Private practice is a fascinating field of work. A private practice can take all the talent you put into it and enrich you in return. How will you begin to set your practice in the right direction? Start with a broad view to survey the wide scene ahead of you.
The three are all major and related activities. In some respects they differ. Used singly or together they convey a picture of his practice to the health care consuming public.
Through publicity the chiropractor achieves mention in newspaper space or on air time that is unpaid for and cannot be bought, and receives other rewards in the form of verbal recommendation and recognition from the community in return for accomplishment. Publicity is one aspect of a good public relations program.
In advertising the chiropractor uses the medium of paid space or time to convey a message selected by him to achieve a particular goal. He may advertise in newspapers or magazines, on radio or television, billboards or through direct mail, or in any variety of ways.
In practice promotion he employs techniques of many kinds to attract patients and he determines the cost, the method, the effectiveness, and the volume of practice. Practice promotion work for the chiropractor may include newsletters, direct mail of many kinds, pamphlets, flyers, and more.
All three major areas of communication are important. The following series of articles cover them in fuller detail.
You will find in these articles a detailed discussion of basic communication methods you can use in reaching others, an article on professional aspects of your work, an article on business aspects, and an article on your many contacts in the media world, and in the community. Thus, this series of articles can serve as a guide to the beginner and a refresher to those who have been in practice for years and want to experiment for new emphasis and response among a changing patient clientele.
The image a chiropractic practice conveys is totally up to the chiropractor. Impressions are formed in multiple ways. The appearance of a practice, its location, its interior framework, its layout, the style and prominence of the adjusting suites, the personality of the chiropractor, the manner of his associates and staff, the tradition of the practice, the history it has accumulated, the goodwill it has engendered, all can be evident to the patient on the first visit and can be restated through the practice's communication. The fact that approximately 60,000 independent chiropractic practices have been supremely successful in conveying their message of service to the public has been evident over the years. Not only has total patient volume been rising appreciably each decade, the broad public support has been increasingly forthcoming. The chiropractors of America are not only holding ground but gaining in professional and economical stature. Because of the progress that has been made, this series of articles will rely heavily on successful formulae used by chiropractors. It will also suggest new approaches to anticipate new demands.
It will be evident as the doctor goes on that beneath the broad general planning he will do, there is a need for a record-keeping system that is left to the doctor's judgment. His equipment, personnel, and space will be factors that affect the filing and updating he can reasonably hope to do. As a general rule, records should be kept on promotions -- loose leaf binders can hold up-to-date details, and summaries of success can be kept in permanent folders. A similar binder and folder system can be set up for ads. Publicity stories can be mounted in separate record books. Card files are often handy for keeping track of media data. Mailing lists can be kept in folders or stored in your computer. A concentrated section of the record department can be set up in the most simplified way for keeping track of communications success.
With broad planning and the nuts and bolts of record keeping established, the doctor of chiropractic is free to pursue his professional horizons to any degree he chooses.