Women's health: Not just flowers in the lobby
Women's health: Not just flowers in the lobby
How about great service, quality care?
Sumana Reddy, MD, believes that women who go to practices specializing in women's health are sometimes done a disservice. In short, too many practices focus on how to decorate the waiting room and not enough on offering the type of services to set your practice apart from the pack.
They believe they are going to a practice that has thought about their needs, she says, when in reality, many just put a bouquet of flowers in the waiting room and think it's now focused on women. "The recent wave of women's health centers has stereotyped what women want to pink upholstery and flowers in the waiting room," Reddy says. "That's what men think women want. I think it is more complex than that."
So Reddy is taking a huge leap and starting up a new practice, Acacia Family Medical Group, in Salinas, CA. From start to finish, she has taken just 60 days to open up shop. The doors opened May 18.
Before making the decision to start a new practice, Reddy thought long and hard. Monterey County is seen as "over-doctored," but most of the surplus medical community is located in the wealthier sections of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove. The inland part of the community is rural, less affluent, with a large Spanish speaking community. What's more, there are very few women physicians who cater to women's health.
While that might seem like a good omen, as a family practitioner Reddy knew she would have to have the support of the obstetrical community - only one of whom is female - in Salinas.
Marta Spain, MD, FACOG, also noticed a need in her community of Danville, CA. She will start up a three-physician practice designed to attract women over 40. Spain's experience includes two years practicing in a 20-physician multispecialty group, and a period as vice chairman of the OB/GYN department at Marin County General Hospital in Marin, CA. Both experiences gave her insight into practice management, practice styles, and marketing that appeal to patients.
Know thy market
In studying the area from which her practice will draw patients, Spain looked at how many women live in the area and how many are over 35. She also looked at the practices already in the community and what their strengths were. What she found was that there was little emphasis on preventive care and alternative therapies.
"Our approach to peri-menopausal and menopausal women is to look more at the less traditional forms of medicine, like phytoestrogens, acupuncture, and in the future, maybe massage therapy," says Spain.
Spain didn't stop her queries with the patients, but also contacted the established OB/GYN community. "I talked to three practices that were fairly representative and asked how they would feel about a practice like ours coming into the community," she says. "We aren't doing obstetrics, so we aren't adding to the competition. And we looked closely at what services we wanted to provide and made sure they would fill a need that wasn't already being met."
Initially, the practice was going to be broader, but the owners decided to narrow its focus to fit the community, she says. Thus the practice won't be delivering babies but will provide acupuncture.
Although both Reddy and Spain see women as the main market, neither wants to limit the practice to half the population. Reddy and her physician and PA partners will practice family medicine, and Spain will have an internist on staff who is also certified to do acupuncture.
Once you know there is a market, Reddy says you have to make sure that patients will choose you. She looked at ways to make women - and men who choose the practice - feel more comfortable. For instance, there will eventually be telephones in the waiting area, and that day's newspaper. In the exam rooms, the stirrups aren't plain metal, and there are pictures on the ceiling.
The practice will also have extended hours so that those with jobs outside the home can visit the practice without interrupting their work day.
Children's needs are also seen to through a well-stocked play area. In the future, Reddy says the practice may provide staff to look after children while the parent is seeing Reddy or one of the other two practitioners.
Creating a marketing plan
Spain hasn't spent a dime on marketing yet. "In women's health, a lot of marketing is done by word of mouth," she says. "It is less physician referral and more friend referral."
It must be working, because although the practice isn't due to open until July, Spain and her partners are already booking patients. "The word is getting out," she says. "Other practitioners are suggesting us to patients."
The key, she says, is to be willing to talk to anyone about the new practice and its goals. "You have to be flexible about getting known in the community. One partner was on a radio talk show. Someone from another area wants me to talk to a woman's group about hormone replacement therapy and its alternatives."
But Spain knows there will be some marketing expense in the future - practice announcements will be mailed out in June, and an ad will be placed in the paper.
Reddy's community is one that still does not market aggressively. There are few practices which have actively marketed in the Salinas area, and Reddy says that there are mixed feelings about it. Most marketing in her community is done by word of mouth.
"I know that this is a risky venture, but I have 40 pregnant women many of whom will follow me," she says. "But because there will be little guaranteed cash flow, I will have to maintain a sustained marketing presence and I will have to be innovative in order to attract new patients," she says.
Education through classes, newsletter
Included in her marketing plan are new location announcements in the English and Spanish language press that include her photo because she will be a woman provider in an area where there are few.
Reddy will also step up her involvement in community education efforts. She already speaks to new parent groups and conducts adult education classes on parenting. She will also pull out materials she previously prepared for classes on menopause and pre-conception counseling and look for venues to hold those classes.
The Salinas market doesn't have a health-oriented newsletter, so Reddy will create one that includes basic health information. "I have to fill the information gap because my marketing will work best if I provide a value. I have to prove to the community that I am a knowledgeable, available, and practical physician who communicates well. Physician choice is based on availability and comfort in communicating with that doctor."
Although she has not yet started negotiating with payers, Reddy isn't concerned about that. About 25% of her patient base will be from managed care contracts, but she has previous relationships with some 40 third party payers. "I don't anticipate a problem in getting contracts with them."
Spain, too, has done little to get third party payers on board. "The three partners have limited relationships with these groups - just a couple of PPOs with out-of-network options and a couple of HMOs," she says. "But we don't see this as a problem. They will say yes or no, and it is not a months long process. It's something that can wait until we are closer to the opening date."
· Marta Spain, MD, FACOG, Danville, CA. Fax: (925) 274-1122.
· Sumana Reddy, MD, Acacia Family Medical Group, Salinas, CA. Telephone: (408) 444-0123.
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