Resolve to Master Medical-Practice Marketing

Medical practices are facing momentous decisions -- to join the en masse migration to become part of larger groups, multispecialty entities or corporate entities, or to "fly solo" as stand-alone small businesses. For many "acronym" reasons (AHCAA, ACOs, EMRs, etc), the pressure is on!

What decisions do you and your medical practice have to confront as you glide into 2011?

Are you throwing in the towel and finding a handsome suitor with pockets deeper than your own? Or are you stubbornly resisting the urge to merge and looking instead for ways to thrive in 2011?

If it's the latter, I believe the only way you'll succeed is through intentional planning and excellent medical-practice marketing -- and what better opportunity for that than an end-of-year reflection.

Here are eight questions to guide your thinking:

1. Imagine you are at the end of 2011 and looking back over the year. What do you want to see having occurred to your medical practice? Or your physician business, for that matter?

2. Who do you want to super-satisfy as your "ideal customer"? How do you want to do that?

3. What are all the "touch points" (points of contact) in your medical practice or physician business that need your attention and improvement? Streamlining? More customer-centric focus?

4. What investments must you make in your medical practice to get the greatest return? In your staff? In your own business skills development? In medical practice marketing? In an electronic medical record? In training to acquire a new procedural skill?

5. What can you delegate to others to free you up to do your best work?

6. What can you stop doing because it no longer pays or makes sense?

7. What are your top three professional goals for 2011? What do you need to address to achieve them?

8. What are your top three personal goals for 2011? What do you need to address to achieve them?

In case you were unaware of it, several of these questions are geared to get you to think like a marketing-savvy physician business owner. Whether it is identifying and satisfying your best patients, offering services that they need and for which they (or their insurance companies) are willing to pay, or getting word out about your existence through referrals, a compelling web presence or your sparkling networking skills, this is all about brilliant consistent marketing.

What is the medical practice marketing plan (or physician business marketing plan) you are resolved to create and implement in 2011?

Happy New Year and may 2011 be a truly prosperous and enjoyable year for you, dear reader!