Business Tip - Random Tips & Pearls for your Business

Marketing: Getting the word out. Not all practices and businesses have flyers and brochures. I recently met with an NP who uses Vista Prints for business cards, post cards and brochures. Her office even had a double sided sign in the window that she received for free from Vista Prints. Taking Call: I take my own call. In the past, I would just forward the office number to my cell phone. The problem was that my phone would ring day and night. It was not uncommon for patients to call at 3 or 4 am to leave a message to request or cancel an appointment for that day. Obviously it became too much. Now patients have my cell phone and can call when needed. My phone no longer rings un-necessarily and I am now able to get uninterrupted sleep. It seems the more access my patients have to me, the less need they have to call. (Fair warning though, there are exceptions, but fortunately it's just a few). Automate: Lab Information. One of the things I've done for years is to have a lab results form that I use with my patients. It has the usual ones that I teach them about (such as lipid panel and glucose), normals and a brief description of what it is/does. On the flip side it gives patients action steps to take to make corrections. This saves me and them a lot of time, and it gives them something to take home and remember what we talked about.