During our 3 decades of consulting healthcare practices, we have encountered and helped practices that have gotten stuck in a comfort zone … “we’ve always done it this way.” Sometimes it is like being in a time warp as the rest of the world has made excellent advancements in technology and ways to improve service to their patients while their practice feels stalled and stuck in a groove.
Then there are the practices we have worked with that are always on the cutting edge in terms of technology and service. These folks came to us looking for easier and more efficient ways of conducting their practices and going to the next level.
How to initiate change …
Sometimes, the best way to start to make change in a practice and move it in a better direction is to start with something small, such as:
- Change one painting or artwork in your reception area (Ikea and Home Sense etc. have very nice and inexpensive artwork that can freshen things up a bit).
- Change the artwork or posters in each treatment room.
- Change the magazines in the reception area to some very upscale ones.
- Get a few of those adult stress reducing colouring books and coloured pencils for the patients to doodle in at reception. Very popular.
Okay, moving up in scale …
- Declutter the reception desk completely. Really. So many reception desks we have seen have files and papers and overflowing basket systems and tired or dead flowers or plants, and so on. This desk is part of your first impression on anyone who walks in your front door. Paint it, fix it or replace it if needed.
- Have a staff meeting to work out some promotional ideas that could be immediately and inexpensively implemented and pick one and get it done.
- Work out a bonus system for the staff so there is some excitement about asking for referrals and filling the practice up and making it busy. (We have a lot of excellent bonus systems that DO work.)
- Get a Keurig or Nespresso coffee machine etc. in reception for your patients enjoyment. And a little fridge with bottles of water for those who prefer that.
Even bigger …
- Get a current website made or an update on your existing one. There are a lot of old fashioned, go-nowhere websites online that do nothing to enhance the practice or make it enticing. Start a blog, up date or create a Facebook page, post stuff up on these. Get some excitement going. Send all your patients a link to these things. Encourage them to post their comments or contribute to them.
- What signage do you have and how old is it? Does it attract sufficient attention? What about your front window (if you have one) … is it blank or too cluttered, etc. Fix it and use it.
There you go … some ideas to start on. We have millions more. Just ask us!
If you are already doing everything listed above, then you are awesome and we invite you to meet with us for some state of the art management tools to go to the NEXT LEVEL.
Have fun getting outside your comfort zone!
We can help you and your practice grow!
Call NOW for a free practice assessment to see how:
416-466-6217 or click here
Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to The Art of Management Inc. and a clickable link back to this page.
