OASC | MARKETING

Redefine Your Marketing Strategy

To grow your ASC volume, experts recommend a diversified approach.

By Erin Murphy, Contributing Editor

Some ophthalmic ASCs are extremely profitable, some are breaking even, and others are barely staying afloat. Though their financial situations vary, they have in common a desire to grow their business. And according to experts, the key to growth is a solid marketing strategy.

“Ophthalmic ASCs compete regionally for both the consumer and the physician who brings in the consumer. If you want to increase your capacity, you need to have a marketing strategy in place to win that competition,” says Bill Rabourn, managing principal at Medical Consulting Group, LLC, in Springfield, Mo. “Whether your marketing efforts are internal or external, directed to consumers or surgeons — or, preferably, some combination of those things — a good strategy will help keep your ASC competitive.”

Here are a few tips to help tailor your approach and maximize your marketing efforts.

Marketing to Consumers

Before you begin, ask yourself: What does the community know about my ASC, and what do I want people to know? The answers will provide a solid foundation for marketing directly to the public.

To further your strategy, Rabourn advises that you focus on the following:

1. Provide necessary information. “When people Google the name of your ASC or ‘cataracts’ and the name of your city, they should find you very easily, as well as all the information they’re looking for on your website,” Rabourn says. “Make it convenient for patients to find out which surgeries and technologies you offer and the location, convenience and comfort of your facility. And let patients read testimonials about the excellent care others have received.”

Although physician bios should be available and complete, Rabourn cautions against marketing specific surgeons to avoid conflicts. Also, keep in mind how little consumers know about the ASC concept. Patients might hear “surgery” and assume it will happen at a hospital. Some may have the choice of having their surgery performed in a hospital or your ASC, so be sure to include information about the advantages of choosing an ASC.

2. Emphasize accessibility. Convenience is a major advantage, says Rabourn. “ASCs not only have a lot less paperwork than hospitals, but patients park right out front — not in a parking garage, from where they may have to ride a shuttle bus and navigate a maze of hallways to reach their destination.”

3. Stress focus. “Pitch the ASC as a place that only does ophthalmic surgery — all day, every day,” says Rabourn. “It’s not just part of what you do; it’s everything you do.”

4. Highlight savings. Make patients aware of the cost savings associated with choosing an ASC vs. a hospital. “If insurance requires them to pay a portion of the cost of surgery, they’ll pay less at an ASC compared to a hospital,” says Rabourn. “And they should understand that cheaper doesn’t mean cheap; your outcomes are equal to those in the hospital, but your fee is smaller because your facility is specialized.”

5. Explain continuity. Often, the same surgeons operate in hospital and ASC settings. Says Rabourn, “A large ophthalmic practice might have surgeons in both the ASC and the hospital setting. The ability to see the same surgeon in a smaller, more intimate, more convenient and less costly environment dedicated to eye surgery is a strong marketing message.”

Marketing to Surgeons

While some offer advice for marketing to patients, others believe your best bet is to target surgeons. In fact, Mark Rosenberg, CEO of Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center, a 45-doctor, 600+ employee practice with multiple locations throughout Arizona, says the best way to grow your ophthalmic ASC is to attract surgeons.

“When you market a product to consumers, you do so to get them to choose that product. But patients typically don’t choose a surgery center for ophthalmic surgery; they choose a surgeon, and that surgeon tells them where the surgery will be performed,” he explains. “The doctors drive patients into the ASC without the consumer making a choice. So, if the goal is to increase volume, then the mechanism by which to achieve that is to attract more surgeons or grow the practices of your current surgeons.”

To do this, Rosenberg recommends focusing on key attributes that will be of interest to surgeons. For example, instead of allocating a large advertising budget for the ASC, spend that money on upgrading the facility. Says Rabourn,”If the ASC has a femtosecond laser and its competitors do not, that’s a real advantage.”

Technology upgrades will attract surgeons and have a positive effect on patients. “When patients leave our center having had a phenomenal experience,” says Rosenberg, “they tell others about both the center and the surgeon. That improves the reputation of the ASC and the practice.”

In addition to the facility and its amenities, the primary draw for any surgeon is a share of the ASC’s ownership and equity.

“[Ophthalmologists are] used to participating in profits, and they will participate in a surgery center based on their opportunity for equity,” says Rosenberg. “They’re saying, ‘If I bring you 1,000 cataracts, what will you do for me?’ Taking care not to induce the doctor to bring patients, the answer is that we can make the surgeon an equity partner.”

Like patients, convenience is another big attraction for surgeons. When asked, “What can I do to market my ASC to other physicians? Whom should I go after?,” Rabourn suggests looking at the competition, location and schedule. “Surgeons are looking for a convenient location, which means you want to look for surgeons practicing within a given radius that varies depending on the population density. You may even be able to offer surgeons more desirable times to operate than the competition does.”

Finally, says Rabourn, when marketing to surgeons, it helps to commit to . . . more marketing. “When you’re trying to get surgeons to join to your ASC, they expect to receive your marketing support,” he explains. “Assure them that if they join, you’ll market their practice, including any specific areas of clinical interest they wish to grow.”

Rosenberg agrees. “We focus our marketing efforts and budget on expanding doctors’ practices, which, in turn, increases the surgery volume in our ASC.”

Start Planning

When looking to grow your business, the path to success begins with a carefully crafted marketing strategy. ■