BUSINESS ADVISOR
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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
ty employees.
Your surgeons network with peers at professional society meetings.
That's where they're able to gauge compatible personalities and know
who's on the cutting edge of surgical techniques. Affiliating with those
forward-thinking docs will give your center a marketing advantage in
the community.
You can network with interested surgeons by joining professional
organizations such as the American College of Healthcare Executives
and specialty interest groups. Clinical staff attending regional or
national conferences may hear an enthusiastic physician-speaker.
They can approach him for referrals to other surgeons in your area
who practice the same innovative techniques.
Sell your strengths
What service lines do you already have in place that result in high
physician satisfaction? Why are your docs so happy? New equipment,
efficient teams and patient outcomes are likely key factors.
If you recruit physicians to your center who don't require starting
from scratch, you can increase volume quickly and efficiently. For
example, if you just bought new GI endoscopes, consider using that
fact to entice new physicians to try them out. Do you have a stellar
orthopedic team that knows shoulder scopes inside and out? Target
physicians who may be unhappy with subpar performances during
those cases at other facilities. Are your plastic surgery patient satisfac-
tion scores off the charts? Market that to plastic surgeons whose pri-
mary referral sources are from other satisfied patients. Whatever your
strengths are, play those up when approaching new physicians so they
can clearly see the benefits of coming to your
center.
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