Athene Medical Solutions
Making new links
Nov 27, 2006
This article originally published in the November edition of Independent Practioner magazine.
You can download a PDF version of the article here.
SO WHERE are you gaining private patients from? Are you, or the chambers you are a part of, aware of the postcode and locations of all your patients’ GPs?
If you don’t know this, you will not know what discrete referral clusters of GPs exist or whether there are geographical areas that are referring to your rival consultants and centres.
A study at one leading private hospital showed that the bookings team were, in 90 per cent of cases, bypassing the field within the patient administration system that allowed for capture of the patient’s GP’s postcode.
Had the hospital been able to show where patients referred to specific consultants or specialities were from, it would have been able to identify its key GP referrers and target its marketing newsletters much more cost-effectively.
This would have saved an estimated £20,000 in one year and ensured its return on marketing event expenditure was better focused, so that events were attended only by GPs who had referred at least one patient to them before.
Corporate clients
Have you considered how non-discretionary healthcare trusts, which insure corporate clients, can be approached effectively so that your services can be marketed to those clients and introductions
effected?
These types of trust are being used increasingly to insure corporate patients and offer a cash benefit scheme where a pot of money is divided among employees for annual healthcare.
The benefit of being able to meet the managers of these schemes is that, in my experience, they tend to refer to a limited number of consultants. Your relationship with them could be important in determining who they refer their patients to.
It is invaluable to have a business adviser who knows who operates these schemes and how. Key employees included in such schemes, such as Healix Healthcare, may be covered for high-cost treatments outside the scope of conventional medical insurance.
If you work in a very specialised area of medicine or surgery, then ex-patriate patients may be able to access your services via their insurance scheme (check out the schedules of benefits) and via medical assistance organisations.
Do you know how to gain recognition with these providers? If you can meet the hospital contract managers and help them understand your outcome and series data, then in some cases you will be able to ensure you are preferred for patient referrals.
You do not want to be in a position where a potential patient chooses your service just on the basis of cost.
Some patients are more likely to switch from one centre to another if they need multiple procedures over time, are cost-conscious and not so well informed by their insurer.
International patients
Of course, the self-paying international patient may seek out your medical expertise. So think about how well your website has been optimised for search engines.
If the website comes up in page one to three of a popular search engine, you are well on the way to generating patient referrals via the internet.
Buying sponsored slots based on position within key search engines used both in the UK and in specific countries can also be fruitful.
If your specialty is one where UK patients are likely to compare provision abroad, they may well be using the internet to source initial information.
If your site cannot be found, you may wish to consider purchasing ‘clicks’ within search engines as a way of buying up qualified leads.
Geographical regions of the world can be analysed by their gaps in provision and referral associations can be formed with your counterparts abroad.
I know of a cardiologist who has attracted referrals from West Indian countries where specific cardiac facilities are lacking and patients are prepared to fly to the UK for operations.
Useful referring agents in various countries can be former health ministry employees who have good interpersonal connections and knowledge of local private insurance providers.
You may need to consider paying a fixed referral fee per patient sourced or a percentage of the overall charges. But be careful to consider whether you can absorb this fee or whether you may need to uplift your patient charges to accommodate it.
SPECIAL INTEREST MARKETING
- To market your areas of special interest, I suggest a different CV containing:
Data on numbers of patients treated per year by condition.
Outcome data and complication rates.
Evidence of professional memberships.
Evidence of a multidisciplinary team being in place to encourage confidence in your practice by patients and prospective patients. - For patients of certain cultures where the interpersonal contact between doctor and patient determines the level of trust, a good-quality digital photograph scanned into your website and CV would help to build trust at an early stage.
- I know several leading consultants who have partnered medical equipment manufacturers to help them showcase new surgical and medical techniques to good effect. There is nothing like ‘free’ PR.
- One urologist had his special laparoscopic surgery techniques highlighted in a medical equipment company flyer.
Andrew Clarke is a medical business specialist and director of Athene Medical Solutions, Sutton, Surrey.
Contact details.
More NHS services set to go out for tender
May 17, 2008
A big expansion in the range and type of NHS services put out to tender looks likely, with private sector operators, the voluntary sector, foundation trusts and more entrepreneurial Gps set to benefit.
Managing for Health - How the NHS is making the most of Interim Management
Apr 01, 2008
Interim managers are filling an increasingly important structural role in the UK’s National Health Service. The profile of the jobs and of the people who do them is changing, and other complex organisations should take note
Commercial Opportunities for the NHS
Jan 11, 2008
NHS Trusts who are in the process of producing an Integrated Business Plan as part of their Foundation Trust application; or who have recently been awarded Foundation Trust status should consider more fully the range of commercial opportunities open to them as effectively representatives of “NHS plc”...
The Brits “Will Be Cured” In Turkey
Jul 01, 2007
The British nationals who complain about the high cost of healthcare and the lack of hygiene in their own hospitals seek treatment in abroad. On top of the list of the countries preferred by the British are France and Belgium...
Do Not Underestimate Health Tourism
Jun 12, 2007
Turkey mustn’t miss this opportunity. I am referring to "Health Tourism". This sector has developed so rapidly in the last few years that I find it difficult to find the words to describe it...
Soul Medicine
Apr 01, 2007
From Open University Alumni magazine, 'Open Eye'. Studying with the OU has opened doors for hundreds of Alumni to start their own businesses. Open Eye Magazine speaks to Andrew Clarke who was inspired to 'go it alone' in the world of business.
