Free (or Close Enough) Support
by AJ Riviezzo
Phlebology is an interesting niche as it is becoming one of the few types of practice where there is a solo physician owner. This creates some unique opportunities and challenges as most of the physicians that start a phlebology practice have worked for a larger group, a group within the hospital system, or the hospital system itself. Being a good physician is only half the battle. The other half of the battle then begs the question: How do you gain the necessary information to be a successful business?
Trial and error is one very painful way of course. And, sad to say, it will indeed be part of your experience. Reviewing other practices that have been successful is another way to gain a bit of information (using someone else’s trial and error). This has limited results as your market, your patient base, your referral network and even your payers may be different.
I recommend a multi-faceted approach. The first facet is to use your vendors. You as the physician/owner will be spending a fair amount of money on equipment, supplies and services. Many of the vendors for these services have a plethora of information, marketing materials, and other support available. For example, CoolTouch has a hotline to answer any billing questions along with a lot of materials both on line and in print. VNUS has an extensive collection of marketing materials available on line along with some recommendations for marketing efforts. Juzo, who has an excellent line of compression stockings, has marketing materials that are great for Lunch and Learns. My own small company provides a variety of support efforts to our physicians as well. All of this is free for the asking. In short, talk with your vendors and see what they can bring to the table for you besides an invoice.
The second facet is to develop a Board of Directors. As a physician/owner you are not likely well versed in banking, marketing, public relations, and human resources this last one is one the most important because have been changing a lot check here the trends in HR a number of other areas that are important to developing and maintaining a strong business. One way to have these types of people support you is to have them on a Board. You likely have friends or friends of friends with some of the skill sets. A retired banker, a semi-retired CPA, a stay at home mom who used to be the Director of Marketing for a company would all make excellent Board members. They have the time to attend a quarterly meeting. They have the energy to think about your needs. You can usually have these folks be part of your team for not much more than a small meeting stipend and a catered meal. The key here is to actually use these folks as a sounding board and do your best to actually implement some of their ideas (if no real authority they will quickly fade away).
The third facet is to reach out to your local Chamber of Commerce. The CoC’s usually have programs and support geared specifically for small businesses. They have a network of relationships already built. They can recommend tried and true services available in your community. The cost to join the Chamber is usually very minimal but the offerings they have to help enhance your success is usually vast.
There are likely a number of other low cost to no cost options as well. The key is to find a bit of time out of your normal operations and focus on the practice as a business. While this can be neither easy nor comfortable it is important to do every so often.
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