When you chose to enter the field of healthcare, marketing was probably the furthest thing from your mind. You chose this line of work to help people not to sell to them, right? You are a caring, compassionate person who just wants to do the best job possible in some of the toughest working conditions imaginable – long hours, limited budgets, constantly changing federal policies, mountains of paperwork, ever changing technology, and now you’re expected to tackle marketing too? Why? 

Good question. Although you can’t be expected to be a marketing expert, familiarizing yourself with the landscape of healthcare marketing is crucial. Although there is a predicted shortfall of doctors and nurses and overall healthcare resources over the next decade, especially as Baby Boomers continue to age, healthcare will continue to be a highly competitive field. And most patients have a choice of providers.

As you work diligently to provide the highest quality of care, you can’t subscribe to the “if you build, they will come” philosophy. And you can’t rely 100% on marketing professionals to do the job for you. You have to participate in the process of attracting and retaining new business. Additionally, being savvy about advertising, web design, blogging, social media and other aspects of marketing will give you a leg up should you find yourself job hunting. 

Again, I’m not saying you have to be a pro, but you should be in the know. There are a whole host of books to read and workshops to attend highlighting the various aspects of marketing. You can also gain insights from your professional membership organizations. And if you are in a position of management or leadership you can learn from your members of your marketing department or contracting marketing firm, ensuring the marketing efforts are collaborative. Ask a lot of questions, risk making suggestions and allowing them to tell you why these may or may not be good ideas.

Another possible fount of knowledge is something I recently came across while surfing the web: a marketing crash-course for healthcare professionals offered in an online newsletter format from MD Clients, a Web Interactive Marketing firm for medical professionals. The newsletter was launched in April and will be distributed through March of 2012. Here’s what’s on the agenda for upcoming newsletters:

• July, 2011 – Newspapers & Magazine Advertising: Cost vs. Conversions
• August, 2011 – Paid Search & Microsites: How it works, when it works and who it would work for. Google Paid Search vs. 2nd Tier Paid Search.
• September, 2011 – Professional Websites: Medical Hosting, Choosing a Domain, on-site SEO and Privacy Policies.
• October, 2011 – Website Security: HIPAA/PHI compliance, Online Forms and Collecting Patient Information.
• November, 2011 – Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Local forums, Health forums and reviews.
• December, 2011 – Directories: SEO-only, Local and Health.
• January, 2012 – Blogging: A Doctor’s blog, medical organization blog, blog comments and what other bloggers say about your practice.
• February, 2012 – Physician Entrepreneurs: What you need to know before you start your own practice
• March 2012 – Further Study: Books to Read, Workshops to Attend and Charities to support.

Subscribe to the newsletter here.  

A career in healthcare is complex and demanding, but you’ve made it this far, proving your passion, commitment and resilience. And with a little bit of marketing know-how your prospects for a long, vibrant career will remain high.

One way to stay ahead of the competition in this tough job market is to continually expand your specialized knowledge and skills. This is true of all fields, but in particular for people in the medical field. Even doctors will only stay employed or keep their practice open if they have a consistent number of patients who are happy with services.

Recently, I signed up for a new health plan and was given a huge directory of doctors. I went through those names one-by-one narrowing it down to 3 or 4.  Then I hit the internet to learn more about them. I was looking for the standouts.

To be a standout, you should:

1. Expand your knowledge and skills, keep your resume and bio current, and make sure that any directories and marketing materials that include your bio are kept current as well.
2. Try to regularly scan the headlines of your favorite publications, and schedule time each week to go back and read the articles that seemed most relevant.
3. Follow your peers and various organizations on Twitter and Facebook. This can also help keep you in the loop.
4. Don’t just go to whatever seminar flies across your radar that fits into your schedule and fulfills your CEUs. Instead, try to be proactive and stay aware of current trends that are relevant to your client base.
5. Consider some new types of education. This week I read about the University of Carolina’s Nutrition in Medicine program, now available online and accessible to med students and practicing physicians across the nation. This fills a void left by med schools that offer little or no nutrition education and could help you be a standout.

How important is it to be a standout? Do you have other ideas on how to be one?  Let us know in the comments section. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Are you a closet thespian? Okay, I don’t quite know how to follow that one up, but it sounded clever, didn’t it? How many of us secretly dream of leaving behind the security of a regular paycheck to give free reign to the actor, dancer, singer, painter, sculptor within?

“Don’t quit your day job!” used to be a favorite phrase we used to tease our friends who couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket. In today’s economy, however, it is a truism for all of us, even if you can sing like Pavarotti or dance like Barishnykov. If you have a job, you hold onto it for dear life no matter how creatively unfulfilling. This isn’t the time to throw caution to the wind in the hopes of being discovered! But all is not lost. There are ways to put your creativity to work and still be on the payroll. There might even be a way to combine them both.

Myra, an aspiring actress, has worked for Kaiser for 10 years in their educational theatre program, first as an actor, then as a booking agent. The program’s goal is to “inspire children, teens and adults to make informed decisions about their health and help build stronger communities.” Myra toured with the Los Angeles area troupe for 4 years and then moved into an administrative role when she started having children. She’s learned that “creativity isn’t just about being in front of people to act,” and is grateful for the steady paycheck, great benefits, and the opportunity to exercise her creativity even in a healthcare setting.

In addition to these kinds of hospital-sponsored community outreach programs, many hospitals and clinics around the country are embracing art therapy, music therapy, drama and movement therapy and, get ready for this – social and therapeutic horticulture – that’s a fancy term for garden therapy. Whether you’re a licensed therapist or support staff, working in one of these arenas might give you the creative boost you’ve been looking for.

Or you might try working with a career coach to help you brainstorm ways to parlay your passion into a marketable skill. For example, if you’re a visual artist, learning the latest graphic design software will give you a competitive skill that you’re company might really be able to use. If you’re a writer slaving away on the Great American Novel, consider taking some business writing classes and looking for work as a grant writer or doing blogs and other writing assignments for your company’s marketing department.

Creative careers with paychecks attached are not plentiful. You have to think outside the box (which is something we creative types do well), be persistent, look for unexpected avenues of artistic expression within your chosen field and possibly become a maverick-doing something that no one’s done before. After all, someone had to be the first to say, “I really love gardening. It surely must have some restorative effects? I think I’ll start a social and therapeutic horticulture program!”

No, it probably wasn’t that easy, but you get the point!

Many of us have been there. We thought that we would stay
at our jobs forever! But before we knew it, fate intervenes and alas, we are beginning a new job with people we don’t even know and struggling with the “Should I say this? How will people take it?” issue. More importantly, there is the “I have no idea what personality my boss is and I would really like to know a little more at this point” syndrome.

Although it may be virtually impossible to pin your boss’ personality down in the first week of your new job position, there are some things that you can do to impress a boss of most any personality. Here is what we recommend:

1. Remember that your job, whether you like it or not, is to make your boss look great. I know, I know, this can be hard sometimes to remember or WANT to do…but remembering this at all times will help you become invaluable to the organization.

2. Schedule a meeting with your boss quickly. Review any expectations, etc but mostly present yourself as a learner and find out what you can do to make things smoother within the organization.

3, Get to know the other staff members. Sitting in an office or hanging at a counter with zipped lips is not the way to impress the powers-that-be. Get out on the floor. Make friends with staff members and the people who are frequenting the establishment.

4. Remember to wear your learning cap. Recognize that you are NEW and that even staff members in other positions can teach you. Be a sponge. It will help you pick things up more quickly and impress them as well. It will also help you do your job even better.

5. Ask staff members what the organization is lacking, or what they are frustrated with (note this is not a question for the first day, more like after you get to know them a little) and see what you can do to help.

6. “Go the extra mile” and “Take the high road” whenever possible. This will benefit you and the people that you work with. The staff members and boss will see that you have high integrity and that you truly care for other people.

7. When you are complimented, ask what you can do better at as well. This shows humility and a willingness to learn.

8. Remember that you are not just working for your boss, but for fellow staff member and the public as well. The “I am here to serve you” attitude, although it seems petty (and never say it aloud) can go a long way in helping to impress your boss in the early days and beyond.