Guerrilla Marketing, a PT Perspective

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Alex Scioli

The term guerrilla marketing was first coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 national best seller of the same name. The concept is so popular, Levinson has built his whole career around it, writing exclusively on this subject for the past 30 years. For good reason; Guerrilla Marketing is considered to be the best known marketing brand in history, was named one of the 100 best business books ever written, selling over 21 million copies. Levinson’s ideas have influenced marketing so much that his books have been translated in 62 languages and are required reading in MBA programs worldwide (I can attest to this).

Needless to say, in 2012, it has become a critical part of the advertising lexicon. While the method has clearly never gone out of fashion, with the explosion of social media, the spotlight has been on it again. With that in mind, I recently revisited my dusty copy looking for inspiration. What did I find? It turns out PTs might be some of the best candidates to become guerrilla marketers I can think of.

Guerrilla Meets The Tortoise and the Hare

Let’s start with guerrilla marketing lesson number one, “Marketing is every bit of contact your company has with anyone in the outside world. Every bit of contact.” This means your company name, website, branding, clinic location, voicemail message, staff, length of sessions, follow-up, growth plans, and so on. If you’re not a clinic owner, you’re not quite off the hook. Don’t forget you are a brand in and of yourself. Your personal brand is much like a company and what the world sees whether it be online networking or looking for a new job.

On top of keeping all these elements in mind, Levision further stresses that “marketing is a process, not an event.” In the tradition of the childhood fable, slow and steady wins the race. A true guerrilla marketer, he says, knows that marketing has a beginning and a middle, but never an end.

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Debate: Measuring Patient Satisfaction

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Alex Scioli

A staff member’s recent search for a local dentist got us thinking about patient satisfaction and, more importantly, how to define it. Unfamiliar with the area he took to the web in lieu of a word of mouth recommendation, relying on five stars from consumer rating sites, like 42% of consumers.

Patient satisfaction is a hot topic right now. Stage 2 of meaningful use requirements for Medicaid and Medicare incentives is beginning to tie patient satisfaction scores with hospital reimbursement and practitioners everywhere are vying to get patients in the door as wallets continue to get pinched.

Clearly, attracting and maintaining a strong client base is an essential part of owning and working in a clinic. However, this seems to be easier said than done

Sources of Data

Are sites like Yelp a reliable source for gauging patient satisfaction? Yes, it is important to monitor these sites for insights and reputation management, (in fact, based on its current growth rate, it’s predicted that in only 4 years everyone in the US will be using Yelp), but they are often critiqued for being extremely polar as only consumers that are ecstatic or irate normally make the effort to write reviews. This divide creates skewed data which may not be useful for internal measurement.

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How Do PTs Fit Into Healthcare Reform?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Alex Scioli

We recently sat down with one of our PT Advisors, Steve Thompson, and asked him some tough questions about the PT profession. Here he shares his take on PTs place in Healthcare reform and the power of community.

PT will play a major role in lowering the cost of healthcare

As insurers and politicians are looking for ways to reduce healthcare costs, PTs can fill this role in the new healthcare reform. One way that costs can be reduced is by allowing the consumer to access PTs directly. Currently, in California, if a consumer has an injury, then he/she can access their physician without needing a referral in most cases. Strangely, the consumer can also go see an acupuncturist, massage therapist, personal trainer, chiropractor, or cross-fit gym all without a referral from a physician. However, if a consumer has a musculoskeletal injury, they cannot access a physical therapist, sometimes the best resource to help with many musculoskeletal conditions. Currently, there is a bill in the California legislature that will open Direct Access to physical therapists without the need for a referral but it still needs to clear a few more hurdles to become a law. If Direct Access is achieved, this could allow for PTs becoming a great addition to the healthcare system and reducing healthcare costs. Continue reading →

See How Employers See You

Sources of Data

PT will play a major role in lowering the cost of healthcare