A misconception among many nurse practitioners, physician associates and other clinicians is that we take care of EVERYONE within our area of expertise. Yes…but. Do you really do a good job with everyone? Do all of your clients and patients really connect with you and you with them? Are you really able to help each and every one of them? I thought so.
While we might care for “everyone”, the truth is there are certain patients that we do better with. We seem to be able to speak to them and they actually hear us…and we hear them. These are the folks we do our best work with.
How great would it be to have a practice full of these folks…your ideal patients? In truth, it’s hard to see that happening, however, you can increase the likelihood that new patients coming to see you will fit the profile of your “ideal patient”.
In order to do this, one of the first things you need to do is to identify just who is “ideal” for you? Here are just a few of the questions you may want to ask yourself:
- What do you know about them? Who are they? How old are they? Where to they live? Do they have families? What kind of problems and concerns do they have? How do they like to solve their problems?
- Where do they hang out? What are they looking for in a health care provider? What kind of assistance would they need? Where and how to they like to access care? What’s important to them?
The answer to these questions will help you identify who your ideal patient is, the messages you want to create for them (so they can HEAR you through all the marketing noise), and deliver it to them where they will SEE it.
While it would be nirvana to have a practice full of ideal patients, chances are you may still run into folks where the two of you don’t connect well or work well together. That’s part of the work we do. But how much nicer would it be if that was not your entire day.
Take the time to identify your ideal patients and then adjust your marketing practices. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how your practice will change.