Ophthalmology Patient Portal and Online Communication Editorial

Fixing the Leaky Pipe Syndrome

It can be very easy to ignore a slowly leaking pipe for extended periods of time, or until it bursts. Either way, the cost to repair it afterwards can be surprisingly large. Taking the precautions to fix a leak as soon as it’s detected is the key. The same exact syndrome applies to lead management in medical practices. As practices spend their marketing dollars generating leads, the leads can become plagued with a multitude of complications, or “leaks”, which can interfere with the final outcome-conversion to a paying procedure.

Despite marketing spending, practices spend very little time fixing their internal systems or pipeline with the proper lead management software. Instead, what happens is the practice makes attempts to “patch” the system themselves by using various staff members who have no background in marketing, lack proper interpersonal and computer skills or

 Onur Birsen, MBA, CPA
 Chief Technology Officer
 
 Glacial Multimedia, Inc.
 Portland, ME

lack the time in the day to appropriately monitor the return on leads. Invariably what happens is the patch works briefly, pressure builds and we find what we think is a new leak popping up somewhere else. That leak could be from errors in the website forms, poor phone conversion, inconsistent email communication, consultation/exam process and conversion, staff turnover or poor follow up. As the pipes are improperly patched, the system continues to leaks in various places and the pipe drips instead of flows. With no way of linking the patching of the leaks or making the connections between them, those valuable leads are lost. To capture leads is essential, however without conversion, there is no return.

Putting in place the tools and procedures needed to fix the Leaking Pipe Syndrome can often seem overwhelming. One could argue this could all be achieved with a paper system, however, at some point; a paper system becomes self-limiting to the practice. Limitations include difficulty in the ease of facilitation, creation and collating accurate reporting across multiple categories including marketing, ROI, conversions and final surgical income. Being organized in tracking communications means being organized in all aspects of the relationship with the client and customer from the first point of communication through the ongoing cycle of client to customer. There are many systems out there that will “tout” the ability to offer of the necessary options to keep this cycle running seamlessly. It’s confusing to choose based on your needs and the prices range immensely. When recommending a program to anyone, we suggest thinking about the following. The program you choose should simply:

• Solve a problem
• Generate revenue
• Be user friendly for staff

This is precisely why I personally spent the majority of the last 3 years working on creating MDprospects™, a web based software tool designed for medical practices to help manage and convert patient prospects.

In 2005, we conducted a comprehensive research project on hundreds of ophthalmology practices. The basic information we were searching for was; “How are leads being handled?”

The project consisted of putting into place a combination secret shopping spree consisting of emails and phone calls sent to each practice. We then followed up to see exactly how the calls and emails were handled at the practice level. The study uncovered that approximately 20% of all calls, and 30% of all emails were being mishandled.

• Calls were dropped
• Calls went unanswered
• Voicemails went unreturned
• Email requests for more information or appointments were never answered

This project clearly demonstrated there was a need and a market for creating a system to "capture, communicate, and convert" patient prospects. With this system we could significantly improve the customers' bottom line. A 20% - 30% improvement in prospect conversions could mean the difference between failure and profitability for a business, and we had the potential to create a software tool to make it happen.

Basic Functionalities

The basic functionalities revolve around our product slogan: Capture, Communicate, Convert.

Capture: The system is able to automatically capture any type of patient prospect, be it a completed form from the website, a new follower on Twitter, a phone inquiry to the front desk, or a referral from another happy patient.

Communicate: The system is able to automatically communicate with prospects via email and SMS. The messages are sent out based on complex triggers which are set up to engage and convert the prospects. Detailed reporting tools allow both the staff and the prospect information to be analyzed, leading the way for better business decisions.

Convert: The marketing, CRM, and reporting tools in the system work in sync to optimize conversion rates on patient prospects. Not only does the system minimize the number of poor follow up communications, but it also maximizes the number of conversions.

The Return

A significant positive impact to ROI can be expected because all prospects are communicated to in a proper fashion, and conversion rates will improve. From an administrative point of view, the patient communication process is managed better and the staff has the proper tools to work more efficiently. Changing the processes to increase better lead conversion is easier and there are actual “metrics” to measure success.

Onur Z. Birsen, MBA, CPA
CTO, Glacial Multimedia, Inc.
Email: onur@glacial.com 

To learn more about MDprospects, please visit www.mdprospects.com