How do you market your outpatient practice?

[sweetlenovo88]

If you are new to the area and don't know anyone? Just visit local docs and ask them to have lunch/dinner? City has 2 million metropolitan area.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[Crayola227]

I can't claim too much experience here, but I always thought a decent website and business cards wasn't a bad start. Do you have those? Maybe that's stupid or obvious and you already do.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Make a radio commercial.

 

[TexasPhysician]

If you are new to the area and don't know anyone? Just visit local docs and ask them to have lunch/dinner? City has 2 million metropolitan area.

There are dozens of ways to market a practice. A thorough analysis would be needed to know which are best for your goals.

 

[Crayola227]

Make a radio commercial.

I wondered if you were kidding or serious, but then I thought about, who would your audience be? Who listens to the radio and hears an ad for a shrink, and thinks, "hey yeah just what I need, I'll call that guy."

Then I thought, actually, maybe it's all these folks who think they're getting messages from the radio or tv meant just for them. So then I'm wondering if such ad would be a blessing or just cruel.

As they say, market to your audience on the platform they use

 

[Crayola227]

Personally if I was that kind of crazy, the radio ad shrink would just be confirmation bias fodder and the last person I would see.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't actually think of a way to advertise yourself as a psych in media printed or recorded that might not have that effect.

Is this why I almost never see this sort of advertising for psychiatrists?

 

[sweetlenovo88]

There are dozens of ways to market a practice. A thorough analysis would be needed to know which are best for your goals.

If you have experience with this, I’ll pay for 30 minutes of your time to discuss my concept with you, PM me

 

[wolfvgang22]

Mental illness is so common almost any medium can be used for marketing, so long as it is tasteful. I mean, come on, it's not like we are trying to sell sex pills with bath tubs or something. I think the real reason you don't see a lot of mental health ads is that it is not particularly necessary to fill a practice within a few months via word of mouth or insurance panels.

 

[sweetlenovo88]

Mental illness is so common almost any medium can be used for marketing, so long as it is tasteful. I mean, come on, it's not like we are trying to sell sex pills with bath tubs or something. I think the real reason you don't see a lot of mental health ads is that it is not particularly necessary to fill a practice within a few months via word of mouth or insurance panels.

Have your personally filled your practice within a couple months with insurance panels?

 

[Crayola227]

Maybe it's just where I'm at, which is not bum frak nowhere USA, but getting psychiatric care or counseling even with great insurance or out of pocket pay is ridic difficult

it's been treated like such an accepted aspect of life here for over a decade I just thought that was the state of things in most places, never mind what I've heard for the longest time since I started medical training

I thought patients had a hard time finding psychiatrists, not the other way round

sweetlenovo maybe you just need to pay to know my location (SDN this is a total and complete joke I am not trying to sell anyone anything on SDN, least of all my location)

my friend works for Microsoft in a big metropolitan city and the best he can get is a PNP to write meds, and he's just called LITERALLY 14 psychologists from the list his fancy insurance gave him, and only 2 have even bothered to call back that they're full, I know psych =/= counseling, point is the drought is real and extreme all around at least where I am

 

[Crayola227]

so yeah, since 90% of every psych practice I have ever called in my area was full, I just sorta assumed you guys filled up without having to go looking

 

[randomdoc1]

-Psychology today (it's helped me TONS and you can change the zip codes too, so once the calls start to dwindle, try another area another 30-60 min further away in various directions)
-good website with good SEO, that is huge
-making sure if you are on insurance panels that you are listed on their sites and that these companies update their lists regularly, patients tell me that there are tons of psychiatrists on the list but most no longer take new patients, so let the companies know personally you actually ARE taking new patients and have earlier availability
-approach therapy clinics, has done great for me and when you get referrals, get an ROI and thank the therapist, also be sure to refer back if there is a good fit

 

[sweetlenovo88]

Maybe it's just where I'm at, which is not bum frak nowhere USA, but getting psychiatric care or counseling even with great insurance or out of pocket pay is ridic difficult

it's been treated like such an accepted aspect of life here for over a decade I just thought that was the state of things in most places, never mind what I've heard for the longest time since I started medical training

I thought patients had a hard time finding psychiatrists, not the other way round

sweetlenovo maybe you just need to pay to know my location (SDN this is a total and complete joke I am not trying to sell anyone anything on SDN, least of all my location)

my friend works for Microsoft in a big metropolitan city and the best he can get is a PNP to write meds, and he's just called LITERALLY 14 psychologists from the list his fancy insurance gave him, and only 2 have even bothered to call back that they're full, I know psych =/= counseling, point is the drought is real and extreme all around at least where I am

I am in an extreme shortage area and am getting a good amount of calls from insurance panels, google, Yelp and referrals from a medical doctor. We have about 90 active patients in the 70 days we’ve been open. However, I would like to grow faster. We have just been approved for Medicaid which should bring a large flow of patients and all the Medicaid HMOs that we can now contract with. Medicare is pending.

It is an outpatient telemedicine practice and I am in town five days out of the month to help the office manager market. I am looking for more ACTIVE ideas beside just passively waiting for calls from insurance panels and basic online marketing. I tried sending my office manager out to PCPs but they will ignore him if I’m not there. Some of them will meet me but never end up sending any referrals even when we followup with lunch in their office. Taking them to dinners if they are willing seemed to have been the most effective. I have more facilities and doctors I will be approaching but I am wondering what you guys have done. I don’t push the telepsych aspect unless I am asked

 

[sweetlenovo88]

-Psychology today (it's helped me TONS and you can change the zip codes too, so once the calls start to dwindle, try another area another 30-60 min further away in various directions)
-good website with good SEO, that is huge
-making sure if you are on insurance panels that you are listed on their sites and that these companies update their lists regularly, patients tell me that there are tons of psychiatrists on the list but most no longer take new patients, so let the companies know personally you actually ARE taking new patients and have earlier availability
-approach therapy clinics, has done great for me and when you get referrals, get an ROI and thank the therapist, also be sure to refer back if there is a good fit

Thanks, I’ll look into psychology today, we have a nice seo optimized site. I found an individual psychologist, but haven’t found many practices with more than one provider in that field

 

[wolfvgang22]

90 patients in 70 days since opening doesn't seem bad to me. How many total patients is your goal?
Perhaps you need both more patience and patients? Anyway, best of luck to you.

 

[sweetlenovo88]

90 patients in 70 days since opening doesn't seem bad to me. How many total patients is your goal?
Perhaps you need both more patience and patients? Anyway, best of luck to you.

Thanks, goal is to get to 400/500, then hire an NP or a doc. I have six exam rooms to fill

 

[uhmocksuhsillen]

Thanks, goal is to get to 400/500, then hire an NP or a doc. I have six exam rooms to fill

How many visits per day are you looking at with a panel of 500? roughly of course.

 

[sweetlenovo88]

How many visits per day are you looking at with a panel of 500? roughly of course.

15 f/u, 30 or 45 minute initial. Refer to psychologist for therapy

 

[futuredo32]

You do realize Medicaid barely pays anything, correct?

 

[sweetlenovo88]

You do realize Medicaid barely pays anything, correct?

Not in my market

 

[futuredo32]

Not in my market

In Michigan you get like nothing and you really have to fight to get it. Actually the providers I know are either cash only or Blue Cross and Medicare only. I am trying to get OFF of Aetna and Cigna.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

In Michigan you get like nothing and you really have to fight to get it. Actually the providers I know are either cash only or Blue Cross and Medicare only. I am trying to get OFF of Aetna and Cigna.

Well right but Medicaid is state dependent. So if you're in a state with a good Medicaid program, the reimbursement is going to be quite a bit different. Medicaid reimbursement in Michigan could be vastly different than OPs state.

 

[futuredo32]

Well right but Medicaid is state dependent. So if you're in a state with a good Medicaid program, the reimbursement is going to be quite a bit different. Medicaid reimbursement in Michigan could be vastly different than OPs state.

Apparently. It is awful in Mi for psych.

 

[slappy]

Make a radio commercial.