If you’re ready to grow your practice, you may need to make strategic changes in how you run the business side of your office. Podiatrists who are willing to put in the effort can create a practice that’s more attractive to new patients. Consider taking these steps:

Advertise Your Practice in the Right Places
Advertising may spread the word about your practice to potential patients within the community. Of course, you have to make sure you’re advertising in the right places--not every outlet is visible to patients.

Consider asking existing patients how they found your practice. With that information, you may find some new places to advertise or increase any advertising you’re already doing. Survey incoming patients to see how well your marketing efforts are doing.

Ask for Referrals
Often referrals are among the best sources for new patients. Let your current patients know you’re looking for referrals and welcome recommendations from existing patients. They can tell their friends and family about their experiences with your practice and hopefully find new patients for you.

Sometimes, patients aren’t aware that referrals are important to you. Adding a short and simple message such as, “We love referrals!” to your business cards, e-newsletter, social media or website may help you send the message and find new patients.

Partner with Other Healthcare Professionals
Another great way to get referrals is through other healthcare professionals. Consider teaming up with physical therapists or medical practitioners who may have patients suffering from foot pain and other common issues podiatry care may help with. These professionals may appreciate having a qualified professional as part of their network.

Improve Productivity
Streamlining your practice may provide you with more room in your schedule, mental bandwidth to work in and more resources to devote to each appointment. Becoming more productive can create new possibilities for your practice. Here are a few ideas:

• Get EHR: Electronic healthcare records software, which takes more time on the front end, generally helps podiatrists become more productive. Paper records are difficult to search, challenging to manage and can create more administrative problems. Making the switch can make your practice more efficient so there’s more time available for patients.
• Outsource: If possible, outsource some of your work tasks. If your budget for staffing doesn’t allow for a full-time hire, you may find that hiring qualified part-time employees or interns is a better investment.
• Simplify workflows: Wherever you can, minimize the time you spend on administrative tasks. Create workflows that outline the core processes involved in day-to-day operations at your practice.

The more you can do to save yourself time, the better. Take this saved time and pass it along to your patients.

Update Your Practice, if Needed
If necessary, consider implementing updates to your practice to make it more attractive to patients. This could mean facility updates, new services or even new scheduling options. Taking the time to survey your current and prospective patients to identify ideas for possible changes may highlight areas you can improve.

Start Attracting More Patients
Whatever you do, remember that doing the same things you’ve always done and expecting a change in patient volume is probably not realistic. Thinking of ways to grow and transform your practice isn’t necessarily easy, but the renewed patient volume may very well be worth the effort.

Contact us today for coverage information. If you are not insured with PICA, fill out our online form to get a no-obligation quote.

The information contained on the PICA Blog does not establish a standard of care, nor does it constitute legal advice. The information is for general informational purposes only. We encourage all blog visitors to consult with their personal attorneys for legal advice, as specific legal requirements may vary from state to state. Links or references to organizations, websites, or other information is for reference use only and do not constitute the rendering of legal, financial, or other professional advice or recommendations. All information contained on the blog is subject to change.