Education is key to referrals for therapy
Education is key to referrals for therapy
Marketing targets include physicians, the public
Educating obstetricians and gynecologists about the benefits of physical therapy has become a mission for Cynthia Neville, PT, director of women’s health for Progressive Steps Rehab’s northeast Florida division, based in Jacksonville, FL.
Her interest in pursuing women’s health issues began when she was treating orthopedic patients and noticed that a large number of women sought physical therapy for low back pain that was related to weak muscles following abdominal surgery.
"It bothered me that women weren’t routinely referred for physical therapy after abdominal surgery," Neville explains. "After all, a patient who has knee surgery gets therapy for those muscles."
Her observation led her to seek further education on women’s health in physical therapy and to start educating physicians about how therapy can help women with everything from back pain during pregnancy to incontinence and painful intercourse.
Start with OB/GYN visits
Neville began by visiting obstetricians and gynecologists. During the visits, she extolled the benefits of physical therapy. (For some suggestions for getting in to see physicians, see box, below.)
"When I started calling on OB/GYNs about our women’s programs, I found that most of them had no clue at all about how physical therapy can help women," Neville says. "Now, the doctors who refer patients are thrilled that they can offer these nonsurgical treatments for patients."
She continues to call on physicians in addition to writing them letters and sending them materials outlining the programs Progressive Steps Rehab offers. She’s expanded her marketing efforts to include family practitioners and internal medicine specialists. She also has spoken at several physician conferences and has developed courses that give continuing medical education credits.
Because Florida allows self-referral for physical therapy, Neville markets directly to the consumers by participating in health fairs, speaking to community groups, appearing on local-access cable television channels, and advertising in the newspaper.
5 tips for marketing your program to physicians
It’s not always easy to get an appointment to make an marketing call on a busy physician, says Cynthia Neville, PT, director of women’s health for Progressive Steps Rehab’s northeast Florida division, based in Jacksonville, FL.
Here are some techniques that Neville has used to get a chance to convince physicians of the benefits of her program, which uses physical therapy to treat everything from back pain during pregnancy to incontinence:
1. Try stopping by the office (making cold calls) just in case the physician has a free moment.
2. Call the physician on the phone and give a brief synopsis of the program, then call back and try to make a face-to-face appointment.
3. Be flexible. Set the appointment at whatever time is convenient for the physician.
4. Offer to bring lunch or breakfast to the physician in order to get your foot in the door.
5. Offer to treat one of the physician’s staff members on a pro bono basis. It can help convince the physician of the benefits of your program.
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