Have you noticed a lot of colleagues looking for an associate right now? If so, it’s not just you.
The good news is private practice optometry is alive and thriving. As we’ve discussed, consumers are flocking back to relationship-based patient care rather getting stuck where a third party puts them or hunting for bargains on eye exams and being one-time patients at The Vision Barn. There are of course consumers that haven’t seen the light (no pun), but more have than haven’t, and the move back to relationship-based care is even trending on the product side with stable and even increasing Spectacle and Contact Lens Capture Rates.
We at THRIVE are loving this back-to-quality consumer trend, and the full patient schedules coming with it. So full in many colleague practices, in fact, that we need another doctor (or two), and despite more schools and more grads, it’s proving tougher to recruit and land a new associate. Part of that is of course due to forces in the marketplace competing with private practice, but don’t believe for a second that’s all of it. A big part is that many colleagues are more booked-out than ever and we need doctors!
And of course with deliberate recruiting and finally landing the right associate come some nerves, right? We want (and need) to hit the ground running with our new doctor and get her/him booked-up and hummin’ in the practice, and here are a few sure-fire ways to do it.
Let’s get that dotted line commitment as far in advance of new doctor’s start day as possible, and literally the moment we have it, it’s ALL HANDS ON DECK to get the new doctor credentialed. When the practice is booked-out weeks or months in advance, more than any other thing, booking the associate is a simple matter of having the green light with whatever third parties are players in the practice. Yet it amazes me how many practices are way behind the 8-ball on this when they could have easily been ahead of it. We always recommend starting this process absolutely as soon as we know the association is going to happen… .like months (or more) in advance when possible. …Oh, and make sure we’re staying all over both the third parties (squeaky wheel gets the grease!) and the doctor (much as we’d like them to, they simply don’t get the urgency like you do). To the latter end, we recommend having regular credentialing updates with the new doctor from the moment we know it’s on until well after the start date.
2. Consider, for a time anyway (emphasis on “for a time”), accepting some third-party plans we’ve not accepted in the past or even stopped accepting. Remember that a new doctor in the practice, like a new location or a new service being offered, puts us back in the Introduction Stage of the Practice Life Cycle, after perhaps having been in the Maturity Stage for years or decades, and that brings a different perspective on such things. Generally speaking (although not always), it’s better to have a “butt in the chair” than an empty slot in the book, and we make sure we book these patients with the new doctor whenever humanly possible to help get her/him off and rolling. As she/he books up, we can cross the appropriate vision plan cherry-picking bridges.
3. Get a HUGE banner on the exterior wall of the practice. I’m talking full-on “WELCOME DR. KELSYE JONES!” banner you can see from way off, like the Watermelon Festival banner spread across Main Street back in your hometown (you know the Tracey Byrd song, right?). Other than the relatively minimal cost of having the banner made, this is scott-free advertising, and it turns heads and gets noticed! Who doesn’t love to see a local business doing great and expanding to serve the community (here’s a hint… NO ONE!)
4. If you build it, they will come… So let’s build it! Let’s build-out the schedule to include the new doctor the moment it’s on, even before it’s on (you can always wait until it’s official to start booking patients to the new doc, but let’s get the legwork done now so all we need do is hit the “GO” button!).
5. Train the staff! Sit down with the staff (and by all means, invite the new doctor to join us on-site or by ZOOM) and do some very deliberate training on integrating the new doctor, definitely including scripting of offering appointments to new patients AND established patients (as opposed to waiting to get in). Again, it amazes me how often colleagues don’t make a point of training their teams to be “associate ready.” We just did one of these trainings today with the entire practice team and are doing a follow-up training with just the front office staff next week.
6. Let’s get crackin’ sooner rather than later on including the new doctor in the on-line schedule. Show the new doctor in the schedule now, and show first availability whenever that is (even if it’s months out). We want people seeing even today that this is coming!
7.Get the new doctor added to the “About Our Doctors” page on your website, and bold and highlight that she/he is taking new patients! And of course, we can leave that highlighted for a good while.
8. Start a new blog on your website (also eblast this) “hosted” by our new doctor. What an excellent way to both demonstrate expertise and warm up to the patient base. Like most of these things, start that well before the new doctor is seeing patients in the practice.
9. Social Media Up! You have people in the practice that know the Facebook (and others) drill well, and if not, get a little help on this and let’s go!
10.Do a Patient Eblast AND Mailing (let’s do both!). Get the word out. Brag about our amazing new doctor. Include a picture along with professional background, specialty practice interests and some fun life information, and encourage patients to make an appointment for themselves or a family member.
10. Get your new doctor involved in the community! I realize this is a little old school, but it works! Among other strategies, we encourage all our clients to encourage all their doctors (especially the new doctor!) to be involved in at least two community groups, as well as speak for groups and events in the community at least twice a year. All the latter takes is a little planning and promotion. Some colleagues even develop a brochure specifically highlighting our speaking topics.
Well that’s a start, Friends, and of course, there are scores of additional ways we can control the extent to which our new associates hit the ground running. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting way out ahead of these and other initiatives. Again, it amazes me how often colleagues wait on these things until the associate is about to start or even already started, and I just don’t get it. It’s the same amount of work whether we do it sooner or later, so let’s do it sooner and get this thing hummin’!
Like all THRIVE content, the purpose of BOWEN’S BLOG and SUMMIT TALK Podlecture conversations is to keep us driving together toward IMPACT. If something here has struck a chord, shoot us an email or give us a call and let’s talk it out! Tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com | 402-794-4064.