Want to Increase Patient Loyalty? - Try a Health Tip of the Week

BE PROACTIVE NOT REACTIVE

In school doctors are taught to be reactive. If someone has a problem they come to you and you react by fixing that problem. It’s a system that works well for helping patients but does it help increase patient loyalty?

In our current environment of instant gratification where there are 24/7 corner emergency center, quick med centers in pharmacies and internet doctors, patient loyalty is becoming more of a common challenge for today’s physicians. The first step in overcoming this challenge is through being proactive.

The days of just sending a patient their annual Birthday Card, Christmas card and asking them how their family is doing in the first minute of every visit are slowly dying. Today Dr. ‘s need to be a resource and one simple yet effective way to start doing this is with a Weekly “Health Tip” email campaign.

Not sure how to begin, read our guide, A Doctor’s Slam Dunk Guide to Email Newsletters

Once a week you should email your patients a Health Tip that should fall into the following criteria.

1. Length-Stay under 150 words – Have you heard of the phrase short and sweet. We are in the age of people sitting in front of their TV’s while checking their email’s on their ipad and updating their face book accounts on their cell phone. No matter how important you believe your health tip is, it should be explained and presented in less than 150 words or you will start to lose their attention.

2. Format-Is/Does/ and How to prevent it – for example

Dr. Smith’s Health Tip of the week

Dear John, The new school year is right around the corner and along with the excitement of a new school year also brings along the increase risk of students passing the XYZ germ to each other. The XYZ germ is a mutation of ABC strand, which originated from the North East (is) . This flu can cause a headache, running nose and sore throat (does) which means time off of work for you taking care of the little one. The best way to prepare for the XYZ germ is keeping handy wipes and whipping down all gym equipment.(How to prevent)

3. Topic-Educate don’t scare– Your health tip should educate your patients not scare, I repeat your health tip should educate people not scare. People are inundated by the news and internet today about diseases and negative images. You want to separate yourself from the news. Your goal is to present your patients with a piece of information that is compelling and easy for them to prevent to make their lives easier and healthier.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR WEEKLY HEALTH TIP

Why you want to use email over Facebook, blogs etc…
- In 2012 even your late adapters have an email account. People are generally familiar with using email over other online mediums
- Email is personal while Facebook , snail mail or a blog is a general blast to social media
- Most importantly email is very easy for your patients to forward your very impactful health tip along with your offices contact information to their friends which may get you other patients
But what if I do not have my patients emails
- Ask permission to send your patients a weekly email campaign, this can be done from your website or collected with a release form. (The first option is the easiest – see our guide above)
- Start making email a priority when gathering information for patient check in.
- Send out a letter and a text (both) requesting email address for patients whose email you do not have

P.S. don’t forget to use P.S.– for some reason our minds are geared to read any bit of information with complete laser focus when it comes after the words P.S. So use this to your marketing advantage.

For example P.S. Save the date on April 21^st we will have a patient appreciation day at our office please come by and meet the staff, we will have refreshments.

CAN YOUR PRACTICE STAND OUT IN THE CROWD

Remember that there are 1,000’s of doctors out there in your area. How do you stand out in the crowd? Hopefully this tip will be one more arrow in the quiver for your practice.