practice

Entrepreneurs: Mindfulness Matters

Leave a Comment / Culture, Featured, Fun Stuff, Operations, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , ,

I’m a serial entrepreneur. I learned the hard way, that my lifestyle isn’t always unicorns and glitter dust (as Jenn would say).  Being an entrepreneur takes grit, patience, hard work and looking risk in the eye and saying, “Just watch me”.

To love what I do, I’ve created a mindset around that.  I understand that every single day there will be challenges – and that’s all they are, challenges.  Will I fail at times?  Absolutely – but those are opportunities to learn and grow.  I’m not going to lie, I don’t walk around gloriously happy 24/7, life gets to me like any honest human. The difference is I don’t get stuck there.  It doesn’t bring me joy to dwell on what I don’t have, or what I wish I could have.  I look at the possibilities and I’m mindful of looking forward.

Practicing mindfulness is something I learned that most successful business people practice – in fact it’s what most truly HAPPY people practice.

It took me years to get here.  I used to compare myself to others, long for this perfect company with perfect cash flow and perfect employees – thinking everyone BUT me had them.  I call bullshit on that one.  Perfection is not only a myth, it’s an evil gremlin that messes with many a mind!

With the help of hours of reading, and working with coaches here’s how I came to be in my mindful utopia I call my life:

  1. My Three Words. Each year I choose 3 words that will define my year. I live by them – mindfully.  I choose them mindfully and I work at it.  This year they are: Teach. Gratitude. Peace.
  2. I journal – I used journal ALL the time. In fact – I have journals from just about every day I was at UConn. (scary I know – but a hoot to read!).  Each morning I manifest the day I want.  So, it’s positive thought – what do I want?  I also write down something around my Three Words. See#2
  3. I have serious ME TIME each and every morning. 5-7am is all about me. I ease into my day.  This was a game changer.  I drink my coffee AND… either read the paper, paint, exercise – or even go back to bed.  Whatever makes me happy – it doesn’t matter what I do, except to “Just be”.  That time is sacred, and on rare occasion do I mess with it.
  4. I surround myself only with people with my same core values and mindset. Why be around people who stress me out?  That’s the PEACE in my three words.
  5. I am a constant learner – I read, have mentors, surround myself with brilliant people. The only way to grow is to learn.

Folks, when I tell you I struggled with never really being happy for years – even though I had everything I needed – it’s the truth. I was never able to “just be” and enjoy the moment. Mindfulness changed all of it.

If you are a business owner struggling to have that work/life balance – trust me, just try my formula or make your own.

  1. Take time for you
  2. Be Grateful for what you have
  3. Focus on what you want versus what you don’t want
  4. Be Mindful of your actions and who you surround yourself with
  5. Money is not the most important thing – EVER. It will come and go – your friends and family are what you should treasure.

Namaste

CD

Entrepreneurs: Mindfulness Matters Read More »

Social Media and Health Care: Improving the patient experience – digitally!

Leave a Comment / Healthcare, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Sales, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Let’s face it, we live in a digital social world. Brands of all types have made their mark on Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram – but where are the health care providers?

  1. Oh, there are a few out there, but many are adverse to jumping on the social media wagon and here’s why avoidance is a mistake.
    Your patients are there and they WANT to engage. Using platforms such as Twitter or Facebook to brand your practice is a given, but are you posting content that is ABOUT them vs. about you? 80% of your content should have nothing to do with the services you offer. How much can you really write about Breast Exams or Colonoscopies or wait times in the ER? Ask questions! Ask for Feedback! Talk about preventative care, families and lifestyle. Patients also want to see the team from the doctors to the intake folks and everyone in between. Who are they? Why would I as a patient want to engage with them? Trust them with my care – my life? It’s all part of the customer experience.
  2. Improve Patient Communication. We all know that social media is not the place to talk about personal health care issues, but it is the PERFECT place to address broad questions. The key is to have a Social Media Manager and/or Patient Advocate managing social feeds. If indeed a personal health question arises, the Manager can direct the patient to a secure portal or have a health care provider call him/her to discuss concerns. As with any business, there will be Frequently Asked Questions that appear and best practice is to create an FAQ page on your website to direct patients or prospective patients to.
  3. More Satisfied Patients. It really all goes back to communication and transparency. Patients want to feel they are involved in their health care decisions AND they want providers who are willing to help them along the way. There is also the connectivity factor – connecting patients with other patients who share the same illnesses – almost like support groups but online. It’s perfectly OK to have a private MONITORED Facebook page for a variety of topics/groups such as Cancer Survivors, Sports Injuries, Heart Attack Survivors or those currently going through some life changing issue or chronic condition. When the Health Care Provider CARES and is involved, patient satisfaction will naturally rise. You are developing a community that your patients can be a part of.
  4. Education – Teach and Learn. It’s a given that social media is a great venue to educate your patients, and video is by far the #1 channel to do it. Not only is video engaging but it shows the true personalities of the presenters – doctors, PAs, NPs and other providers. Offering educational videos on everything from pre-op to post-op procedures to stretching exercises and healthy menu planning – the sky is the limit! Every physician is an “expert” and has a point of view. Social media allows physicians to easily share that expertise with the world and further engage current patients as well as attract new ones.

In the end, it’s all about putting you and your practice/group/hospital out there and allowing your patients to learn, teach, and engage.

Your patients are begging for this – where are you on the social spectrum?

Social Media and Health Care: Improving the patient experience – digitally! Read More »

Secrets to building your health care practice…

Leave a Comment / Healthcare, Marketing, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to organically build your healthcare practice. People are naturally cautious about who they share their medical needs with, and getting recommendations from friends and family helps to build trust.

The problem is, word of mouth has diminishing returns. You can build up a stellar reputation as a health provider, have overwhelmingly positive people who advocate for you, and bring in new patients, but at some point that’s going to tail off. When that happens, you need some other ways to reach out and let others know how awesome you are. Fortunately, we have just the thing…

Here are some tried and tested ways of marketing your healthcare business to bring new patients through the door.

Provide exceptional healthcare advice in a public setting. Some of the medical advice you provide is crucial. It helps potential patients gauge if you’d be the right doctor or healthcare provider for them. Use this to your advantage by providing great advice in a public setting. Attend health fairs and other events, speak at gatherings, and share your knowledge.

This doesn’t just need to be limited to strict medical information — If you have a nutritionist, physical therapist, or other healthcare expert on staff, they can provide advice in related fields and expose you to a whole new audience.

Give 150% when it comes to the customer experience. With so many options today, patients are being quite critical of their patient experience. How can you stand out? Have a comforting and comfortable waiting area with refreshments – it makes a difference! Doctors running late? Ensure you have a way to contact your patients and offer them a reschedule. Busy day of appointments? Make sure your staff doesn’t rush patients through the process but spends time ensuring their questions are answered and their needs are taken care of. Every little touch point matters. Not sure how you are doing – survey your patients and find out! PS – when you have a stellar customer experience it will differentiate you from others – market it as a perk!

Partner with other local businesses. One of the most powerful forms of local marketing is partnering with similar businesses. If you have a local gym, provide a class on exercising safely. If there’s a sports team, get involved with them by giving talks on recovering from sports-related injuries. If your town has large student population, give advice on good nutrition and diet. Involve yourself with retirement communities on medical care in later life.[/cs_text]

Build up a better medical referral network. Healthcare providers thrive on referrals. Network with other medical businesses in your local area and demonstrate your authority and expertise. As your reputation grows, use this to build mutually beneficial relationships with other specialists.

Offer free or low cost physicals, preventative tests, and vaccinations. Prevention is better than cure. Get healthy patients to your practice by providing physicals, preventative tests, flu shots, and other vaccinations for free, or at a significantly discounted rate.

Enhance your online, local SEO marketing. Local search, especially on mobile devices, is one of the main ways people discover your medical practice. Create a great website with useful, practical content. Make sure all of your local search profiles and listings are consolidated and accurate.

Stay on top of your customer reviews. Reviews should be another key part of your marketing strategy. Encourage your patients to review and rate your services, as higher reviewed businesses are better placed in search results.

Use the power of social media Monitor the social media around your brand and business. Interact with people through social media and share genuinely useful information and content. Answer questions to demonstrate your expertise and build trust in your advice and approach.

It’s time to look beyond word of mouth marketing, and here at RBC we’re ideally placed to help you do just that. We understand what healthcare providers need, and we provide awesome marketing and strategy services to help your business thrive.

Secrets to building your health care practice… Read More »