How to Effectively Market and Manage a Private Medical Practice

Acknowledgements

My sincere gratitude to Mr. White, John and Michael for editing the book.

Thanks Jen for formatting it and Joseph for managing the entire project.

How to Effectively Market and Manage a Private Medical Practice

Romeo Richards

www.theprofitexperts.co.uk

Why You Should Read This Book

Let me tell you a story.

In his E-Myth series, author Michael Gerber wrote that every business is a family business. At the time I read it, I did not understand what he meant until I had a business failure which resulted in the breakup of my own family.

However, please don’t shed tears for me; you need to understand that despite my own painful circumstances, business success can be gratifying. There is no better feeling than realising your ambition and making a difference in the lives of others. I have a long list of former employees who otherwise would have been condemned to cleaning for the rest of their lives, because of me, they were able to pay their university tuition fees and now many of them are government officials in their native countries.

For decades the world has struggled to find a malaria vaccine for the developing world. With the financial and personal support of the Gates foundation, we are one step closer to eradicating this preventable illness. HIV was ravaging large areas of Africa at one point threatening to decimate the entire population of Southern Africa. Bill Gates made one of those life affirming decisions, he left Microsoft and got personally involved with his foundation. As a result of his personal involvement, the high rates of HIV infection in Africa are at last showing signs of slowing down and becoming manageable.

Why have I chosen to illuminate my own personal story and the achievements of Bill Gates?

When any business fails there are consequences, both positive and negative. Like me you could lose your love ones, your house, your car and everything you have worked hard for. Believe me those debt collectors don’t joke when they show up at your door, even your cat is not immune.

However, when you succeed, there are no words in the dictionary that can describe the feelings of elation and joy that owning a successful business can bring. It’s not just about the money. The money is great because you can now take those vacations you have been dreaming of. For me the sense of making a difference in the lives of others supersedes all other personal attainments. In this same sense I think we can all agree that preventing entire communities from being wiped from the face of the earth is more gratifying to Mr Gates than his 50 billion dollars.

Every business has a 100% chance of succeeding or a 100% chance of failing. Whichever way the scale tips depends upon four plus one key fundamentals:

Visionary leadership

A level people

Robust system

Effective marketing system

I started my business in 2004, by 2006 I was making £500,000 per annum which at the time was a million USD. By 2008 the worm had turned and I was £200,000 in debt. How and why did this happen to me? How did this refugee from Africa who arrived with just his ambition had it all and then lose it virtually overnight.

Like most people who start out in business I believed that business is common sense. On my own personal road to Damascus I was to learn that business is more than just a good idea and anything but common sense.

As I took stock and sought answers to I fell from grace, it slowly dawned on me that if we don’t prepare for success then we are preparing ourselves for failure. What do I mean by this?

As I write this preface, Facebook is about to be floated for approximately $95 billion. Facebook is just eight years old, what is it that makes Facebook so successful as a business? Bear in mind that before Facebook there were other social media sites.

Google has become synonymous with search engines and internet optimisation. But before Google, there were other search engines. So what did Google get right that other search engine providers got wrong?

Apple is today the most valuable company in the world, even more valuable than the US government. In the first quarter of 2012 Apple made a profit of US$11.6 billion, that’s more profit than some Plcs. annual turnover.

So what do Facebook, Apple, Google and the rest of the other successful companies around the world have to do with you?

Everything!

The founders of Facebook, Google or Apple were just like you. Like you and I, they made the decision to establish a business. But they succeeded beyond even their own wildest imaginations. Why did they achieve the level of success that they did?

Even though Gates and Steve Jobs are academically bright they understood this simple yet profound fact, business is not common sense. To succeed in business like any other profession requires certain skill sets.

The gap between one thousand pounds and a million pound is just a single idea or getting a single decision right.

Contained within this book is a formula that would help you make the right decisions for your business. Every successful business or entrepreneur has used this identical formula to succeed.

It was announced in May 2012 that the UK was officially in recession. All over the news there were images of shop closures, members of the public, business leaders and government officials commenting on how difficult this year was going to be. The world economy was failing, France and Greece were adding fire to the Eurozone crisis, the press were tainted with allegations of phone hacking, what a year.

Meanwhile in the first quarter of 2012, Apple made sales of US$39.2 billion. The tabloids did not write about this because bad news is easier to sell.

So before you begin to say that the founders of Facebook, Google, Apple or the other successful businesses where lucky, let’s put to bed a commonly held belief in business or life in general; there is no such thing as luck, it’s an abstract concept that infers outside forces are responsible for success or failure. When you are prepared physically and mentally to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, that’s when you make your own luck.

I’ve previously mentioned that there are four elements to running a successful business. The fifth and some would say the most contentious element is a good business model.

Your business model is the most critical element in the success or failure of your business. I made the point earlier that before Facebook, there were other social media sites. Before Google, there were other search engines. So what did Facebook and Google get right that the others got so wrong? Quite simply they developed a better business model.

There are lots of business books out there written by super successful entrepreneurs, so why is my book any different? What can it teach you that hasn’t been said by those ultra-successful entrepreneurs?

There are four main types of business books:

Celebrity endorsement

Highly researched and informative

Me too

Effective strategies

Celebrity endorsement:

Celebrity endorsed business books are those written by celebrity entrepreneurs such as Donald Trump, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Robert Kiyosaki etc.

These books can be subdivided into:

Written by the celebrity before they became successful. No one knew the author at the time, therefore, the books included great contents.

Now successful in their area of expertise these books contain all the usual I did it so you can do it mumbo-jumbo, completely removed from reality.

Penned by a clever author who understands the power of a name. In most instances the celebrity never takes the time to read the manuscript.

Highly researched and informative:

Written mainly by academics or business journalists; based upon solid research. They are usually well written in academic or journalistic style and language. The only problem with these books is their level of complexity for the average reader. Even when you reread them and eventually understand the principles, implementing the information into your business can be difficult.

Me too:

Me too business books are written by wannabe experts, who write books just to be able to say they have published a book. In most cases these books contain no real substances and do not reveal any new insights into their so called expertise.

Effective strategies:

Templates with a purpose of providing information and showing readers how to implement those changes into their businesses. Like the highly researched information books, they provide effective content. Unlike the highly researched research books, Effective strategy books help their readers implement their theories and ideas.

What differentiates this book from other business books is that it belongs to the forth category. It actually teaches you how to do what is written in the book.

At the end of this book you will learn the four plus one fundamentals that are responsible for a successful business. You will also have a step by step guide of how to implement those changes into your business.

Every Monday and Thursday I pick my son up from school. I once told my assistant that going to pick up him up was like going on a date with a beautiful woman. He reignites my fire to succeed every time I see him. Unfortunately I don’t live with my son and I have to return him to his mother at the end of our time together. The agony and pain I feel as I drive away is unimaginable.

If your business fails, it can have unintended consequences on the ones you love. Don’t you owe it to them to gain the requisite knowledge to at least give it your best shot?

This book will provide you the information you need to succeed in your business. It is your instruction manual to effectively market and manage your practice.

Introduction

This is a self-help instruction manual on how to make ‘7 Figures’ per annum as an entrepreneurial doctor. Since I developed this concept the question that I am asked time and time again is why are you so certain that I can make a 7 Figure within a year?

I explain that with my formula their chances of success will increase by at least 100%. It is based on the same formula that has been used by all successful businesses since the beginning of trade and commerce in the modern world.

We all know the formula (H20) equals water, Newton’s laws of motion have been established for almost three centuries and they remain true to this day. No one has yet to disprove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, his theories are as relevant today as they were years ago when Einstein first theorised them.

This book is about the laws of business success. It’s the same law that allowed Facebook to float for $95 billion after only eight years of existence. It’s the same law that made Google synonymous with search engines even though there were several high profile search engines on the net. Microsoft’s Bill Gates used these principles to build a business from scratch and become the richest man on the planet. It’s the same principle that will turn your private medical practice into a success story.

Chapter one:

The first chapter of this book deals with the business fundamentals, the ‘four plus one’ business fundamentals that are critical for success. As an entrepreneurial doctor your first action must be to create a clear vision of what your practice will eventually look like when it is finally matured.

To help you achieve this vision you need

The right people: the right ‘A’ level people can accelerate the speed and level of your business success. Without them your job is made harder.

Robust systems: without a robust operational systems firmly embedded throughout your practice, the daily operations will be chaotic resulting in patient dissatisfaction.

Effective marketing strategy: no business can succeed without attracting new customers and patients are your customers. To attract the various categories of patients your practice needs, will require an effective marketing strategy.

We’ll show you how to create your vision, recruit the right people and how to create a robust administrative and marketing system for your practice.

Chapter two:

Further expands on the marketing strategy by providing a step by step guide on how to effectively market your private medical practice.

Chapter three:

How do you create a new market for your practice? With the internet breaking the monopolisation of the factors of distribution, providing consumers with infinite choices, private medical practices are seeing their patient numbers dwindle. However, 90% of the patients currently using the services of private medical practices are unhappy with their current medical providers. This opens an opportunity for you to attract their attention. But how can you go about this in an ethical way? This chapter shows you how to do that.

Chapter four:

Outlines the most effective strategies for recruiting and retaining ‘A talents’ within your practice. Bill Gates once said Take away our best 20 people and Microsoft would become an unimportant company. Bear in mind Microsoft has close to half a million employees and yet Mr Gates believes that taking away just 20 ‘A’ level people would make the company irrelevant wow. This is the power of having the right people within your organisation. This chapter shows you how to recruit and retain ‘A talents’ in your practice.

Chapter Five:

Dives into the most important aspect of the life of an entrepreneurial doctor. Entrepreneurial doctors like most entrepreneurs put in the hours. While this is necessary to ensure your success, it also reduces your productivity. It is not the amount of hours you put in that matters but how ‘smart’ you have worked. Remember it is productivity that counts not activities. Chapter five shows you how to increase your productivity tenfold without increasing your activities and number of working hours.

Chapter six:

How do you know that your office assistant is not spending half his working day on Facebook? How do you know when your patients are dissatisfied with your services? How do you know if your marketing resources are being allocated effectively? Chapter six contain the systems and tools necessary for measuring your own performance, the performance of each and every member of your team.

Chapter seven:

What’s holding you back from expansion? What’s the simplest way of achieving your vision? My simplified version of the Theory of Constraint (TOC) can be used to diagnose your current level of success and plot the most appropriate course for achieving your goals. This is what chapter seven is all about.

Chapter eight:

Technology can only provide benefit if it removes a constraint. Do you know which types of medical technologies can remove your current constraints? Do you know how to acquire them? Chapter eight outlines the current medical technologies and how to acquire them.

Chapter nine:

This final chapter deals with change. Change is the only thing that is constant. With the internet and the level of change taking place in every industry, you cannot continue doing things the old ways and expect to succeed. Change will come whether you like it or not. Are you prepared to be a master or victim of change? Illustrating the transformation strategies employed by the U.S. Army to transform itself from a Cold War army to one fit for the 21st century, I outlined various steps that you can take to prepare your private medical practice for the changing world.

The profession of medicine is a calling. Doctors have arguably the highest calling amongst all professions – you save lives. However, in order to continue your mission of saving lives, you need resources. This book will show you how to generate the necessary resources to continue saving lives.

Chapter One: How to Make 7 Figures Annually as an Entrepreneur Doctor

Privately run medical practices in the USA are in decline. At one time 75% of medical practices in the country were privately owned. However, the number of private medical practices in business has shrank by 50%. This fall-off was highlighted in a March 2010 New York Times report headlined ‘More Doctors Giving up Private Practices’. As well as confirming the decline in the numbers of privately owned medical practices in the USA, it revealed that some former owners were now seeking employment within public hospitals and other health centres.

Another report In May 2011, this time by ‘Public Radio’ in Minnesota, highlighted the failure of independent medical practices and stated that many of these privately run practices were finding it hard to remain independent. This view was shared by the Minnesota Chapter of The American College of Cardiology, when it confirmed that only 5% of cardiologists in the state were privately owned; 35% had some form of affiliation with a major medical system and approximately 60% were fully integrated medical employees.

Meanwhile in the summer of 2010, a survey of 100,000 doctors conducted by the Physicians Organisation, concluded that the majority of them believe the existing private practice model will be replaced because it is no longer fit for purpose. Furthermore, the survey revealed that a considerable number of private medical practice owners are considering cutting back, retiring early or entering into part-time practice. Many doctors are selling their practices to larger entities such as hospitals or medical systems. Very few doctors fresh from medical school want to work for private practices. A significant majority of junior doctor’s complete medical school with huge debts after being trained in well-resourced organizations, shy away from buying into or creating small medical practices of their own. It seems we could be witnessing the death of an entire industry.

Some other surveys conducted by the Medical Group Management Association revealed an increase in hospital acquisitions of private practices. One study showed that in the three years to 2008, practices owned by hospitals increased by almost 50%.

The Medical Group Management Association report suggested that private medical practices are shutting down for the following reasons:

Reductions in government funding

An increase in the number of patients unable to afford their medical bills

Economic uncertainty

Reduced hours

Lack of resources

The inability to devote more time to patient care

The high IT costs associated with computerised patient files

Increase in malpractice lawsuits

Ever increasing administrative costs including billing collection, claims processing and insurance payment negotiation

But, are private medical practices really shutting down for the above reasons? The answer to this question might be yes and then again it could be no.

The reality is: the problems faced by private medical practices have little to