Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I worked in the medical field for over a decade. Hourly visits from Marketing reps were a daily routine. Trust me, I know this arena well. Especially, from the viewpoint of the doctors.

Although some doctors are "rep friendly", most find them a nuisance...a distraction from their patients and just another thing to get them further behind than they already are. Unfortunate, but true.

From what I have found, the BEST way to get the doctors full attention is FOOD!!! Bringing lunches for the staff and talking to the docs in the lunchroom and/or his/her office during lunch hours is the most effective way to get them to listen. Are lunches expensive? Yes. But not as expensive as hiring a crew of marketeers!

So how many visits does it take? The number is relative, but persistance is the key.

For example, one day, a physical therapist showed up around lunch time with food, brochures, business cards, and various other "freebies" (pens, coasters, etc). We all thought, "Who is this guy".

He continued to bring lunch every 2 weeks for about 1 1/2 months before the doctors starrted sending him patients. The next thing you know, he became our primary referral.

I have seen this exact same scenario with Home Health, Pharmaceutical, and Med Supply companies/facilities. Food and persistance paid off for ALL of them.

I hope this helps. By the way, don''t be too pushy or "cheesy" with the doctors. They see right through it and may get annoyed. Also, BE PREPARED!! If a doctor hears "I don''t know" or some sort of scrpted response, he may get turned off!

Good Luck!!

This is why these guys are the experts in here! Very sound advice ... listen to them :-)

Although you are correct that establishing a rapport with thestaff can get your foot in the door, in recent days, especially when it comes to Radiology, doctors are becoming more and more selective.

This is most rue in the specialty practices such as Orthopedics and Oncology. New machines offer different results and varying qualities (i.e. Open MRI''s vs. Closed Tubes). Most physicians are going to request sample films...and make decisions from there.

Another obtacle you may hit is the fact many physicians and surgeons have already pitched in and purchased their own machines and hired the own Radiologists. It''s a waste of time to attempt to convince them to refer away from their own machines except for as an alternative for insurance reasons.

Good Luck!

My first time here. I''m happy to find a question that hits my "sweet spot".

I''ve been in medical device marketing to the Orthopedics market on and off for over 20 years. One of the major areas we are working in right now is helping Orthopods get a good referral stream from Family Practice docs. It is also their biggest source of new patient revenue.

Let''s assume this (correct me if I''m wrong):

1) Your prospects do not have in-house Radiology capabilities. Thus, they are referring to someone.

2) You have a solid value prop that can be spun in a way that positions you uniquely. (better machines, closer location, higher quality films, quicker turnaround, etc.)

In my opinion the "# of visits" metric is worthless on it''s own. For a hot pharma product, the rep may not even need to visit at all. For our professional orthopedic reps, they are so entrenched in the practice that they go in the back door attend birthday parties for staff children.

What you need to so is get close to your top referrers and find our *why* they send patients to you instead of to someone else. Also ask them what you could do for them to make the referral process easier.

For us, when we asked those questions of FP''s, the top referrers based their referral on percieved patient benefit. They thought the patient would get the best possible treatment by referring to the Orthopod they selected.

How can you help your target market understand that their patients will benefit greatly by coming to your facility.

Another key element is to see what kind of questions patients have about radiology and radiology facilities and give the referring Doc the tools to answer those questions. If you create an informative booklet "Patients Guide to Orthopedic Radiology" or the like, you will be solving a problem for the Orthopod by helping him answer the patient''s questions in a complete way without having to personally answer every question.

Remember, the referral to you is an implied endorsement by the Doc. The better the patient feels about the experience at your clinic, the more referrals you will get.