I always talk about marketing in allied health because I think ethical marketing is so important for many reasons. Firstly, it can ensure people are finding your service and staying with your service, and secondly, it can lead to greater client outcomes.
I talk to many allied health practitioners often about marketing and branding. One common thing I see is people writing and then printing masses of brochures for their practice, that might look okay at first glance, but that isn't really telling people what you need them to hear.
I am often asked by practitioners what they need to do in order to take on referrals for clients who are under the Better Access to Mental Health Care plan. This initiative under Medicare was developed to provide clients with improved access to health care providers for mental health treatment. Practitioners who can provide treatment under this initiative are clinical psychologists, registered psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers
I recently read the book Purple Cow by Seth Godin. A great book detailing the marketing changes we need to make to reach our target markets. Seth states for marketing to be successful in today's world, we need to add a purple cow to everything we do or risk becoming invisible. Purple
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is approaching full swing with more and more areas of Australia due to roll out the scheme. What does this bring for allied health? The NDIS brings opportunity to provide valuable services for participants of the scheme. If you are in the process of looking into becoming a provider of the NDIS or are just starting the registration process, there are some important things to consider...
We all love to believe that all clients will pay on time for our services but in reality, it does not always happen. Outstanding payments can really affect your cash flow and it often means more admin time organising a way to collect the money. Any practice owner, even sole practitioners, need to develop a system that helps reduce the likelihood of people not paying in the first place and then a way to collect the debt if that occurs.
Last time, we looked at registering yourself as a provider under the NDIS. Let's explore some of your ongoing responsibilties as a provider:
When starting your business as a provider, one of the first points to consider is your business structure. This involves being a self-employed contractor or service provider. The way you structure your business has a direct reflection on taxes and income (examples include sole trader or company). It is recommended that you discuss your business structure options with an accountant before getting started. Following this, there are responsibilities of self-employed providers or private practice owners under the NDIS and it is worth learning and planning for these ahead of time. Let's explore some of the areas you will need to consider:
This week, our Team Member Yvette has been chatting with the national office of the National Disability Insurance Agency to sort out the nuts & bolts of what the National Disability Insurance Scheme means for us as allied health practitioners, and our clients.
Traditionally, one of the common ways to market an allied health practice was to send a letter to your referrers introducing yourself, sending your business cards, and printing brochures to drop off to referrers. Although there are lots of mention in health care marketing literature that brochures are a good way to market, there is minimal actual evidence that tells us which ones work and what the return of investment is.
I know therapists who thought that if they set up practice, opened the doors, people would just come. I also know others that feel in the public system, marketing is not relevant to them. Marketing in health care is important, and whether you want to or not, the minute you open the door, you are marketing! So, for those who didn't think they were marketing... now you have found out you are 'accidentally' doing it, are you doing it well?
