Download Your FREE White Paper — Train Your Staff to Sell and Convert More Patient Leads
Feb 2nd
You probably receive dozens of phone calls from prospective patients who want to learn about different procedures and treatments. How many of those calls actually end up turning into consultation appointments?
If your staff doesn’t know how to nurture these leads, you could miss out on the opportunity to book an appointment for surgery, a treatment, or just a consultation.
Download our FREE white paper: “Train Your Staff to Sell and Convert More Patient Leads” to find out exactly what your staff needs to do to book more appointments each week. We guide you through the booking process and show you how to instill a follow-up plan at your practice. We share the key principles for converting patient leads from your email and phone requests, and outline some tools and strategies you can put in place right away.
This PracticeDock white paper covers the following key topics:
- Phone etiquette tips and best practices
- How to train your staff to improve communications with patients
- Best ways to pre-qualify patients over the phone
- Critical lead response management tips
- Why many doctors miss the chance to work with patients who are ready to book an appointment!
- …and more.
Don’t be one of the practices missing out on thousands of dollars of potential revenue and dozens of appointments each week. Train your staff to convert more of those phone and email leads into appointments with the tips and strategies outlined in this free white paper.
Download your FREE white paper, “Train Your Staff to Sell and Convert More Patient Leads.”
Want more lead management and staff training tips? Talk to one of our Practice Development Specialists today! Contact us at 877-412-4324 or email solutions@practicedock.com
U.S. Tops the List of Most Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in the World
Jan 31st
When it comes to demand for plastic surgery, the United States takes first place for the highest number of total procedures performed in the world, outranking Brazil, China, and Japan. Plastic surgeons in the United States are enjoying a steady demand for popular procedures including breast augmentation, liposuction, butt lifts, and tummy tucks.
The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (IASPS) recently released the results of the second International Study of Aesthetic/Cosmetic Surgery Procedures to reveal a hierarchy of countries with the most surgical and nonsurgical aesthetic and cosmetic procedures performed by board-certified or equivalent plastic surgeons in 2010. A total of 1,620,855 total surgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2010. Brazil comes in at a close second with a total of 1,592,106 procedures performed; China and Japan ranked with about a third of these totals each.
The top 25 list also included Korea, France, Turkey, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia. Romania ranked number 25 at the bottom of the list with a total of 52,854 procedures.
Lipoplasty is still one of the most popular and most-performed procedures, accounting for 23% of total surgical procedures followed by breast augmentation which accounted for about 16% of total procedures. The top five procedures, according to the IASPS study results, are: lipoplasty, breast augmentation, blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, and abdominoplasty (tummy tucks).
Other popular procedures that made the top ten list for 2010 were breast reduction for women, breast lifts, facelifts, otoplasty, and gynecomastia (male breast reduction).
2012 is expected to be a strong year for non-surgical procedures such as Zeltiq CoolSculpting, Botox, and other wrinkle treatments. As the economy continues to recover and more people become comfortable with splurging on luxury purchases and investing in themselves, demand for both surgical and nonsurgical procedures is expected to stay steady or increase over the course of the year.
Need help marketing your plastic surgery practice online? Talk to one of our PracticeDock online marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- Generation X Outdoes Baby Boomer Generation for Plastic Surgery
- Attract More Patients with the NEW LocateADoc.com Recommendation Button!
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- Top 6 Ways to Grow Your Practice Blog
Mobile Devices More Popular than PCs for Web Surfing in 2011
Jan 19th
Doctors and medical professionals across all specialties are looking for new, effective ways to connect with patients. While you might have already invested in a professional website and are busy building your online presence, your patients could be tuning in to their mobile devices — not their personal computers.
According to Meraki’s recent Wi-Fi usage statistics, mobile device usage overtook computer usage for connecting to Wi-Fi networks in 2011.
Mobile devices like the Apple iPhone and Android smartphones now account or just about 58 percent of Wi-Fi devices. PCs account for about 36 percent, which means more consumers (and patients) are using their mobile devices when searching for information on the Web, connecting to social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and for reading reviews and testimonials about different businesses.
If you don’t have a mobile version of your website, it might not even show up on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.
This means other doctors are able to snap up patients who are using mobile devices to search for doctors or treatments in their area. Only a handful of doctors have already joined the mobile bandwagon to offer a mobile version of their website that appears on tablets and smartphones. These sites are “downsized” versions of the original site, allowing the site visitor to navigate only the main pages and get the key information they need.
Still, full websites are still accessible on tablets and smartphones, but they are not always as user-friendly as on a personal computer. Having a professional-looking website is still essential for attracting patients and creating a strong online presence. As more patients spend online time on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, it’s becoming increasingly important for doctors to have a strong online presence — and even a mobile version of their website available.
Need help building an online presence? Talk to a PracticeDock online marketing specialist about website and mobile packages designed specifically for doctors, dentists, and medical professionals.
More content you may be interested in:
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Top 6 Ways to Grow Your Practice Blog
- Top 10 Cities for Plastic Surgery Infographic
- Generation X Outdoes Baby Boomer Generation for Plastic Surgery
Generation X Outdoes Baby Boomer Generation for Plastic Surgery
Dec 30th
Even in the midst of a sluggish economy, many Americans were still going under the knife to improve their appearance. The latest statistics from the American Society for 
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) show that Generation X — not the baby boomer generation — accounted for about 43 percent of all procedures performed in 2010. Baby boomers made up about 28 percent of all procedures performed in 2010, almost half the amount of Generation X candidates. The trend may be attributed to the “glamorizing” of plastic surgery procedures and the increase of ads and media images that portray cosmetic surgery as a socially acceptable choice.
Generation X patients were primarily focused on personal improvement and maintenance procedures. Treatments like Botox, VelaShape body contouring, non-invasive fat reduction procedures, and laser treatments were at the top of the list for many Generation X patients. Experts say that both Generation X patients and baby boomers were also very interested in anti-aging therapies and treatments. Wrinkle fillers, skin resurfacing treatments, and skin tightening treatments are just some of the popular treatments that can make subtle changes to the appearance.
Nonsurgical and non-invasive procedures continue to be among the most-coveted procedures for patients on a budget and are expected to remain so through 2012. As more people become comfortable with getting Botox and wrinkle fillers, undergoing liposuction, or trying out new procedures like Zeltiq, doctors around the country might see an influx of new, even younger, patients. Patients with high disposable incomes may be good candidates for packages of procedures which can be much easier to market and promote online and offline.
According to Denise Mann, editorial director of the Consumer Guide to Plastic Surgery, All About Facial Rejuvenation and Breast Implants 4 You, the prediction for 2012 is that more plastic surgeons will be focusing on correcting minor flaws and targeted “trouble” areas. Zeltiq CoolSculpting, a non-invasive fat reduction procedure, is expected to be among the most popular procedures in 2012.
Need help putting together a marketing plan for 2012? Talk to one of our PracticeDock online marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- How Doctors Are Using Social Media to Connect with Patients
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- Top 6 Ways to Grow Your Practice Blog
- Top 10 Cities for Plastic Surgery Infographic
How Doctors Are Using Social Media to Connect with Patients
Dec 22nd
When you think of Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for business, most people think of retailers, restaurants, and local businesses posting updates and connecting with their customers.
However, many doctors and medical professionals are now joining the social media bandwagon and with some very positive results.
Both Facebook and Twitter make it easier for patients to communicate with a practice outside of their regular appointment schedule. Clinics, hospitals, plastic surgery centers, and other medical facilities are finding that building an online presence is becoming increasingly important for marketing. In a few years, you might even be able to find your family doctor or physician right on Twitter.
U.S. News recently covered a story about the rising trend of hospitals and physicians using social networking tools to promote their practice. The author of the article points out that more than 1,300 doctors have already registered on a site called TwitterDoctors.net, a database of physicians who tweet.
According to Kevin Pho of Nashua, N.H., a medical blogger interviewed for the article and someone who does communicate with patients via Facebook and Twitter, “These are powerful, tremendously influential tools. Doctors should be taking advantage of the opportunity.”
Many of your own patients could be active on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, so it makes sense to join their conversation and take advantage of branding and marketing opportunities. You can share blog posts, link to news about your site, and share links to interesting articles or videos in your specialty.
One of the most important things to remember when venturing into the social media world is that you need to engage your audience. Patients don’t just want to be marketed to, they want to learn something and may be open to your insights and thoughts on a subject. Be prepared to create a solid social media strategy so that you are connecting with patients in the right way.
Need help with a social media marketing plan? Talk to one of our PracticeDock online marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- Attract More Patients with the NEW LocateADoc.com Recommendation Button!
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- Top 6 Ways to Grow Your Practice Blog
- Top 10 Cities for Plastic Surgery Infographic
American Medical Association Pushes to End Photoshopped Body Images in Ads
Dec 15th
Some advertisers Photoshop images to enhance the appearance of a model’s body, and many people believe that these images have a negative impact on young teens and impressionable children. These images also set an impossible standard for society’s “ideal” body.
Even so, some designers and advertising agencies insist on using doctored images to run their ad campaigns. The American Medical Association (AMA) is working to end Photoshopping of images for ads and has issued a new policy that encourages ad associations to work with public and private health groups to develop guidelines to deter ads that have been altered with computer software programs.
At an annual meeting, The American Medical Association noted, “a large body of literature links exposure to media-propagated images of unrealistic body image to eating disorders and other child and adolescent health problems.” The organization wants to develop stricter guidelines for advertisements, especially teen-oriented publications that would discourage companies from using any type of Photoshopped images.
Most recently, H&M was “caught” using ads with Photoshopped models for their campaigns. The fashion company has been using virtual computer-generated images of the body and attaching pictures of real models’ heads to each one to make the figure look more natural.
A national advertising watchdog denounced the company for “creating unrealistic physical ideals”, and H&M did acknowledge that they had participated in such practices. Still, they said that the models were well aware of how the company is using their pictures (or body parts) to show off their items. In some ways, this approach saves the company money because they only need a model’s head shot and can cut down on booking time. The model’s face can be used on dozens of different bodies in different poses, with no need for another photo shoot.
More content you may be interested in:
- Top 10 Cities for Plastic Surgery Infographic
FREE Whitepaper Download: How to Create an Amazingly Successful Physician Marketing Plan & Budget - Attract More Patients with the NEW LocateADoc.com Recommendation Button!
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
Top 6 Ways to Grow Your Practice Blog
Dec 13th
Maintaining a blog for your practice doesn’t have to take up too much of your admin time, but you do need a strategy to get the most out of your blogging efforts. Being consistent by updating your blog regularly is crucial for getting any type of response from potential patients.
There are also some best practices you can adhere to throughout your blogging and social media campaign.
Here are six ways to grow your practice blog:
- Choose topics you’re experienced in and passionate about. Write summaries of responses to a recent change in the industry, talk about your experience with a certain procedure or service, and touch upon topics that describe how your practice is different from the rest. Use your blog to differentiate yourself from other doctors and medical professionals in your area, and be very selective with the types of topics you choose.
- Answer common questions. If you receive a lot of queries via email or phone, consider responding to them on the blog. It’s likely that more than just a handful of patients have similar questions, and blogging about the topic can be a great way to attract these patients while establishing yourself as an expert.
- Offer something of real value. Don’t just rehash recent news events or copy an article written by somebody else in your industry. Offer your unique perspective and offer something of real value to the reader. This will encourage more engagement and also position you as an authority in your niche.
- Define your goals and stick with them. Know exactly what you want to do with your blog, and why you want to connect with prospective patients through a blog in the first place. Do you want them to contact you with further questions after reading a post? Promote discounts on services and products? Or, just to provide your audience with industry news? Be specific about what you hope to accomplish with this venture and stick with the plan.
- Push content out to social media channels. Make sure you link your posts to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites so all of your social media channels update instantly when you publish a new post. If your blog isn’t set up with social media functionality, make a point about updating each site manually.
- Include contact information at every opportunity. If you’re on Facebook and Twitter, make sure it’s obvious somewhere on your blog. If you want people to call you or send you an email, highlight your phone number and email address at the bottom of each post. Calls to action can be very effective — even when you’re not trying to sell something.
Need a blog for your website? Contact our team of marketing consultants and we’ll get you started!
More content you may be interested in:
- Top 10 Cities for Plastic Surgery Infographic
FREE Whitepaper Download: How to Create an Amazingly Successful Physician Marketing Plan & Budget - Attract More Patients with the NEW LocateADoc.com Recommendation Button!
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
Top 10 Cities for Plastic Surgery Infographic
Dec 8th
Despite a the economy, the demand to be beautiful continues to grow. In 2010, Americans spent 10 billion dollars and had over 13.1 million cosmetic procedures and treatments, a 9% increase from 2009.
Procedures that have increased (and decreased):
- Botox has the largest growth – up 12% over the previous year and grossing over $1 billion
- Breast enhancement is the top surgical procedure – up 2%
- The largest decline is in surgical lip augmentation, which is down 21% and collagen injections are down 5%. With all the bad lip enhancement publicity for celebrities such as Meg Ryan, Nikki Cox, Lisa Rinna, Melanie Griffith, Janice Dickinson and many more have received, this trend is not surprising.
- There was a 61% increase in calf augmentations – although they only count for 418 cases – we may see this as a growing trend.
Competition is fierce in these top cities amongst Certified Plastic Surgeons, especially when you add in other physicians that are practicing various cosmetic procedures in the same city. Marketing yourself and standing out from the rest is so very important.
Need to talk to a medical practice marketing consultant? Click here to contact us.
Determining Plastic Surgeons Per Capita
To rank the cities, the number of plastic surgeons were obtained in each city from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The ASPS represents about 90% of all Board Certified Plastic Surgeons. While it is possible for plastic surgeons to practice without board certification, it is highly recommended that patients only seek out Board Certified plastic surgeons.
Next the number of Board Certified plastic surgeons was calculated per every 100,000 people. Population statistics were pulled from US Census Bureau. No one under the age of 18 (minors only account for 2% of cosmetic surgeries nationwide) were included.
Although New York has the most plastic surgeons (249 total) in the US, it only placed 42 out of 50. Unexpected cities such as Nashville, & Lousiville may have risen to the top ten due to university programs and centers that focus on plastic surgery and/or an influx of younger more affluent people to smaller cities.
The complete list
Number of Plastic surgeons per 100,000 people over the age of 18
| Miami | Florida | 18 |
| Atlanta | Georgia | 15.9 |
| Dallas | Texas | 10.5 |
| San Francisco | California | 10.5 |
| Sacramento | California | 10.3 |
| Baltimore | Maryland | 9.6 |
| Nashville | Tennessee | 9.5 |
| Louisville | Kentucky | 9.3 |
| Seattle | Washington | 9 |
| Washington | DC | 8.12 |
| Houston | Texas | 8.1 |
| Portland | Oregon | 8 |
| Fresno | California | 7.1 |
| Austin | Texas | 7 |
| Tucson | Arizona | 7 |
| Honolulu | Hawaii | 6.9 |
| Columbus | Ohio | 6.7 |
| Boston | Massachusetts | 6.6 |
| San Antonio | Texas | 6.5 |
| Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 6.5 |
| Las Vegas | Nevada | 6.4 |
| Charlotte | North Carolina | 6.3 |
| Denver | Colorado | 6 |
Infographic prepared by the San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center.
Premier Online Physician Directory LocateADoc.com Public Beta Goes Live
Dec 1st
Mojo Interactive, imagineers behind the PracticeDock Online Marketing Suite and LocateaADoc.com, has just unveiled the new LocateADoc.com beta website! It is now in public beta which means your patients and practices can start using the new, innovative search tools, view upgraded before and after galleries, and enjoy a better site experience overall.
The new doctor profiles were designed to make your practice look more professional, provide more information at-a-glance and bring you more patient leads. We’ve updated our procedure resources section and added several other features that make it easier for your patients to find you. We’ve been working on this new design and feature-rich site for more than two years, and we’re proud to bring you the most advanced and comprehensive online tool patients have to find doctors in the elective surgery field.
What’s different about the new LocateADoc.com?
Here’s a summary of some of the new features and sections:
- Before and after gallery carousels on the main profile page
- Multiple ways for patients to contact your practice
- Enhanced patient lead form that collects more information about the patient and allows the patient to leave questions for the doctor
- Custom patient lead follow-up email templates
- Enhanced gallery search filter by procedure, gender, age, height, weight, body part, and skin tone
- Zoom picture technology and multiple angle views
- New featured listings section with “Featured top spot” doctors displayed more prominently
- Patients can now search for doctors by body part
- New procedure guides include overviews, conditions, related surgeries, average costs, recovery expectations, and more
- …and more!
New Doctor Profile Pages Include a Complete Before & After Gallery
You’ll notice all of these changes as you browse the site, but if you’re already listed on LocateADoc.com, you can also enjoy using the enhanced editing tools for your LocateADoc Profile Page. We’ve made it easier than ever to see real-time stats for your lead generation efforts, track and manage patient leads, and upload photos for your enhanced gallery — all within a few clicks.
Take a look around and familiarize yourself with the new site! Tell us what you think by contacting solutions@practicedock.com.
More content you may be interested in:
FREE Whitepaper Download: How to Create an Amazingly Successful Physician Marketing Plan & Budget
Nov 15th
Are you confident that your patient marketing plan is working for you?
Do you think you’re spending too much or not enough for your marketing and advertising?
Find out exactly what a successful physician marketing plan looks like with our FREE whitepaper download (you must be logged in to PracticeDock to download).
We’ve condensed everything you need to know into a simple whitepaper and give you the tips and tools you need to create a physician marketing plan that gets results.
You?ll discover:
- The three most important things every physician marketing plan needs to have
- Best practices for defining your marketing plan
- The five types of patients that will be most receptive to your marketing efforts
- How to shift your focus to brand-building, not quick-fix solutions
- How to effectively leverage social media tools to connect with patients in a whole new way
- The critical components of a successful physician marketing plan
- Which online marketing tools are the most effective for generating leads and boosting your online presence
- How to calculate your marketing budget the EASY way — we’ve laid it all out for you
- A simple formula to calculate your cost per lead
- …and MORE!
Download your FREE whitepaper and get ready to put together a marketing plan and budget that will serve you this year, next year and for years to come!
Contact one of our PracticeDock marketing specialists for even more tips and tools to promote your practice.
More content you may be interested in:
- Top 3 Reasons Why Your Content Is Not Shared on Social Networks
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Top 9 Online Marketing Tips for Displaying Patient Before and After Photos
- How to Grow Social Media Leads: New Research Findings
- Attract More Patients with the NEW LocateADoc.com Recommendation Button!
Follow Us:
-
Facebook
