There are many different ways clinics have chosen to integrate this new modality into their standard workflow. Not every strategy works for everyone.
But it is VERY IMPORTANT to have a plan, whatever that may be.
To follow are several implementation strategies. Some of these are not compatible with the others, but these are meant to be an idea-base for the decision at your clinic.
- Patients Currently on Chronic Pain Medications
- Conditions with Highest Efficacy Confidence
- ALL Post-Surgical Incisions At Low Cost
- EVERYTHING that Walks Through the Door at Low Cost
- Everyone While They Wait For Free
Review the options and decide which concepts in which strategies best suit your particular implementation plan.
Implementation Strategy #1: Patients Currently on Chronic Pain Medications
Analgesia, anti-inflammation, and bio-stimulation are the bread-and-butter of laser therapy. People are beginning to grow weary of the liver- and kidney-affecting side effects of many chronic pain medications.
If you can get your patients to the same comfort level as they were while on these medications, but in a drug-free way, that is not a tie…that is a HUGE win.
Never-mind when you hear the success stories of a dog jumping on the bed for the first time in 2 years after their 3rd laser treatment.
Implementation Strategy #2: Conditions with Highest Efficacy Confidence
Part of the implementation success of a therapy laser depends on clinical confidence of the staff. Some get discouraged with a treatment modality if they don’t see strong success right away, especially since they are charging the pet-owners for them. But laser is not a magic wand, and sometimes efficacy takes time and up to 6-8 treatments.
- Wounds
- Chronic Pain (esp. in backs and joint)
- Acute Trauma
- Infections (esp. ears)
If you only choose to treat the conditions with the highest confidence of success at first, your staff will have confidence in recommending it. Eventually your staff will start to broaden their recommendations and from there, you will see your confidence (and revenue) grow.
Implementation Strategy #3: ALL Post-Surgical Incisions At Low Cost
The surgical incision is the primary (and often ONLY) way your pet-owners have to judge the quality of the operation.
There is no doubt that your surgeons are competent and your incisions site heal. But if you can get them to heal more quickly and end up slightly prettier, it goes a long way with your pet-owners.
As for revenue, adding a small fee to all of your surgical procedures will be virtually un-noticeable to your pet-owners, but at high volumes of surgeries, it adds up.
Implementation Strategy #4: EVERYTHING that Walks Through the Door at Low Cost
Beyond the contraindications and any un-diagnosed malignancies or pathologies, infrared light has literally NO chance of causing damage to an injury. You’ll find that about 50% of the patients respond favorably after a single laser therapy session. That number increases to about 75% after 4-6 treatments.
For that reason, some clinics use it on everything that walks through the door as a part of their standard office visit. This way the animals that are only in the clinic once are exposed to it and their owners know about it the next time they are in. They simply increase the price of the visit by a modest amount, and with volume of single-visit patients, and even more-so with multi-visit patients, clinics become very happy with its success.
Implementation Strategy #5: Everyone While They Wait For Free
All the big companies know that the best advertising opportunity is in the waiting room. This is why big pharmaceutical companies give away banners and stands and nick-nacks and waiting room DVDs, etc.
What if instead you take advantage of this 5-10 minutes to make them aware of your new modality? With doctorVet it is EASY to get your receptionist trained and certified in laser therapy. And you can leverage her rapport with the customers to make this wait-time more enjoyable and beneficial.
From there, when the veterinarian recommends laser treatments for the patient, you will have given them their first treatment for free.
SOUND TOP TIP
Marketing is very much dependent on the demographics of your clinic and your clientele. Do not choose tactics that don’t fit well with your clinic’s culture. To properly test whatever strategy you employ, put a time-limit on the promotion so that you have an excuse (and a plan) to re-evaluate.
Conclusion
The absolute worst thing you can do when incorporating any new modality is to let it collect dust. It is essential to put a “new toy” to use. It will increase familiarity with the new technology and help get your staff on board with its implementation. Before you know it, it has become a seamless part of your everyday operation providing benefits to your patients and revenue for the practice. Having an implementation plan, even a bad one, will facilitate this process.
If you would like to learn more about laser therapy, or for information about SOUND’s® laser systems, call 800-268-5354 or click here.