Six spine surgeons discuss the most beneficial marketing tools for their practices.
Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses. Next week's question is: How do you approach conversations with payors about coverage denials?
Please send responses to Laura Miller at laura@beckershealthcare.com by Tuesday, March 13 at 5pm CST.
Ara Deukmedjian, MD, Founder, Deuk Spine Institute, Melbourne, Fla.: Seminars are our favorite "marketing tool" and offer a unique opportunity for our physicians to interact directly with the community. Knowledge is power and informed patients are motivated to take charge of their own care. We offer weekly seminars on a variety of medical topics of general interest to the community. The seminars are always free and we provide a boxed lunch. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions to the speaker and this will usually generate a good dialogue.
J. Brian Gill, MD, Spine Surgeon, Nebraska Spine Center, Omaha: We employ several marketing tools from a blog on our website at www.nebraskaspinecenter.com to CME conferences for healthcare providers and the general public. We have also had several news stories detailing patients' success stories following treatment.
Michael Gleiber, MD, Founder, Michael A. Gleiber, MD, PA, Jupiter, Fla.: Primary care physicians, neurologists, pain management physicians and therapists can be excellent referral sources. Patient referrals to friends or family are also very common in my practice. I have not found publication advertising or marketing very helpful. Word of mouth and good outcomes make for the best referrals. Community lectures are also very helpful to the hospital(s) one is affiliated with and we've had excellent turnout for these events.
Khawar Siddique, MD, Spine Surgeon, Beverly Hills Spine Surgery, Calif.: The old school method of word-of-mouth advertising from our former patients.
Paul Slosar, MD, President, SpineCare Medical Group, San Francisco Spine Institute: The satisfied patient is my best marketer. I also send letters/ emails/ texts to my referring doctors to make sure they are in the loop. I have a personal website that also generates several independent patient contacts each month.
Walter Eckman, MD, Founder, Aurora Spine Center, Tupelu, Miss.: The most valuable effort has been human interest stories in the newspaper which have shown our progression to less invasive surgery and publicly presented our outcome results. Aside from this by far and away, the greatest attraction to our clinic is by word of mouth from previous patients, both surgical and non-surgical.
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Please send responses to Laura Miller at laura@beckershealthcare.com by Tuesday, March 13 at 5pm CST.
Q: What marketing tool has been most useful for bringing new patients into your practice?
Ara Deukmedjian, MD, Founder, Deuk Spine Institute, Melbourne, Fla.: Seminars are our favorite "marketing tool" and offer a unique opportunity for our physicians to interact directly with the community. Knowledge is power and informed patients are motivated to take charge of their own care. We offer weekly seminars on a variety of medical topics of general interest to the community. The seminars are always free and we provide a boxed lunch. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions to the speaker and this will usually generate a good dialogue.
J. Brian Gill, MD, Spine Surgeon, Nebraska Spine Center, Omaha: We employ several marketing tools from a blog on our website at www.nebraskaspinecenter.com to CME conferences for healthcare providers and the general public. We have also had several news stories detailing patients' success stories following treatment.
Michael Gleiber, MD, Founder, Michael A. Gleiber, MD, PA, Jupiter, Fla.: Primary care physicians, neurologists, pain management physicians and therapists can be excellent referral sources. Patient referrals to friends or family are also very common in my practice. I have not found publication advertising or marketing very helpful. Word of mouth and good outcomes make for the best referrals. Community lectures are also very helpful to the hospital(s) one is affiliated with and we've had excellent turnout for these events.
Khawar Siddique, MD, Spine Surgeon, Beverly Hills Spine Surgery, Calif.: The old school method of word-of-mouth advertising from our former patients.
Paul Slosar, MD, President, SpineCare Medical Group, San Francisco Spine Institute: The satisfied patient is my best marketer. I also send letters/ emails/ texts to my referring doctors to make sure they are in the loop. I have a personal website that also generates several independent patient contacts each month.
Walter Eckman, MD, Founder, Aurora Spine Center, Tupelu, Miss.: The most valuable effort has been human interest stories in the newspaper which have shown our progression to less invasive surgery and publicly presented our outcome results. Aside from this by far and away, the greatest attraction to our clinic is by word of mouth from previous patients, both surgical and non-surgical.
More Articles on Spine Surgery:
15 Spine Surgeons Discuss Patient Satisfaction
Educational Programs May Reduce Unnecessary Costs in Spine Surgery
20 Statistics on Spine Pain Patient Office Visits