its region or state to offer them. Patients are most confident when they feel they are in the hands of an industry leader. If your practice has the drive to continually learn and the resources to acquire the best tools for the trade possible, improve your brand value by featuring the “cutting edge” philosophy in all communications, both internal (in the waiting room and in digital outreach to the current patient base) and external (in communications with the press or at community events).

If your practice isn’t the first in its area to adopt a groundbreaking new approach, you can still elevate your brand by emphasizing your world-class commitment to patients. Identifying patients who were particularly impressed by their level of care and who are willing to discuss their experience is critical. Telling their success story — and in turn, developing your own — can be as simple and cost-effective as leaving printed testimonial materials at a central station in the waiting room or alongside take-home patient education materials.

Share it with the community

Once your practice has established its world-class brand and created an environment of distinction, your story will draw local press and patients into the waiting room. Many medical practitioners are familiar with more cut and dry marketing tactics such as print, television and radio advertising (all of which gets very expensive, very quickly) and don’t know how cost-effective and rewarding public relations initiatives can be. Ultimately, reaching out to local media, establishing relationships, and securing coverage shouldn’t be an ancillary arm of your practice’s marketing strategy; it should comprise a core pillar of all communications.

Leverage your brand as news

Your cutting-edge treatment paradigm and commitment to patient can be the catalyst for a compelling story that will interest the media and get the practice’s name in front of hundreds, or thousands, of prospective patients. For example, if you integrate a new technology or procedure and are the first in the area to do so, put out a press release, disseminate it to the local media and follow up to discuss coverage opportunities. Patient care milestones can be considered, keeping in mind that the news must be inherently exciting or “newsworthy.” Finally, inform the local media know about any charity or non-profit participation you are affiliated with, as humanitarian stories make for compelling coverage.

Learn the basics of pitch writing

It’s critically important to understand the ebb and flow of pitching in order to speak the same “language” as the local media. Read up on a publication’s previous coverage and get a sense for how they approach stories, and craft your pitch to fit their mold. Every publication has a distinct style; if your pitch displays an understanding of this style or willingness to tell your story according to their rules, the reviewing reporter or editor will be grateful and more likely to work with you. Look up local media online and find the reporters covering the local healthcare “beat.” These contacts will be much more likely to green-light your story and work with you to develop a compelling narrative than their generalist colleagues.

Embrace the medical community

Finally, consider leveraging your referral network as a source of media interest. If you have excellent relationships with local specialists, highlight your proactive approach to ensuring patients are well cared for by connecting them with nearby experts with whom you’ve established a strong working relationship, and consider getting them some good press as well. This not only improves credibility, but can also boost the number of incoming referral patients you receive as nearby specialists reach out to connect with an emerging local leader — you!

In today’s marketplace, the small practice that refuses to embrace innovative approaches will get left behind. Large practices and hospitals have the advantage of a large checkbook, and accordingly, the ability to hire PR and marketing firms on retainer. For practices with a narrower budget, it’s critical to understand how the local media works and the value of establishing a line of communication. With this in mind, my firm recently launched the PCAccelerator: a “do-it-yourself” toolkit we are bringing to small practitioners to help them jumpstart PR and marketing initiatives.

I encourage all small practice-owners to learn more about how internally-driven promotion can elevate their standing in the community, drive patients through their doors and boost the bottom line — all with a wonderfully modest capital investment.

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Georgette Pascale Founder, President & CEO of Pascale Communications, LLC.