7 things to consider when starting your new health practice

Posted On May 25, 2022 |

7 things to consider when starting your new health practice

Starting your health care clinic can be an incredibly rewarding but terrifying experience.  

When I look back at starting my clinic in 2004, it was the culmination of 13 years of school, eight years of university, and travelling to the UK to undertake four years of working under highly experienced mentors.  I was ready to make my mark on healthcare, and starting my clinic had always been my dream.

Having autonomy and creating something from the ground up inspired me to take the plunge when I returned to Melbourne.  And if you are reading this, you too have probably thought about taking the plunge and starting your own health care business.  

Starting your clinic inspires moments of being in complete control - doing things your way, on your terms.  This was the most inspiring aspect of being my boss and going out on my own. 

Of course, I am very grateful for my mentors' contribution, which provided an excellent grounding in my chosen field, Osteopathy.  But then you reach a point where you feel that you have accumulated as much knowledge as possible and know you have something more to offer. 

You start to visualise and plan what your ideal clinic will look and feel like, the type of patients you will see, and hopefully, the financial rewards that starting your clinic will provide.  You decide to take the plunge and open your clinic with much enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm and drive only get you so far, though.  There are some commercial realities that you must understand when going out on your own.

So many healthcare practitioners have wonderful gifts that can help so many people.  Still, without understanding and implementing certain aspects of business into your new clinic, your greatest gift is often undervalued and doesn't reach those who need it.

I always say good business and good healthcare go hand in hand, and when you can marry the two together, you deliver a more fantastic experience for your patients and receive a greater reward for your efforts.

Here are the seven things to consider when starting your health care clinic, whether it is a solo practitioner or whether you are planning to lease a commercial space

1.  LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

             

The real estate adage, Location, Location, Location, rings true for health care practitioners just as much as buying your home.  Setting up in the wrong location will be costly, either by paying high rents or a lack of exposure to potential clients.  Whilst there is no perfect location for starting a clinic, there are some important practical and commercial things to consider, such as

i. distance to your home,

ii.  Number and type of competitors in the area,

iii.  Council regulations and permits

iv.  Access to referral sources such as GPs and other professionals

v.  Quality of the working environment for both you and your patients ( modern, bright, welcoming, secure rooms)

vi.  Collaboration opportunities for integrated patient care

vii.  Does the building/room reflect the image and type of care that you provide?

    Choosing a location that gives you plenty of exposure to the general public and referrals whilst at a competitive rate gives you the best chance to maximise your earning potential.  Too many health care practitioners either overcapitalise on expensive rentals or choose "cheap" options that severely limit their ability to attract and retain new clients.  It took at least six months to several years to find the perfect location for each clinic I have.  


    2.  WHAT IS YOUR USP

                  a. Your USP is your unique selling proposition, which is business jargon for what makes you unique and how this uniqueness appeals to a subgroup of patients.  This can be a challenge for health care professionals, as they often identify themselves and their offering to their university degree as the same as everyone else.  This makes it harder to attract the right patient for you as you are now competing with every other osteopath or psychologist in the area.  People will choose you based on convenience and price instead of your unique skill set.  It's the fastest way to devalue what you do and the slowest way to build your clientele. 

                   b. secondly, often clinicians believe that as soon as they narrow their offering to a subsection, they will lose patients.  But the reality is that when your messaging tries to talk to everyone, it resonates with no one.  This is not true 100%, but you will find more success by understanding what you provide that is different to others and promoting those aspects - this is your USP.  It might be that you have post-graduate training in XYZ, or you have a particular way of treating ABC condition, or you do home visits after hours or have special technology/equipment that helps get better results, or you have extensive training in women's health and pilates, and your clinic is set up in such a way that it is very family-friendly with the play area for kids

                  c. Putting some thought into this allows you to get more of the clients you love treating and resonate more strongly with.  We all have those patients with which we don't gel as much as others.  You get to choose how you market your services to attract your ideal client, which takes us to point 3

      3.  WHO IS YOUR IDEAL CLIENT

                  

                  a. Spending some time thinking about who are those people that you love to treat, that you have the most success with.  Is it children, teens or adults, is it athletes and high performers, or acute/emergency care.  Again you get to choose and shape what your day and week look like, but the happiest practitioners with the best career longevity are those that are clear on points 2 and 3.

        Your ideal client doesn't necessarily exclude people who do not fit into that category.  It's about creating opportunities for more of what you love instead of a random allocation of patients.  This is something that I recommend to all of my practitioners in my clinics, and they all see a mix of general clients and ones that would fit the category of the ideal client.  By employing the strategy over the past ten years, I've seen practitioners have a much longer work life, higher levels of work satisfaction, and minimal levels of burnout.  I often see practitioners running their businesses, or other clinics suffer from burnout within 3 to 5 years due to not being in control of when they work and who they see.  This can take some time to figure out for some people, and sometimes they may have several ideal client types.  There is no right or wrong, or one size fits all, but imagine creating your perfect day in the perfect clinic with the perfect client.  We can achieve this with some thought, clarity and action.

        4.  HOW TO ATTRACT YOUR IDEAL CLIENT IN SUCH A WAY THAT IS IN ALIGNMENT WITH YOUR VALUES

                      

                        a. Marketing is necessary for every business, whether you are just starting or have been in business for decades.  Marketing certainly has, and rightfully so, received get a bad rap, especially when you think about the deceitful messages from corporations just trying to get you to buy more of their product - food, pharmaceuticals, weight loss, "health foods", etc.  However, this is old-school marketing, and it is generally not aligned with the way we go about business today, especially in healthcare.

                        b. You should only ever do anything wholly aligned with your values.  And in general, healthcare practitioners' values are about helping people and helping as many people as possible to get a particular result.

                        c. Marketing is simply a way to get your message in front of these people, and if you have a unique gift that can help people in their health, I feel you have an obligation to share that gift with as many people as possible.  By not sharing your message, people may choose a less effective option, waste their money and time or suffer from their health condition longer than they should.

                        d. Marketing and patient education could be considered synonymous.  When you can create messaging to the public that helps people make an informed choice about what will help them with their particular problem and that message aligns with your values, this is effective and value-driven health marketing.  Simply educating your ideal client / the public is well received by potential patients, and they will see you as the "go-to" therapist for that problem.

                        e. However, all marketing that we do must be consciously and carefully created and ensure it's in alignment with our values.

        5.  HOW TO ENSURE YOUR CLIENT STICKS AROUND AND GETS THE RESULT THAT YOU ARE AFTER


                        a. I speak to dozens of healthcare practitioners every week.  One of the biggest challenges and frustrations that they face is that some patients, many patients, do not follow all of the advice recommended to the patient.  They know that if patients listened and followed the advice given, they would get a much better outcome.  Often, patients are great at the start but can fall out of care after a period of time - sometimes after the initial consultation and sometimes after a few weeks.  This can lead to patient and practitioner frustration and is a common reason I help mentor practitioners.

          When I train my team in the clinic, it's one of the first things that I work on.  There are simple ways to ensure practitioners communicate effectively with patients and help them reach their goals.  A solid collaborative patient-practitioner relationship is required, but it doesn't simply arise without understanding patient goals and motivations.

          6.  RELYING ON WORD OF MOUTH IS THE FASTEST WAY TO BURNOUT


                         a. Many practitioners believe that they will do a great job of building their patient list.  Today, relying on word-of-mouth alone is not enough.  Most practitioners think that if they deliver outstanding results to each client, everything else will take care of itself.  And whilst delivering great patient results and being personable is vital, it is the slowest way to build your list.  Even when it comes to word of mouth referrals, most practitioners do not have a process to increase the number of WOM referrals.  Simple strategies here can double or triple your WOM referrals with minimal effort.

                         b. Successful health care practitioners have a range of tactics they use to bring new patients into the clinic.  Again there are many options, and choosing what works for you and your niche is essential.  It might be establishing Gp referral sources, inter-clinic referrals, website/google/social media marketing, networking events, or partnerships.  This was not part of their training for many healthcare practitioners and is often put in the too-hate basket, which ultimately slows down building their patient list and costs them financially.  At the health collective, we can help devise and implement a plan that works for you to fill your schedule quickly and reach your goals, whether it's to fill a day or two or your entire week.

          7.  ARE YOU SURROUNDED BY LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY.


                         a. All too often, being a health care practitioner is a lonely experience, especially if you are a solo practitioner.  Being stuck in your clinic room with clients all day is not what you envisioned.  We are social creatures, and we need to be surrounded by people who understand us and can support us on our journey to help others with their health. 

          They say that you are the product of the 5 people that you surround yourself with, so if you want to have a successful health care business, there is no better place than a health co-working space full of successful practitioners.  

          That's why we created The Health Collective, a place where you thrive.  From a commercial success standpoint, but also one where you can connect with like-minded health professionals. 

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