Why do I Spend So Much Time Marketing My Practice?
By Randall Pruitt, DC, DACNB, DAAPM, MUAC, FACFN, CES-NASM
With thousands of patient visits a year coming through my office, I am rarely surprised or annoyed by any question my patients ask.However, there is one question I have received on a few occasions that I have to admit always gets to me just a little. That question or more specifically that comment centers around my advertising. Prospective patients are a little skeptical about how they found me, citing the fact that they were curious as to what I had to say so they came in anyway. The truth is that my advertising is very informative, something that I am very proud of, gathering the appropriate information is very time consuming, but I think my patients deserve the truth. I think that it compels people to come in for a consultation because quite frankly nothing else they have tried has worked.
When I get this question or comment it doesn’t take long to quickly point out to them that if they watch TV for no more than a mere few minutes they are no doubt going to see a drug commercial or several drug commercials in that brief span of time. And many times they are personally taking at least one of the drugs I mention , most commonly Lipitor.
I also find it very interesting that they don’t see this connection right off the bat, I am curious as to why my advertising seems unprofessional to them. Is it because I am a doctor? Doctors aren’t supposed to advertise? Look in any magazine on an airplane and there are ads from facilities like the Mayo Clinic, Baylor University Medical Center, the Brown Hand Center and the Arizona Heart Institute. Are they unprofessional? I don’t think so. The truth is you have to advertise in this day and age, to get the word out. If you have a treatment or treatments that can help a large number of people I feel it is your duty as a health care professional to advertise. Especially when dangerous drugs pushed by these huge companies receive so much air time. For example, the drug Vioxx that was pulled off the market achieved rapid market penetration in 80 countries and achieved worldwide annual sales of 2.5 billion in 2003. And that was for a drug that ultimately caused severe consequences in it’s recipients.
Offering a treatment program utilizing tools like spinal decompression, manipulation under anesthesia and MedX spinal rehabilitation that provide real lasting pain relief, you can imagine how compelled I feel in getting these highly effective treatments out to the public, especially when I know the alternative is most likely surgery.
It reminds me of an encounter that I had just last year over this issue. A gentleman brought his wife in to see me for an evaluation. This poor lady had been the recipient of not one but two unsuccessful spinal surgeries and was currently on a lot of medication. To say her quality of life was decreased was a major understatement. His background was hospital administration and he was highly skeptical of a doctor who advertised. Unfortunately, he couldn’t overcome that objection and his wife wasn’t accepted into my program, so in the end she is the one who most likely is still suffering.
My point to all this is that when there are solutions to common problems, I think it is irresponsible to not make every effort to get the word out. My program has helped over 10,000 pain sufferers and my goals is to help tens of thousands more and if advertising is what brings them in then so be it.
