I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine. He is (was) a solo practitioner in New York. He is a Pulmonologist / Internist. 5 years ago he started his own practice, getting away from a group practice. I have to mention, he’s my family doctor also. He was skeptical but entrepreneurial.

Suddenly he decided to go and work for a hospital. What happened?

He was very successful in his practice. Successful in the sense that patients loved him, he had no problem attracting patients and he was busy. So what was the problem?

He was plagued by problems with rising co-pays, co-insurances and deductibles, he was not collecting enough money. His insurance payments were fine though. With rising patient responsibility, he saw declining revenues. Just at that point, a local hospital he was affiliated with called him and made an offer.
Should he accept this offer or continue to enjoy...

Throughout history we see good products lose, You may have a better product, great people, excellent infrastructure, but the competitor seems to get the most attention and traffic.

Why is that? Why doesn’t the world get it?

‘Their’ software won. They won because they were there. They never thought for a moment that they might lose. They played offensive rather than defensive, even though they knew their software was not up to par, and definitely inferior to yours. Here’s why.

They told a story that connected emotionally. It resonated with the buyers’ vision of a better world for themselves; not yours. Everyone tells a story, but their story built evangelical followers, dedicated customers.

Humans make purchase decisions emotionally - based on how products promise to make us feel. Products should satisfy an emotional need of a doctor (“I want to finish my charts and go home on time...

How often do you hear about EHR Companies generating plenty of leads, but closing very few of them? If you are able to generate a lot of leads, that’s a good start though. But it is sadly true that many EHR companies close at a very low ratio.

Whose fault is it - Marketing or Sales? Usually, it is both.

• Marketing department does not qualify leads adequately before giving them to sales.
• Sales people become desperate because their sales are down and pipeline - does not look healthy.

What is the solution?

Lead Nurturing is a great technique that helps EHR Companies convert more leads into sales. It actually helps with converting leads to demos and demos to sales.

The fundamental concept of lead nurturing is to build a trusting relationship with potential clients even if they are not a hot prospect or ready to buy at this time. It may sound like an easy thing to do but it is not.

F...

Sounds like the same thing. Yet there is a subtle difference that can lead to success or failure.

Buying an EHR software is a one-time transaction. Behind this thinking lies the logic - ‘get this over with’

Whereas,

Signing up for EHR indicates a journey that says, ‘let’s get started’.

Buy an EHR Software

EHR software is not a one time transaction like buying burger at a fast food chain. A buying transaction is measured on a single event, that of getting you the food as quickly as possible. Everything about this transaction is focused on the single act of delivering good, cheap food as fast and efficiently as possible. Once the food is delivered, transaction is over, period.

Sign up for EHR Software

When you hire a CPA, contractor or financial analyst, everyone is focused on starting something; not finishing. It usually starts with the process of understanding and aligning...

I’ve been asked so many times - We are an EHR company, what should our Social Media strategy be?

My answer is very simple - for an Ambulatory EHR vendor, the impact o your earnings is really nothing. Any amount of activity on Facebook or Twitter does not yield any new revenue.

Even if it generated some revenue that you may attribute to social media, it is probably an ‘assist’ rather than a direct net impact. Plus, you cannot create a strategy around exceptions.

There are two problems with social media for EHR marketing. Majority of the providers and prospects are not on social media looking to do any business. Secondly, very few of your prospects are active on social media.

Having said that, do remain active on Facebook or Twitter. If nothing else, it drives some level of awareness and a certain amount of engagement with existing clients. It should not be a major focus among your...

Dr. Lawrence Gordon, an ENT Surgeon in NY provided a very unique perspective on why EHR dissatisfaction pervades among Providers.

Theory of Amplification

Dr. Gordon talks about EHR as a tool that can be used to amplify intrinsic talent that Doctors possess. It can be likened to the explanation Archimedes gave to the principle of Lever. While Archimedes did not invent the lever, he gave an explanation of the principle involved in his work On the Equilibrium of Planes. The principle of lever was used to design block-and-tackle pulley systems. The goal was to lift objects that would otherwise have been too heavy to move.

In today’s terms we see increasing use of Robotics in the manufacturing sector that does the ‘heavy lifting’, allowing for people to be creative.

In both instances, these are tools that amplify intrinsic talent.

What are you trying to amplify?

Doctors and Clinical...

Is Healthcare IT Lagging? That’s a rhetorical question. If you disagree, consider this:

1. Doctor’s office has no automated way of knowing what is the patient’s deductible when the insurance card is scanned.
2. Doctor does not now if a pre-authorization is required for a procedure.
3. Specialist does not know if a referral is required based on the patient’s insurance.No automated way of knowing patient responsibility including copay, co-insurance, deductible - and adding everything up.
4. In very limited instances can my doctor see my past medications prescribed from other doctors - even if, not more than 6 months.
5. Specialist cannot see notes from primary care provider that referred me, and vice-versa, even if I have agreed to permissions.
6. Doctors cannot see my test results if someone else ordered them - again, even with my consent.
7. When I go to visit a doctor, no one knows what will I be...

Healthcare and content marketing is a heaven made marriage. Good Content creates empathy, strengthens relationships and supports healthcare providers on their journey and quest for solutions and tools to better manage their Practice. But Most EMR / EHR Software marketers mess it up. Here’s why.

Content is now much bigger in terms of becoming the currency of social exchange and ammunition in the battle for human engagement. In the post-advertising era it’s also become a prized asset – if not the most prized asset – of the EMR software technology marketer.

Building a robust content marketing strategy is the first step towards differentiation and brand marketin and towards building exceptional customers, loyal customers, evangelist customers.

The Divide

The first part of this article and blog is what drives marketers – ‘let’s create content – tons of it’. The biggest problem I’ve seen...

It has been a while since I’ve seen a blog post that was so short yet, so powerful that it made me think and I spend more time on this short blog than any other – in a long time. So, here is that blog from Seth Godin.

Pay attention to the line – “Surprise and differentiation have far more impact than noise does”.

In our wonderful world of EMR and EHR, there is truly so much noise. Let’s be honest – No one, I mean no one has a true differentiation from a provider perspective. Just ask a real doctor – not your clients, someone you don’t know that is looking for EMR software.

Look at those two words – Surprise and Differentiation.

Differentiation

Do you really have a true differentiation or is it a perceived differentiation? I really don’t care, as long as your prospects believe you have a differentiation. For example, if your differentiation is that 100% of your clients are happy and...