Fall 2011 OFPSA Digital Magazine

fall 2011 • issue 2 OFPSA digital magazine How do I help ou r practice grow?!

We’ll j u st have to gu ess.

If only we had some help!

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Designed by IF Marketing ifmark.com • info@ifmark.com

Contents: 4 Letter from the AAFPRS President 8 Letter from the OFPSA President

18 YOUTH.corner FEATURED ARTICLES: 10 Converting Your Surgical Patients To Clinical Patients

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12 Is Your Patient Coordinator Effective?

20 What’s In A Name?

24 OFPSA Conference Agenda 26 Celebrate National Girlfriend’s Day 28 The 5 Deadly Sins Of A New Product Launch 32 Pay-Per-Call Marketing

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26 Update:

Suzanne Lombardo’s information has been updated to Five Phase Medical. She can be contacted at suzy@fivephasemedical.com.

THE

A NOTE AAFPRS FROM PRES IDENT

Internet Reputation For Facial Plastic Surgeons

by Dr. Jonathan Sykes, AAFPRS President “live by the sword, die by the sword” (Gospel of Matthew 26:52) The internet has been a vehicle to globalize facial plastic surgery. It has improved access to patient education and has allowed plastic surgeons to advertise their skills and market their practices. Patients relish the ability to research their doctor and his or her practice. They often cannot discriminate between fact and fiction, and information provided on the internet is not monitored for reliability or accuracy.

For these reasons, physicians are aware that reputations can easily be created on the internet in a much more rapid way 4 FALL 2011 / OFPSA

than before. Prior to the internet, a physician’s reputation was based on results and dedicated service to patients. Creation of such a reputation took time; now the reputation playing field has changed.

Reputation is defined as the opinion (more technically, a social evaluation) of a group toward a person, a group of people, or an organization on a certain criterion. Physicians work diligently to create a reputation that suggests skill, competence, and expertise. This can include writing and publishing literature in the field, teaching and lecturing to other physicians, and performing humani-

Unfortunately, reputations can be damaged just as easily as they can be improved. tarian service. By advertising their skills, using visuals that exemplify their work, and championing their efforts to help the public on social media, physicians have additional opportunities to enhance their brand recognition.

Unfortunately, reputations can be damaged just as easily as they can be improved.

In general, we are a group who wants to provide good care, and our worth is associated with the quality of our work and the happiness of our patients. In addition to the personal torment that is associated with each dissatisfied patient, the facial plastic surgeon is vulnerable in many other ways. With the increased dependence on the internet, there is a greater ability for one patient to damage a physician’s reputation. The internet is essentially a large megaphone, unfettered by screening.

Public acceptance of blogging sites provides an effective means of communicating. Physician rating sites are also used as a method to verify physician competence and allow the disgruntled patient to have an unfiltered voice that can be heard by a large and receptive audience.

Since importance is placed on the physician’s reputation, a new field of reputation management has been born in medicine.

The field of reputation management is a hybrid of the physician’s want to sell their services, and the patient’s perceived need to research wisely. Managing a

physician’s reputation involves both the initial creation of a brand and name recognition, and protection of this positive opinion. Many companies have entered this new field with a desire to find needy physician clients in the specialties of aesthetic surgery and medicine. Because the public craves this information, marketing of a plastic surgeon is simple. The accuracy of all statements made in websites and in online advertisements does not have to be validated, and many physicians use hyperbole to enhance their skills and experience, and to push their “expertise” on the public.

After surgery or other cosmetic procedures, a small subset of patients is dissatisfied with the procedure and their results. If the patient is reasonable and their problem visible (or palpable), then dealing with the dissatisfaction requires only careful listening, patience, and hand holding. However, if the patient wants to air their malcontent to a larger audience, the physician has little control. These patients often seek to discuss their victimization online via blogging sites, their own websites, or physician rating sites.

However, the playing field for transfer of information about a treated patient’s outcome is uneven. The patient may post their story without attention to detail or accuracy and without rebuttal from the treating physician. The one-sidedness of 5

the unhappy patient’s internet rendition of their care has many reasons. Firstly, the physician is bound by HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). The HIPPA laws are intended to protect individuals and their medical information. Unfortunately, these laws also prevent the physician from discussing the facts of the patient’s case with the reader. Secondly, the first amendment right is strong, allowing the patient to maintain a very loose leash on accuracy in their recount of their dissatisfaction. While the first amendment right is important, plastic surgeons are pushed under the bus regarding their ability to rebuke any patient account.

For the most part, patients do not work on, or care about, their reputation. This is not to make the sweeping statement that patients do not care what others think.

Rather, it is to underscore that they have no reputation as patients. Harming their reputation as patients carries no value for the physician.

So…what does the physician do?

Establish a solid reputation. Creation of this sense of expertise and experience takes time and requires attention to patient care, both pre- and postoperatively. Reputations are earned by achieving good surgical results and performing diligent patient care.

Choose patients carefully. Patient satisfaction is related to preoperative self-image and overall happiness and attitude. A patient’s perception of results is related to their expectation of a given procedure. If their expectations are excessive and their self-image is low, it is impossible to satisfy them, irrespective of a given surgical result.

Empathetic postoperative care. If a patient is dissatisfied about the outcome of a procedure, it is important to listen. It is our nature to immediately suggest a treatment to improve or correct the problem. This tendency inhibits 6 FALL 2011 / OFPSA

our ability to listen to the patient and transfer to them the feeling that they are being accepted and understood. The more we listen, the less angry the patient will become.

What should a surgeon do if they are heavily criticized on the internet? Presently, it is difficult (or impossible) to remove the offending testimony. The ability of a company to manage a physician’s reputation that has been harmed on the internet is small, irrespective of what the company promises. In fact, it is likely that the companies themselves are the source of some of the negative patient “buzz.” Of course, this allows these companies to create a greater need for their services. Reputation management is a moving target, and is controlled by two factors which work against the doctor. Firstly, the public craves information related to bad outcomes and complications; it is human nature to seek flaws and to criticize our fellow man. Secondly, the strength of the first amendment will likely preclude any legislative changes affecting the subjective manner in which patients recount their medical experiences.

The situation is not unlike the Wild West – the prize and the fame go not to who is objectively “correct” in any matter, but instead to who fires the first shot. We should not focus on what is outside of our control. What we can do, though, is make sure that we always have our best arsenal – our positive reputations backed by solid, provable facts – ready at hand in order to be well prepared for any quick draw.

DR. JONATHAN SYKES

President of the AAFPRS Professor/Director of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery UC Davis Health System Contact Dr. Sykes at 916.734.2347 or jonathan.sykes@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 7

A NOTE FROM THE OFPSA PRES IDENT

Farmers and Fishers – A story on Patient Retention

by Tracy L. Drumm, OFPSA President Recently, I asked the manager of a robust practice to share the secret behind their resilient success. With a confident smile she said, “It’s simple, we farm before we fish.”

As images of her team with overalls and pitchforks filled my head, she quickly elaborated. “Our concept is to ‘farm’ or nurture and grow our relationship with existing patients before ever “fishing” for new ones.”

Worded in a variety of ways, this concept is one we have all most likely heard but often forget. When looking for an influx in business, many are quick to search for new patients before reaching out to current ones.

This can be a costly mistake, not only regarding marketing expenses but also considering patients you might be losing.

Recognizing the need for a strong patient retention program, our Chicago-based practice started using “Smile Reminder” in August 2010. After hearing about this

company at a meeting, we called a few practices that were working with them and received positive feedback. With trusted colleague recommendations we decided to move forward and have been using their services for a year. The program Smile Reminder offers is able to work with your software system to remind patients about their appointments via text messages and email. Beyond eliminating the need for reminder calls to patients, the most enticing feature we found is what they call the “recare” program. Through text or email, this service offers strategically timed outreach to patients that aren’t proactively calling to schedule their next filler, neurotoxin or laser appointments. To date, 52 patients we had not heard from in a year came back for a treatment based on a re-care reminder. This feature alone has become a huge asset to our practice and a strong addition to our retention plan. In addition to bringing back

“devising a standard operating procedure for retention will increase profitability from repeat business and offer savings on your marketing expenses.”

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lost patients, we save tremendous resources by not having our reception team on the phone making time consuming reminder calls. In the past 12 months alone, we have had 19,894 appointments confirmed through Smile Reminder.

Yet another retention tool our practice is using through their software is the birthday program. Patients are automatically texted or emailed (based on their preference) a “Happy Birthday from Dr. Dayan” message on the morning of their birthday. We opted to include a “call to action” in these messages with a $50 practice gift certificate. Of the patients who have received them, 206 have redeemed the gift towards treatments at the practice.

TRACY L. DRUMM

President of OFPSA Office of Steven H. Dayan, MD, FACS Contact Tracy at 312.335.1700 or tracy@drdayan.com

Consider the marketing maxim that it is six to seven times more expensive to gain a new patient than it is to retain one.

There are an abundance of solutions to proactively and easily implement a retention plan. You can simply utilize functionality of your existing software, seek services through programs like Smile Reminder or simply designate an employee to be in charge of retention outreach. However you decide to execute these efforts, devising a standard operating procedure for retention will increase profitability from repeat business and offer savings on your marketing expenses.

In today’s high-paced world, offices continue to face changes due to technology, innovation and an unstable economy.

Proactively speaking with your existing database on a regular and planned basis will help ensure future practice health.

: NDER I REM

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Converting your Surgical patients To clinical patients

by Jaklyn Mashak

As a surgical physician assistant, I am the patient’s primary advocate throughout the surgical experience. I ensure the patient’s questions and concerns are addressed in a way that optimizes the surgical results and exceeds the patient’s highest expectations.

It is my responsibility to the practice to introduce surgical patients to services that are offered outside of the surgical realm.

In short, as the patient’s advocate, my second highest priority is to ensure every patient leaves happy; my highest priority is to ensure every patient returns happy.

Through my experience, I have learned it is best to introduce what the clinic has to offer shortly after the patient’s recovery period.

At this point, I have paved the foundation for a good provider/patient relationship, the patient has learned to trust my knowledge and understanding for his/her optimal outcome, and, therefore, the patient is willing to give my suggestions serious consideration. The promotional brochures and leaflets (before-and-after photos for lasers, fillers, and neurotoxins) throughout the office are valuable marketing tools and prove to be advantageous for planting in the patient’s mind the idea for future 10 FALL 2011 / OFPSA

clinical services; however, quite often the patient responds more favorably to a personal invitation, gentle persuasion, and sincere encouragement from the provider advocate that he/she has come to know and trust – the surgical physician assistant.

At SDMD, we have policies, procedures, and practices in place to convert surgical patients to clinical patients. All surgical patients receive a complimentary facial from our spa following recovery after surgery – this, in turn, allows the spa to promote their services and products.

Also, all surgical patients receive special pricing for one year after the surgical date on clinical services such as laser treatments, neurotoxin treatments, and filler treatments. To achieve the highest conversion rate, it is imperative that the employees who spend the most time with surgical patients educate these patients and enhance their understanding and interest in the services and promotions that benefit these patients directly.

By converting your surgical patients to clinical patients, you help to grow the clinical clientele base and, ultimately, the practice as a whole.

“To achieve the highest conversion rate, it is imperative that the employees who spend the most time with surgical patients educate these patients...”

JAKLYN MASHAK, MS, PA-C

Laser and Clinical Care Specialist Office of Steven H. Dayan, MD, FACS Contact Jaklyn at 312.335.2070 or jaklyn@drdayan.com Designed by IF Marketing ifmark.com • info@ifmark.com

Is Your Patient Coordinator

Effective?

by Karen Zupko

That’s a question we posed in a recent article to facial plastic surgeons.

They hope their staff is effective. And you may be good at your job – but you could be great. But how can you be sure?

Here are some measures of effectiveness that we use to evaluate staff and systems. Successful patient coordinators must be able to accomplish a number of tasks: 12 FALL 2011 / OFPSA

“worse than randomly choosing someone to fill the position, is when surgeons fail to train their patient coordinators.”

• Effectively connect with patients. The great ones have a way of making patients feel good about their consultation experience. Your patient coordinator should be accessible and be able to accurately answer questions about scheduling, fees and procedural recovery time.

• Explain why you are “worth it.” Generating fee quotes from the computer system and slapping them on the desk isn’t what’s called for when dealing with patients.

Successful coordinators can articulate value proposition regarding why the fee is a good investment—even if it costs more than the surgeon across the street. They can effectively handle objections from patients about financial issues. A competent patient coordinator will never say, “Well, that’s what she charges for a rhinoplasty!” and leave it at that.

• Manage the surgery schedule. Eliminating consultation no shows and moving patients to optimize your OR time requires skill and attention akin to air traffic control at Dallas Fort Worth airport. Your patient coordinator needs to be that good! In short, an effective and successful patient coordinator keeps you in the OR, which is where most facial plastic surgeons prefer to be anyway!

Occasionally surgeons mistakenly promote people into the patient coordinator position because they’ve been with the practice for a long time or because they know the computer system—or just because they seem to “look right.” None of these are good reasons. But worse than randomly choosing someone to fill the position, is when surgeons fail to train their patient coordinators.

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Patient coordinators should avoid making the following expensive mistakes.

1. Failing to ask the patients questions. This is the er-

ror of “all tell and no sell.” Instead of making the conversation about the patient’s wishes, dreams, desires and schedule, she only makes it a didactic story about you, the surgery center, and how happy everyone is with your services. It’s a problem if your patient coordinator can’t provide the top three questions that she uses to draw patients out in conversation. Here’s an example: The patient came in for filler. Then she started asking you questions about her face, neck and eyes. You gave her all the information she asked for and more. Yet, the patient coordinator never said, “I can see that you and Dr. Smart discussed a number of options. Which options sound most appealing?” Instead, she printed out 7 or 8 quotes with various combinations for the patient and said, “Call me when you are ready.” Since the patient was overwhelmed and couldn’t decide, she’ll likely never call.

“an effective and successful patient coordinator keeps you in the OR, which is where most facial plastic surgeons prefer to be anyway!”

2. Failing to offer financing unless the patient asks. In

successful offices, all patients are told about the convenient financing. Why? Because they may be closer to being maxed out on those credit cards than they look, or they may want the extra procedure that stresses their budget. If you, as the surgeon, haven’t reviewed your Care Credit quarterly report, ask your staff to produce it. This report will show you how your practice measures up against others on local and national levels, what your patient’s credit scores are, and how the use of financing compares to last year.

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3. Not following up post consults. When the patient

leaves, some patient coordinators wave bye, bye and that’s it. No follow-up is mentioned or scheduled. Anyone who is honest with themselves knows that a lack of personal inertia is a huge stumbling block. Yet, patient coordinators feel it’s the patients’ job to call them back.

No effort is made to stay in touch with the patient. Here’s the point: if you’ve given someone who has the mentality of a clerk the responsibility for scheduling your time and collecting your money, you’ve made a mistake. If you hired the least expensive staff because you thought you were saving money, it’s usually quite the opposite. They are an expensive choice because they often create lost revenue in the tens of thousands of dollars. If you haven’t invested in training because you believe that what is required is obvious, you’re mistaken. Ask yourself, “Is my patient coordinator as good at handling her responsibilities as I am at performing surgery?” If the answer is “No” then you’ve made an important diagnosis that requires a cure. You either need to train the person currently in the position, or find another spot for her while hiring someone new for the position who has the instincts, background and talents to fulfill your expectations.

KAREN ZUPKO

President of KarenZupko & Associates, Inc. Contact Karen at 312.642.5616 or kzupko@karenzupko.com 15

Karen Zupko will be presenting at the AAFPRS fall meeting, an intensive day-long session for patient coordinators on Saturday, September 10th Registration: 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM Course Begins: 8:30 AM Course Ends: 3:45 PM The detailed course description is posted at: www.aafprs.org/upload/brochure/Fall%20Mtg%202011.pdf To register for Karen’s Patient Coordinator course at the AAFPRS in San Francisco on September 10, 2011 go to www.aafprs.org/Education-meetings.html

Don’t miss this great opportu nity!

Registration for Karen Zupko’s How To Be The Most Successful Patient Coordinator Faculty: Karen Zupko, President, KarenZupko & Associates, Inc. Saturday, September 10, 2011 8:00am – 3:45pm at the Westin Market Street Registration is $595 per person. ($495 if you already registered for AAFPRS Fall Meeting or OFPSA program).

Training designed to produce loyal patients and a busier surgery schedule!

“Loved it. Real, direct, professional and informative. Offered great options /alternatives for dilemmas.”Amy Castelli

Who Should Attend?  Patient Care Coordinators  Facial Plastic surgery managers  RNs with surgery scheduling responsibilities  And, facial plastic surgeons who want to take their practice to the next level!

“Powerful - valuable information.”

– Jen Zwolinski

You will leave energized, entertained and ready to implement new practical policies that will streamline the all important patient consultation experience. Using the workbook filled with proven examples, you’ll have the tools needed to improve your already good practice.

“Great course. Can't wait to get back to the office to make some changes.”

– Diana Karaban “Enjoyed the enthusiasm Karen provided to the course. I liked the way she explained some of the techniques/tips we could use in our office.” – Ariana Carnallo

The brightening economy means interest and demand are up. Don’t squander the opportunity by ―that’s good enough‖ or ―this is the way we’ve always done it‖ thinking.

You will improve your personal effectiveness in guiding patients from prospect to scheduled patient.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

“Fabulous! Intensely informative!

Dollars, Deals and Discounts: Everything you should consider about your Thank you.” – Lauren Sikkel professional fees. How to present.

Avoid five common mistakes that sabotage the scheduling process.

“Found it to be very helpful for any Understand why tracking software is important and how it contributes to success. member of a plastic surgery office Reduce no shows for new consults and injectable patients. team member! Will definitely Implement a consultation fee without losing patients. recommend.” – Kelly Retzlaff, NP Improve your quotes! Seven mistakes you don’t want to make.

Implement a fool-proof, post-consult, follow-up system—getting beyond the lame ―do you have any questions?‖

Workbooks: All participants will receive a properly printed and bound workbook, which is not a collection of Power Point slides, but a useful training tool with examples and fill in the blank sheets.

Payment method: Full payment must be made in U.S. funds and must accompany registration. Check must be payable to the AAFPRS Foundation and mailed to: AAFPRS, P.O. Box 759033, Baltimore, MD 21275-9033. Credit card payments may be faxed to (703) 299-8898 or mailed to: AAFPRS Foundation, 310 S. Henry Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. [ ] Check

[ ] American Express

[ ] Visa

[ ] MasterCard

Total enclosed $ _________ Card Number

Exp. Date

Security Code

Print Name on Card

Signature of Authorized Card User

Billing Zip Code

Print Clearly (use one form per registrant, except if spouse/guest) Last/Family Name

First Name

City

Business Phone

MI

State

Facsimile

Last Name of Spouse/Guest (if registering as spouse/guest)

Degree

Zip/Postal Code

Country

E-mail

First Name

MI

YOUTH.corner

Sigmund Freud once opined “If youth knew; if age could.” Times have changed! Today, youth knows, and with this column, age can. Watch this space every issue for a view from a younger perspective.

How do we send these large pictures to the patient?

I HAVE NO IDEA. THIS SEEMS LIKE A Qu ESTION FOR ou r you th expert, KYLE!

PictureUpload.us Need a site to share pictures with ease? Look no further than PictureUpload.us. With its intuitive interface, you can quickly upload multiple pictures to satisfy your photo sharing needs. If you choose to create an account and log in, your pictures will be accessible whenever you need them and can be easily categorized into different albums for your family and friends to view. After you upload a picture, you are automatically given a set of links to access the picture at any time, any place; if privacy is a concern, you can opt to make the image private. Whether you’re sharing a picture with a friend or advertising your business online, PictureUpload.us has you covered.

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SkyDrive.Live.com With cloud file-sharing technology moving to the forefront, Windows Live SkyDrive delivers a great free service for all of their Hotmail and Live email users. With 25 gigabytes of space accessible anywhere, you can store roughly 1,619,550 documents, 15000 photos, or 5000 music files. All you need do to utilize this service is sign up for a Hotmail or Live account and click the SkyDrive link on the top of your email page.

KeepVid.com and ListenToYoutube.com Have you ever found a video on YouTube that would look great in a presentation?

Maybe the song they used in the video caught your interest? With the sites Keepvid and YoutubeAudio, you will be able to download either the exact video or simply the audio itself from most YouTube videos.

To take advantage of this, go to the site that fits your needs, copy the link of the video and paste it into the bar. Follow the instructions from there and you’re set.

Mediafire.com While Skydrive is perfect for storing files, MediaFire is the perfect site for sharing files.

Since many emails don’t allow files larger than 10 megabytes to be sent, MediaFire is the solution for sharing videos, documents, and other media that email won’t allow to be sent. Simply create an account and you’ll be able to choose which file to upload. After it’s finished, you’ll receive a link with the exact location of the file that you can swap around.

IF ONLY I’d KNOWN THIS EARLIER!

QRStuff.com Arguably the biggest trend right now is QR Codes. If you’ve ever seen those little squares that look like an alien barcode, those are QR codes. QR codes can be found anywhere and everywhere; on posters, products, flyers, shirts, and believe it or not, chocolate. When they are scanned with a smartphone, it will open a specific link of the creator’s choosing. It’s the perfect addition to any advertisement because it makes it so simple for the consumer to access your website, telephone number, location, or whatever else you might need.

If you wish to create your own, simply go to QRStuff.com, enter the link you want the viewer to see, and you’ll be given your very own QR code to print or save.

KYLE ELDRIDGE

Student University of Illinois Contact Kyle at eldridg3@illinois.edu

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What’s in a name?

by Lauren Dudek

As I was riding my bike from a hot yoga class this past weekend, in a neighborhood in Chicago that I don’t frequent often, I heard someone shout, “Lauren!” I stopped right away, saw my friend across the street, and immediately had a warm and fuzzy feeling. I never thought that in a city as large as Chicago, I could feel like I was in a small town where everyone knows your name. Would I have stopped if someone had yelled anything other than my name? Probably not. It was the one word that elicited an immediate response from me, and also gave me a sense of comfort and ease.

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“Patients have a choice in who they want their provider to be, and they want to choose someone that is going to make them feel comfortable...”

It’s said that one of the most important words in the English language is “you” or someone’s own name. Ultimately, people are most interested in themselves, or fulfilling their own needs. Take this to the aesthetic medical practice setting, and this rings true to an even higher degree.

There are two unique factors that contribute to the level of customer service that is needed in this environment…

1) patients are paying out of pocket for treatments and 2) treatments are of a highly personal and intimate nature to the patient, whether it be the removal of their unwanted hair, or the smoothing out of a bump on their nose. Patients have a choice in who they want their provider to be, and they want to choose someone that is going to make them feel comfortable, can anticipate their needs, and who is going to give them the results that they are seeking. By building personalized relationships with your patients, it gives them the ease and attention that will ensure their overall satisfaction and keep them coming back.

It is always important to credential the technical skills and education of your providers, but the aesthetic patient is looking for even more than that. In a medical patient satisfaction survey, it was found that “patients place greater emphasis on physicians’ interpersonal skills than on their technical abilities…The great value that patients places on the personal attributes of the physician is consistent with a prior study that suggest patients are more satisfied if they feel that their physicians care about them.

Consequently, the humanistic aspect of the physicianpatient interaction provided the strongest prediction of patient satisfaction.”* * Chung et al: “Predictors of Patient Satisfaction. ” Annals of Plastic Surgery. Jan. 1999: Vol. 43/1.

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With this great emphasis on the relationship that must be built between the providers and the patients, there are 5 things to keep in mind to ensure superior customer service and guarantee patient satisfaction.

1. It’s all about “you”.

4. Go the extra mile.

Focus on the patient and above all listen to them. Ask open ended questions to engage them, evoke emotion, and alleviate any insecurities or hesitations they may have. What is it that you are hoping for? What is your experience? What are your doubts or apprehensions? Notice the usage of “YOU” in each of these questions.

When you give more than what is expected, patients are pleasantly surprised by the little ‘extras’ and will appreciate you going out of your way.

From providing treats in the waiting room to sending “nice to see you” notes, there are many ways to do this with little cost, but big returns.

2. The value of “Yes”.

No one wants to hear “no.” Be sure to answer every question, and if you can’t, find someone that can. Look for ways to make the patient’s experience easier and answer “What’s in it for them?”

Always focus on the positive.

5. Value feedback.

Make it easy for customers to compliment or complain. By addressing their suggestions or feedback up front, it will give you the proactive advantage to identify ways that you can improve their overall experience.

3. Sincerity in apologies. ”I’m sorry” goes a long way. If something goes wrong, take immediate responsibility and apologize to the patient. Genuine and honest apologies are always appreciated and aid in easing and pacifying the patient.

LAUREN DUDEK Senior Account Manager IF Marketing Contact Lauren at 312.335.1700 or lauren@ifmark.com

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Thursday, September

8

07:30a-08:30a

New Member Welcome Breakfast, Open to ALL members!

08:30a-09:00a

Opening Remarks AAFPRS President Jonathan Sykes, MD, FACS

09:00a-09:30a

Writing your ticket to Next year’s Meeting Triste Rosenbrough, RN

09:30a-10:45a

A New Era in Practice Management Karen Zupko, KarenZupko & Associates, Inc

10:45a-11:00a

Break

11:00a-12:00p

Creating Your own Path for Success Richard Linder, PCA Skin

12:00p-01:00p

Lunch with Exhibitors

01:00p-01:45p

Mobile Marketing – Are you ready? Featuring Live Examples!

Catherine Maley, MBA, Cosmetic Image Marketing

01:45p-02:45p

Innovation 2.0 – How to Filter and Integrate the Best of What’s Next, Jon LoDuca, The Wisdom Link

02:45p-03:00p

Break

03:00p-03:45p

Your Web Voice – A Comprehensive Guide to Navigating the Virtual World, Tom Seery, RealSelf.com

03:45p-04:15p

Making Lasting Connections in Social Media: Methods to the Madness, Jeff Frentzen, Editor, PSP: Plastic Surgery Practice

04:15p-05:00p

From Problem to Solution Part 1, Peer Round Tables

06:30p-08:30p

Welcome Reception, General Session

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OFPSA CONFERENCE AGENDA San Francisco, CA September 8 - 9 Friday, September 9 07:30a-08:30a

From Problem to Solution Part 2, Breakfast/Peer Round Tables

08:30a-09:15a

Raise Your PR Profile with the AAFPRS Online PR Tool Kit, Deborah Sittig, Green Room Public Relations

09:15a-10:00a

Tough Choices, Righteous Decisions and Ethics Steven Dayan, MD, FACS

10:00a-10:15a

Break

10:15a-11:15a

Thriving Through Change, Lesia Cartelli, Angel Faces

11:15a-12:00p

Jack Anderson Lecture, General Session

12:00p-01:00p

Lunch with Exhibitors, General session

01:00p-02:15p

Strategic Coaching, Peter A. Adamson, MD, FRCSC, FACS and Philip Miller, MD, FACS

02:15p-02:30p

Break

02:30p-03:15p

Enhancing Results and Revenue with Clinical Skin Care, Jennifer Linder, MD, PCA Skin

03:15p-03:45p

The Big Give Giveaway (Don’t Miss!) and Officer/Committee Updates

03:45p-04:30p

Mystery Call Critiques – What you need to hear, Catherine Maley, MBA, Cosmetic Image Marketing

04:30p-05:00p

The New Playground: Reputation Management, Robert Baxter, Surgeons Advisor

05:00p-05:30p

Ask the Attorney – Open Q & A Forum, Michael J. Sacopulos, JD

05:30p

Closing Notes

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Celebrate National Girlfriend’s Day: Laugh, shop, spend time together, and make memories with your female friends!

by Marcy Simpson August 1st is National Girlfriend’s Day, a day for women to reconnect with our female friends, rejuvenate our spirits, and remember why we enjoy each other’s company so much.

A radio program recently summarized the need of women for female friends as the only way for women to completely fulfill themselves...by having girl friends who can share intimate thoughts, feelings and ideas that are impossible to share with the males in their lives because men and women just plain ‘ol don’t think, feel or share in the same way. BINGO!!

In other words....the guys just don’t get what we’re saying.

MARCY SIMPSON

Patient Care Coordinator UI Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Services Contact Marcy at 319.356.3600 or marcy-simpson@uiowa.edu 26 FALL 2011 / OFPSA

Over the years my own girlfriends have helped me through many rough spots when my male was clueless about what I was trying to discuss. My girlfriends could actually carry on a conversation about whatever issue I was having and.... talk for hours without end about that one subject!

Who else would understand your desire for this other than your girlfriends?

It’s refreshing to spend time with a girlfriend. It’s cathartic. It’s sometimes filled with gut- wrenching laughter that won’t stop and it’s sometimes filled with gutwrenching sobbing that goes on for what seems like forever. Sometimes there’s silence between us...without feeling like something needs to be said. Sometimes it’s just being there. A hug from a girlfriend... silence to just let it all sink in....or babbling away knowing someone who cares is listening. Sometimes calling a girlfriend to unload is all it takes to bring things back to normal. Knowing someone is there who isn’t judging, making fun of, or going to throw it back in my face at some point in the future is all it takes. It can be an old girlfriend from years ago, a new girlfriend who just “clicks,” a sister, a daughter or a mother who fulfills that term of girlfriend.

That’s what my girlfriends do for me, and I hope that’s what I do for my girlfriends.

Unrequited support.

So why not make a tradition of celebrating your girlfriends with a trip to your facial plastic surgeon? I know our practice has several ‘couples’ of girlfriends that will not make an appointment without the other, now that’s dedication. According to them, it’s wonderful to have that one person to go through this adventure with, uncertain at times of surgery but supportive with your desire go in for just a little ‘perk’ of

Botox. Who else would understand your desire for this other than your girlfriends?

Here at the University of Iowa, we decided to celebrate National Girlfriend’s Day by putting together a small ‘patient appreciation day’ outside our Women’s Health Center. It wasn’t anything major by any means, but it got the word out about our practice as well as showed that we care about our patients. We included other departments from around the hospital including our volunteer services, the cancer center, the women’s health department, and the heart and vascular center. All with staff not necessarily there to sell anything but to inform the patients of these services that may be not as well known throughout our hospital community.

It was a hit, and next year we plan to expand this appreciation/celebration by having tables and exhibits all around our massive hospital campus. While it may not make a ton of money immediately, it is one of those feel good opportunities that just might turn into a patient generating activity. We did offer discounts to those patients that came to us via this event.

We would love to be able to have a day, or even a week, of discounts and combined consults for those girlfriends that just want to do this together.

National Girlfriend’s Day; It’s what we do!

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The 5 Deadly Sins of a New Product Launch

by Steve Gielda

The chances are throughout the past few years you’ve launched a new product or services within your medical practice. One or two of the launches were probably more successful than others, but why? What made one product launch more successful than another? In this article, we’re going to explore five deadly sins that are having a devastating effect on success. After all the market assessments, business plans, clinical trials, and government approval processes, many new products still fail to achieve commercial success.

Why do so many new products fail?

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When asked this question, the response we most often hear relates somehow to the competition: “We’re priced too high”. “They offer more features, or we’re too late to market.” One reason we don’t hear very often is the failure of physicians to effectively launch the new product to their “sales team”, their in-office staff. Yet, no matter how good the product or competitive the price, an effective launch to your in-office staff is a key step to the success of any new product or service launch. Five mistakes disproportionately contribute to this failure.

Deadly Sin #1: Assuming one-size-fits-all As in many others industries, health care companies have designed multi-step processes for launching new products and have developed the discipline to execute them. This sounds good, and it is good, for most of the steps involved in bringing a new product or service to market. The problem arises when ramping up the sales team to sell a new product – one size does not fit all products. This is true for the physician’s office staff as well.

Over the years, many new product taxonomies have been proposed. Perhaps the simplest and most useful is the two-by-two matrix that distinguishes between existing and new customers on one axis and existing and new needs on the other. The most effective approach for ramping up your office staff differs by the matrix cell in which the new product or service falls. For example, if the new product is targeted to address new needs of existing customers, the objective is primarily to penetrate your current customer base. In this case, a successful launch to the office staff is all about helping the office staff identify which current customers might be an ideal target and then provide them the product knowledge and questioning skills to help them effectively engage a current patient in a dialog about the new solutions that are being offered.

On the other hand, if the product is targeted for addressing new needs of new customers, the office staff requires more than just product knowledge questions skills. Here the objective is to expand and break through to a new market segment. Achieving this objective usually requires substantial and sometimes very innovative training of your team. The major point is that ramping up your “sales team” – office staff to sell a new service offering in your practice is not a one size fits all process.

Deadly Sin #2: Riding the innovation horse.

When launching a new product, like a new injectable, or new hair removal procedure, it’s very easy to assume that innovation alone will carry the day. Too often, that’s the message sent to the physician’s office staff by the manufacturer’s sales rep. It is not the sales reps intent to mislead their customers. They too are filled with data from hyped up Marketing and R&D teams telling them this new product is the best thing in the market. Armed with the outstanding performance statistics and clinical research, the manufacturer’s sales rep is given the objective to meet their aggressive sales goals. The reality is, good new products and services don’t just sell themselves, and just “talking” about great performance statistics won’t carry the day either. Unfortunately, “talking” about a service that your practice is offering is not the same thing as engaging in a dialog with your patients about the value of trying the new service. Your office staff must be able to relate those statistics and clinical research to potential patients in a compelling way. To do this, they must have command of key success factors that require an effective patient engagement. Success factors such as: targeting the right patient population, knowing how the patient makes critical decisions, and how your patient perceives your new solution when stacked up against the competition.

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Deadly Sin #3: Learning as you go The third deadly sin is driven by a myriad of motives, not the least of which is the desire to meet the time-to-market targets. It’s understood that physicians want to be leaders in their local market. But in the end, it is not about time-to-market; it is about time-to-market share. To achieve your market share objective, your office staff must possess all the required skills and knowledge to effectively engage your patient population. This means an effective marketing plan and training investment must be made and implemented before the new solution or product is launched. In today’s hyper-competitive environment, the key is not launching then learning – it’s learning then launching.

Deadly Sin #4: Handling Patient Objections The most common reason why people don’t often engage in purchasing a new product or service is due to cost. And this might be even truer today given the downturn in the economy.

However, in many cases the customer’s real reason for not taking action on your new offering has nothing to do with cost; it’s just an easy way to get out of the conversation. It’s important that your office staff have an effective way to handle the common objections they hear from their patients. We’ve all heard common objections like; “I am not getting approved for financing”, or “I won’t have enough time to heal before my…(wedding, work event, vacation, etc…)”. There’s a one-to-one correlation between your office staff’s ability to properly handle these objections and the patient’s likelihood to engage in the new procedure. Here’s one framework that might be useful to handle your patients common objections; Acknowledge, Clarify and Test a Solution – ACT. Too often when we hear a patient say something like; “I never got the results I expected last time”, we feel the need to quickly justify why our procedure is better or try and sell the benefits of the new equipment. A more effective approach may be to first Acknowledge the patients concern. “I am sorry that you weren’t happy with the results you received the last time you attempted hair removal”. Then Clarify – “Can you tell me a little about the procedure that was used”? Now Test a Solution – “With the new LightSheer® Duet™ we use in our office, the procedure has proven results to eliminate hair permanently within three treatments, and each treatment is only a fraction of the time you had to spend last time”. The real value of the ACT model is to encourage the patient to talk more about their experience so that the office staff has a deeper understanding of the patient’s real concern.

In the example above, if we didn’t ask the Clarifying question, we might have assumed that the patient already used some other form of laser hair removal. However, what we might have heard is that the patient used waxing and thus they were not happy with the results.

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Deadly Sin #5: Under-leveraging the early experiences Launching a new product or service in your office is a process not an event. A key part of that process is the early capture and analysis of what is working and what isn’t. In some launches, initial wins are achieved but long-term revenue targets are never reached because of a false sense of success from the early wins.

In these cases, the difficulty of moving beyond the early adopter is underestimated. In others, early successes never develop, despair sets in, and the office staff simply goes back to doing what they did before. The answer lies not in getting really great data six months into the process but instead a quick analysis of best practices and a first approximation as to why patients have made the decision to engage in the new procedure. Once that data is obtained, the pivotal and often neglected step is the dissemination of this information to the entire office staff.

Achieving success requires launching new products and services differently. A blockbuster new product or service in an existing practice can generate tens of thousands of dollars in annual revenues, as well as position the medical practice as leader in the market and thus one of the first to make more bets on new technologies. So, simply doing a better job of what you currently are doing will probably not be good enough. Success requires doing something different. A good first step is eradicating the five deadly sins.

“Success requires doing something different.”

STEVE GIELDA

Principle/Owner of Ignite Selling, Inc. Contact Steve at 703.266.7667 or sgielda@igniteselling.com

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Pay-Per-Call Marketing Twenty First Century Marketing Programs Impeded by Twentieth Century Rules

by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD and Michael J. Sacopulos, JD

Remember the days when a doctor took out a half page ad in the Yellow Pages – and we quaintly called that marketing.

The world has changed. One 21st century marketing program, pay-per-call, is being embraced by doctors across the country.

Here’s how it works. Internet marketing companies create a platform which either markets to patients (push) or serves as a magnet for prospective patients (pull). This might include an email blast to a proprietary list. Or a search-engine optimized web site with rich information.

Once a prospect is interested in the services being promoted, the company directs those prospects to health care providers participating in a designated geographic area. The provider pays a fee for each substantive lead – the lead being measured as a phone call to the doctor’s office lasting longer than a few seconds. It’s up to the office staff to convert the phone lead into an office appointment. Sounds great. A lead on the telephone is probably more valuable than an email inquiry. If the phone’s ringing, what’s not to like?

We hate to be the skunks at the garden party, but legacy statutes are not particularly supportive of 21st century marketing programs. The federal government has laws on its books which prevent “kickbacks” or fee-splitting. These laws predate pay-percall marketing by many years, but these laws are still valid. The laws say a kickback is a payment designed to induce a referral for health care. On the surface, pay-per-call

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programs seem to contain the ingredients referenced in anti-kickback statutes.

Fortunately, there are safe harbors which don’t trigger enforcement of fee-splitting penalties – such as when a doctor refers to another doctor in his multi-specialty practice – and they are both employees in the same facility. If they split profits at the end of the year, then, in a sense, the referral has generated extra fees split by all. As a safe harbor, this does not trigger any action.

On the other hand, if two unrelated doctors have a handshake agreement whereby referrals will be paid a cool $300 for every surgery – that’s likely against the law. No safe harbor there. We should note that the federal anti-kickback rules apply only to MedicareMedicaid providers. Those physicians they do not participate in Medicare-Medicaid are outside the scope of these laws. Also the laws apply to professional services. It may be possible to structure pay-per-call to fall outside the scope of federal law by limiting the scope of offers to products only.

However, as these pay-per-call marketing plans typical operate, they would be in violation of federal law. Many states, though, have parallel statutes affecting fee-splitting; such as California Business and professional Code Section 650 which bars licensed physicians from offering or receiving any form of consideration in return for patient referrals.

WWDHHSD (or What Would Dept. Health and Human Services Do)…The Office of Inspector General for U.S. Dept. Health and

These laws predate pay-per-call marketing by many years, but these laws are still valid.

Human Services (“OIG”) issued an Advisory Opinion on a pay per call program. There, OIG concluded that a pay per lead program did indeed violate the plain language of the Anti-Kickback Statute. And, such a program did not qualify for any statutory safe harbor.

That said, OIG concluded they would not enforce the statute against participants in those programs, because such programs did not promote the type of abuse the statute was meant to curtail. The federal government opined pay-per-call, as outlined in the Advisory Opinion, was kosher.

The policy is similar to choice the federal government exercises to “tolerate” medical marijuana purchases. Medical marijuana is legal under a number of state statutes. But, medical marijuana still violates federal law.

Nonetheless, the current federal policy is to look the other way.

While helpful in giving a doctor comfort, a doctor making a decision whether or not to participate in a pay-per-call program

JEFF SEGAL

Founder and CEO Medical Justice Services Contact Jeff at jsegal@medicaljustice.com

must also pay attention to policies of their state professional licensing board. Most licensing boards have explicit prohibitions against “fee splitting.”

It’s unclear whether state licensing boards would follow the lead of the federal government, Would they acknowledge, as Dept. H.H.S. does, that such programs violate criminal statutes with no safe harbor – but opt against enforcement?

Nobody knows. We can all agree that no physician wants to be the test case.

The reality today is that many Board investigations are complaint-driven. So, if patients complain to the Board for any number of reasons, an investigation might broaden to include allegations feesplitting. Doctors who want to test the waters with pay-per-call programs would be well advised to proactively lobby their licensing bodies to update their decadesold fee-splitting policies. Medical Justice can provide you with a template of model language for revising the policy.

Mike Sacopulos

General Counsel Medical Justice Services Contact Mike at mike_sacopulos@sacopulos.com 35

For questions or to submit ideas for the next magazine, please contact: TRACY DRUMM OFPSA PRESIDENT 312.335.1700 OR TRACY@DRDAYAN.COM

MARCY SIMPSON OFPSA MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR 319.356.3600 OR MARCY-SIMPSON@UIOWA.EDU

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