A Secret Ingredient to Reproducing Successful Clinic Openings
Tomorrow we will open our seventh Medical Practice, and this go around I have been less hands-on than ever before, allowing my marketing team to take the reigns of opening this clinic. When we open our eighth location later this fall, I will be even less hands-on because each time we open a new clinic, we fine-tune and update our Policy and Procedures manual for how-to open a clinic. From checklists and timelines, to inventory lists and supply houses, every step of our opening procedures is spelled out. As the new chief brand officer, this was the first clinic opening since I started in 2006 that I was not the one doing the bulk of the work. At one point in my life, the control-freak in me would not have been okay with that. But because of the marketing section in our Policy and Procedures manual, I knew things were on track, without me actually having to do them. I simply pulled out my checklist and coordinated with our new marketing director to ensure everything had been done on schedule. She, in-turn, utilized our checklists to make sure the community educator was working on-the-ground to cover everything. Last week, in final preparation for all of the fun that surrounds opening week, I spent about an hour updating our manual as I reflected upon lessons learned opening this new clinic. I added things to the timeline that had not previously been on there. We redefined the roles and responsibilities of marketing a new clinic to reflect the new structure of our marketing team as our company has grown. I updated the supply house list with new contacts that have changed since we opened our last clinic two months ago. And after we finish opening week, our marketing director and community educator will sit down together and do the same thing for their portions of the manual. They will reflect on what could be done better next time, and they will adjust the Policy & Procedures manual accordingly. While we are only one department with our Medical Practice company, all of the departments at our Medical Practices do a similar process to keep our Policy & Procedure manual up-to-date. Each time there is a change in something we do, someone is assigned in each department to go in and update the manual. I work hand-in-hand with the marketing director each quarter to review and revise the manual. It is a living, breathing document. We realize the importance of keeping it up-to-date in order to ensure it is useful going forward. What about you? Do you have a Policy & Procedure Manual for your Medical Practice? How often do you update it? Who is responsible for updating it? Do you actually utilize it as a training tool, or does it just sit on a shelf? For our Medical Practices, it has become an invaluable resource as we continue to grow and expand into new markets.
Article By: Tina Bell Tina Bell is the Director of Marketing for HealthCARE Express®, where her responsibilities include spearheading the company’s social media and internet strategies, leading the in-house physician recruitment team, and developing aggressive programs to promote patient satisfaction and effective service recovery. Tina speaks nationally at industry conferences including the Medical Practice Association of America and the National Association of Occupational Health Professionals. She is the director of business development for Medical Practice Success and an independent Medical Practice marketing consultant.
