The single easiest and cheapest form of advertising available is the Lunch and Learn with primary care physicians, podiatrists, and specialty physicians. It also appears to be the most despised form of advertising by the physicians with whom I work. Below are a few ideas for overcoming some of the objections you or your physician may have regarding the Lunch and Learn marketing idea.
The physician (possibly you) does NOT want to look or feel like a drug rep. Walking in with a bag or two of food can feel unseemly. My recommendation for overcoming this obstacle is to always bring your practice manager or one of your MA’s… for several reasons. Let them, the manager or MA, leave early and purchase/bring the food.
The physician does not want to feel like a drug rep. I agree. The physician should be in a teaching mode. Many primary care physicians have patients with heavy, tired, painful legs and believe there is no recourse save for painful leg stripping. The phlebology physician is now an educator. No different than teaching interns. That is something with which most every physician is comfortable. View it as an educational opportunity!
This leads me to the second reason for bringing your office manager or MA… non-physician dialogue. While the doctors are discussing treatment modalities in a peer-to-peer setting, the office manager or MA should be determining who actually fills out the referral slips, makes the referral telephone calls, and working to educate/market to this person in that office. While educating the PCP in phlebology is great, if the referral coordinator does not know to send the patients to you, the time spent was not used wisely.
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