It Is Time to Get Serious
We don't assume to know your Practice's nuances or the intricacies of your market. We don't have intimate insights into your health systems or major payers. What we do know are the corresponding trade-offs doctors and their administrative teams have made when growing their orthopaedic practices. We have been on the front lines of practices selling to hospitals and then the process of working themselves back out. We have seen the challenges and missteps taken in divisional mergers. And we are now working directly with private equity firms and practices competing against them.
Orthopaedic care has always been competitive, but it is at a new level. Whether driven by private equity or local hospitals, more resources are being brought to bear, forcing you and your partners to make new decisions and take new approaches to effectively and efficiently grow your Practice—and likely in different ways than what you and your competitors have done in the past.
If you are looking to grow by merger, there is no shortage of books to describe the challenges and complexities. There are thousands of articles and publications on the topic, and even business schools have courses on the subject. It is so common that it has its own acronym: M&A. You don't have to read very far to encounter one of the most common pitfalls of any merger environment—unrealistic expectations. Tom Peters, one of the most famous U.S. business management consultants, refers to mergers by saying, "Why anybody thinks they will produce a gazelle by mating two dinosaurs is beyond me." We wouldn't refer to most orthopaedic practices as dinosaurs, but then again, I wouldn't refer to most practices as clear-cut gazelles either.
In our opinion, the best way to be a gazelle is to start acting like a gazelle and start making gazelle-like decisions (access, service, innovation, measurement, documentation of quality, improved communications, etc.). And from a marketing perspective, focus more on true attribution—what really drives new patients. Not what you think does, what sales people tell you, and definitely not what the latest online platform claims. But true, actual patient growth.
In the recent discussions we have had with private equity firms, it is clear that most are engaged in marketing to portray value to their new providers, not to referral sources or new patients. For those of you competing with these types of practices, get prepared. You will see lots of marketing activity, but hold on to your dollars. There is a better way to drive volume other than what looks good. The research and data are clear on what is valuable and what is simply spending money.
Many of your competitors, including hospitals and private equity firms, have smart people. Still, few acknowledge the nuances and challenges of finding individual patients with knee arthritis, let alone matching them efficiently with one of your providers' schedules, locations, and subspecialties. You don't have open slots; you have particular time slots, for specific types of patients, at specific locations. This isn't even considering payer mix. Of course urgent care helps, but that can't be the only answer.
In short, marketing should be subservient to strategy. It should be a vehicle that supports and assists the practice in achieving more of the right objectives. Spending only equates to results on the right things, to the right people, at the right time. Outside of that, it is simply spending.
And remember, the best time to have a solid marketing plan is a year before you decide you really need one.
About Venel
Venel provides business-minded orthopaedic practices with unmatched business development and marketing expertise. Venel provides each exclusive market client with an annual documented return on investment, orthopaedic-specific innovations, and a clear, competitive advantage. Venel is also the only full-service marketing firm to be an American Association of Orthopaedic Executives Peer Reviewed partner. Since 1989, Venel has been solely dedicated to the marketing, promotion, and communication of orthopaedic practices and their surgeons.
To learn more about Venel's research-based marketing approach, watch this video on our website.
LEARN MORE
To contact Venel, please complete the form below.