Aug. 11, 2009 at 8:51am

Left without being seen: It’s happening in places other than the hospital Emergency Department

Posted by Shari Campbell in Planning and Strategy, Practice Management
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LWBS stands for “left without being seen.” And while it has generally been a term applied to patients who get tired of waiting in hospital emergency departments, it’s what a good friend of mine did last Friday after waiting for nearly an hour in a nearly empty waiting room at a doctor’s office.

Apr. 24, 2009 at 1:09pm

Don't keep me waiting

Posted by Shari Campbell in Internal Communications, Planning and Strategy, Practice Management
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Just returned from my annual mammogram appointment. I sat in the second waiting area for 15 minutes after I’d arrived on time for a 7 a.m. appointment.

Dec. 5, 2008 at 8:40am

Make them irrelevant

Posted by Shari Campbell in Advertising, Branding, Planning and Strategy, Practice Management
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“Don’t compete with them – make them irrelevant!”

Oct. 21, 2008 at 9:13am

Got a minute, doc?

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Advertising, Practice Management
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A passenger who sees a dirty tray table, an airline CEO once remarked, is likely to question if the engines are maintained properly. That’s because consumers use cues to judge quality. I was reminded of this lesson just now as I reviewed the results of interviews, focus groups and surveys conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 14 communities around the country.

Sep. 22, 2008 at 8:46am

Are we overlooking families?

Posted by Guest Blogger in Care Line Marketing, Practice Management
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Until recently, I didn’t know that what I’ve been doing had a name: patient advocate. In the last few years, I have spent lots of time accompanying my family to hospitals, doctors’ offices and testing facilities. The providers are patient-focused, as they should be.

But are hospitals and clinics overlooking the importance of family and friends who accompany the patients? We are emotionally engaged with the patient. We watch intently as care is administered. We listen as employees talk to each other and our loved ones. We get lost in the hallways and sometimes don’t understand a test, procedure or treatment process.

Sep. 16, 2008 at 9:17am

Differentiation as a math problem

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Planning and Strategy, Practice Management
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Trying to differentiate your physician practice? Chances are someone else is doing the same thing you are. But do more different things, and it’s much harder to copy you. I was reminded of this lesson from Richard Horwath last week when I visited my gynecologist.

Add an activity, improve your odds                                                                                      Rich, a strategy professor and consultant, teaches that if you try to differentiate on just one activity, there is a 90 percent probability that a competitor will match it.

Apr. 11, 2008 at 2:26pm

Dumb it down, please

Posted by Shari Campbell in Advertising, Care Line Marketing, Practice Management
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“I haven’t been in a Cath Lab since I was in medical school,” confessed a well-respected family practice physician during a recent dinner meeting.

Always curious, I was quizzing her about what newsletters she reads, what she knows about sophisticated medical procedures and how she makes decisions about where to refer patients.

It was an eye-opening discussion.

Jan. 2, 2008 at 2:42pm

Delivering doggedly good service

Posted by Shari Campbell in Planning and Strategy, Practice Management
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Bailey, our beloved Golden Retriever, needs to go to the vet for her annual exam.

I probably would’ve forgotten this, much like I’ve forgotten to schedule my daughters’ annual check-ups for, well, the past three years.

But there’s one big difference: