A Tale of Two Practices, Part III:
All in the family
By Evan Leepson, MBA
The following article is the third in a series that examines quality improvement issues at two fictional, and distinctly different, radiology practices. Each article in the series will examine a different clinical or socio-economic issue, and will show how each practice solved the problem. Hopefully, their examples will provide lessons that real-world radiology practices can use to improve the way they deliver medical imaging services.
“It was the best of times…it was the worst of times.”
Charles Dickens, 1859
When we last left Proactive Imaging Associates (PIA) and Reactive X-Ray Partners (Re-X), these two distinctly different radiology groups were pursuing the development of marketing plans to boost business.
Re-X, it appeared, was moving much faster than plodding PIA. They had already hired a marketing professional in the form of the wife of a senior partner. PIA, however, was still evaluating and researching their strategy.
After a horrendous first day of work at Re-X, Ann, the new marketing representative and the spouse of a senior partner, found herself confronted by the MBA-wielding wife of one of the other partners. The other spouse was curious (to put it mildly) about how Ann got her job, how much she was paid, and for whom she would be working.
On the other side of town, PIA was finished with the preliminary steps of finding the right person for the position. They had a job description, a pro-forma marketing budget, and some job candidates lined up to be interviewed by the business manager. The process was moving along, to the satisfaction of the practice’s executive committee.
Meanwhile, back at Re-X, Ann was not meeting with tremendous success. Her suggestions to do a direct-mail campaign and develop a patient survey were stuck in “executive review.” One senior radiologist was heard to tell a technologist, “There’s no way I’m letting Smith’s wife spend our money like that! Who does she think she is?”
Noting the disarray in their marketing strategy, one of the other radiologists at Re-X had a great idea. Why not hire Alvin, his down-at-the-heels brother whose advertising agencies kept failing, to come to Ann’s rescue? Alvin would help Ann put together some radio ads for the practice.
Ann thought that this was something of an intrusion on her turf, and tacitly resented his presence. She complained to her husband that night at dinner. “I thought you were the senior partner in this practice. Who’s running this place, anyway? No wonder your business is falling off!
Ann thought the best idea would be to write a marketing brochure for the practice, since the practice had no written information about the physicians or their capabilities.
Meanwhile, over at PIA, the next step in their search for a marketing representative was to start the interviewing process. Their business manager went through the pile of resumes received and selected five candidates to interview. These candidates all had experience marketing medical services and working with physician practices.
Back at Re-X, a resentful Ann began working with the recently hired Alvin on a radio spot to promote their hospital’s outpatient mammography screening program. What they didn’t do was conduct a cost/benefit analysis of producing this type of ad.
They also “forgot” to notify the hospital about the radio spot. Alvin’s cushy consulting job didn’t last long past the angry phone call from the hospital’s executive director at 6:00 am one Saturday morning when the radio ad aired. Ann was nervous.
Next time: Marketing is not going to the supermarket
Evan Leepson, MBA, is a nationally known author, speaker, and strategic planning and marketing consultant. He can be reached at [email protected]. Check out his Web site at www.leepson.com.
April 10, 2000
(Click on the headlines below to view previous articles in the "Tale of Two Practices" series.)
A Tale of Two Practices, Part II: When family ties are binding
A Tale of Two Practices, Part I: An ongoing saga
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