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How to Create News — and Publicity

While public relations problems are seldom identical, they are often similar and similar solutions apply. For the office in need of media coverage, here are some common solutions used by PR pros in industry.

1. Make a survey and publicize the findings. For example, a survey which shows how underutilized podiatry is in your town; or the effectiveness of physical therapy in curing shoulder pain (or any common PT-related problem that many of your prospects are likely to relate to)
2. Improve your services and publicize the improvements — new services, new office hours, new equipment, a new payment plan, service breakthroughs or discoveries.
3. Give a speech. This is triply effective because the speech influences the audience directly, the press release on the speech gives wider coverage, and a synopsis sent to clients or patients reinforces your image as an expert.
4. Give an award. Topical, of-the-moment awards work best. For instance, one to the patient or client who's done the most to assist African famine relief. This generates goodwill and publicity.
5. Create an index supplying the media with useful information about your profession in your locale. This can be the follow-up to a yearly survey as suggested in #1.
6. Run a contest. Pediatricians could run the "Cutest Baby in Town" contest in conjunction with a local photographer and/or newspaper.

Public Relations is an overlooked goldmine of practice-growth opportunities. Use a few of the techniques presented above — enhanced and customized with your own ideas, of course — and you are sure to see more gold going to your practice's bottom line.