practice mistake

This is my take on the situation. When it comes to competition from other pods or losing referals, etc it is a problem with marketing. Marketing yourself doesnt mean taking out the biggest ad in the paper or yellow pages. It means building referal systems. Surely older docs know what Im talking about. Most new grads are highly trained but have no practice management skills. An established doc should have had the advantage over new docs because he is already known in the area. I am inclined to believe that the competition was good for the area if so many people switched doctors and he is losing business. Losing business means that customers (our patients) arent happy with something. So you will get no sympathy from me on this issue. You are absolutely right when you say you can lose your shirt in podiatry. Podiatry is a business that requires more than just medical knowledge.

I am from a town of about 90,000 people with at least 15 podiatrists. Now I admit that is about double the ratio of pods to patients as stated in your message but I still saw how every one of them marketed themselves. All were a little different but in the end I saw what strategies worked and what didnt (big ads). The different strategies in my opinion helped determine the number of patients they saw and also how many patients they retained. They ate lunches at the hosptals with other doctors. They refered patients to different doctors. Its all about being a complete physician and knowing what you can do and what should be saved for other specialists. There is a fine line to be walked with seeing as many patients as quickly as you can every day and making sure they all feel appreciated and happy with your services. That is the art of practice management which must be mastered to be successfull. It also helps to be highly trained.

Just more opinions from me.

A.A.D.