It’s safe to say that our potential patients are on social media. There are estimated to be 5.24 billion people on social media worldwide.(1)

We were shocked by gaps we were blind to, training and process deficiencies, and opportunities that weren't even on our radar when it came to how someone felt when viewing us online and inquiring for more information. It's not that we weren't doing our job, we were just too busy with the day-to-day, hat-juggling act we did to put out fires and keep our busy practice running. (We’re sure you also know this delightful dance all too well!)

Fill in the gaps for an end-to-end consumer journey

How doing things their own way helped two practice owners succeed

There’s one question that almost everyone uses at the end of their patient consultation. We see this all the time when working with doctors on soft skills, specifically in the premium patient counseling process. When we changed this question in our practice, it was incredible what happened: patients started telling our counseling doctors what held them back.

Training and expertise in technical skills are non-negotiable in our premium practices. It's of the utmost importance that patients are safe, that patients are informed, and that we care about their well-being. The problem is that patients can 'be' safe, informed, and cared for, yet not 'feel' it. Technical skills ensure the 'being,' while soft skills create the 'feeling.'

Most practices today realize that they “should be” using social media. What they commonly misunderstand is the real reason that this powerful tool is essential. Therefore they miss out on the actual benefits. Today’s health-care practice typically ends up spending a lot of time, effort and advertising dollars on marketing with mediocre or subpar results at best. They ask themselves, “Is this worth it?” and don’t see a significant return on their investment. Sound familiar? We

Human emotions will either be the driving force behind growth and success - or the roadblock to achieving our goals. Prioritizing the feelings of our team and our patients was the catalyst behind everything that really, actually, worked well.

Building a brand for yourself, as an expert in your field, can be extremely valuable and open tremendous doors of opportunity. Early in your career, this can enable you to build a following and reputation no matter where you are: starting a fellowship or joining a practice. Especially if you plan to start your own practice someday, investing in your personal brand now will reap future rewards.

If your practice is not working with influencers, you’re missing out on huge revenue potential. Influencer marketing has been dubbed the “fastest-growing online customer-acquisition method” for a good reason. Because it works, we see big brands like Nike, Amazon, and even luxury designers working with regular influencers now (not just celebrities).

Let’s talk about customer (patient) acquisition cost: the amount of money your practice spends to get a new patient. If you’re like most of the practices we work with, your number one goal is patient acquisition: you need more patients!

Reputation management is much more than static reviews left by patients on sites like Google, Health Grades, and Vitals. In a world where people can be skeptical of advertising, marketing, or professionally curated websites, healthcare consumers turn to the source they trust most in researching a procedure or evaluating a practice’s reputation online: other consumers.

We recently evaluated 25 social media profiles of some of the most impressive ophthalmology practices in the country. Surprisingly, we found that they were almost all missing one critical element that is cutting off their potential for massive refractive revenue growth: patient-generated content.

What if we told you that your online reviews (and social media profiles - but that’s for another day) are more important than your website? Hear us out: obviously, a compelling website is vital to your success. But what if your prospective patient is turned off before they make it there?