What is Medical Marketing and Medical Account Management? 

Medical Marketing Account Management Best Practices and Why you need a Medical Marketing Account Management? 

Medical marketing account management is a position that someone takes to help grow a medical practice’s business. They do this by retaining the business a medical practice already has and multiply it by exploring new opportunities to increase patient count. An excellent medical marketing account manager will work hand in and with their client (the medical practice) to determine their goals and the best way to achieve them. This is a long term position, and it is unlikely to be the same person who “sold” you on hiring the vendor to provide you the medical marketing management service. Once a contract is agreed to between a medical practice and a vendor, an account manager usually is brought on to take over from there.

What is medical marketing?

Medical marketing has 2 major areas: it includes 2 main areas 1) Offline traditional media 2) Online modern media.  Within your medical marketing, the most expensive component is medical advertising. Advertising can be digital (online) and offline (traditional). Overall, medical marketing for your practice is your strategy, plans, software, staff, partners, and your advertising budget all combined together in a cohesive and cost effective way to attract and bring new patients to your healthcare practice as paying patients for your healthcare services.  CDC has a very good page on this subject also.

What is medical marketing account manager?

This is a position that helps your medical practice with managing resources, budgets, staff, vendors,  costs and ROI (return on investment). This position is usually long term and can be designed to provide your practice with continued access to new patients.

Why does a medical marketing account manager need to know the goals of medical practice?

The better a manager understands the goals and needs of a medical practice, the more effective they can be working for them. They will be able to answer any questions or solve problems with solutions that are customized to fit their needs. A long term partnership between a medical practice and an account manager can go a long way to making a business successful. All in all, knowing more about a medical practice makes it easier for an account manager to achieve their goals and make their client (you) happy!

Why you need a Medical Marketing Account Management?

Medical marketing takes a lot of time to do correctly, and that is not something every medical practice owner has available. If they are also a doctor at the practice, their day is filled with treating patients. If they are just the owner, the day to day operations of the business is going to take up much of their time. Having a full-time medical marketing account manager is going to make sure every detail is seen to for a successful marketing plan. It allows your medical marketing dollars to be more productive!

Is there a difference between an account manager and an account executive?

Yes, there is a difference between both of these positions, and you are likely to encounter both at a medical marketing company. Typically you will meet the Account Executive first. These people are the ones who follow up on leads, introduce medical practices to the services they offer and will convert those leads into clients. Once service has been agreed to, they will hand off the new client to the account manager, who will then work with them to achieve their business goals. Generally, an account manager will stay with the client for the entire time. Account managers only change when the manager moves onto another job.

Why is medical marketing account management relevant to a medical practice?

Medical marketing helps you retain your patients, which leads to higher revenue and ROI. Having a dedicated medical marketing account manager enables you to maintain those patients by making sure the proper attention is paid to your marketing efforts. By having an account manager, backed by their company, handling your marketing strategy, you are making your budget work harder for you to get more patients into your waiting room.

Another advantage of having a medical marketing account manager from a vendor is that they bring a reservoir of knowledge with them. They likely have worked with other medical practices and, over the years, have an excellent idea of what works and what does not work. Instead of going by trial and error, you are bringing on someone who knows a lot about the healthcare industry and how to market to it. All they need is your goals for them to develop a useful, individualized marketing plan. 

What makes for an excellent medical marketing account manager?

1. Supporting Patient Retention 

If you can retain patients and turn them into loyal, returning patients to your clinic, you are only adding to your overall revenue. A medical marketing manager will help these efforts by developing and supporting strategies for patient retention. Often, this involves following up with patients to check in on their health, soliciting reviews, and contacting them for follow up treatments or services.

2. Regular Communications With A Medical Practice 

Communication is key to a significant relationship between a medical practice a medical marketing account manager. This is especially true if the manager works remotely and does not visit the medical practice in person. Communication from the medical practice about the patient count, what new patients are saying when they first visit the practice, and updates on services are all vital information an account manager needs to refine their marketing plans. An account manager should communicate regularly to a medical practice about the projects, results, and other metrics of their marketing efforts. The more data and information exchanged between the parties, the better.

3. Manage Expectations

An account manager also will manage the expectations of a client. Every medical practice wants to be #1 overnight, but that generally is not going to happen. An account manager will have the experience to tell a medical practice what the average expectations are of particular efforts. They have seen enough marketing plans at a variety of health care locations to know what works, what doesn’t, and how long it takes for something to show results. They are an excellent resource for medical practices that may not have a lot of hands-on experience with medical marketing.

4. Build Relationships With the Entire Team

For a medical marketing account manager to be successful, they need to build relationships with everyone at a medical practice. They should chat with not only the owner, but the doctor, receptionist, and other support staff. The better they understand the workings of a business, the better their efforts will pay off in their marketing and patient retention efforts. If an account manager only speaks with the business owner, they could be cut off from a plethora of information and ideas they could use to market the medical practice better. Granted, they shouldn’t be on the phone to everyone every day of the week, but regular communication helps everyone.

Is Medical Marketing Account Management included in the GOLD service?

Yes, PatientGain.com offers Medical Marketing Account Management as part of its GOLD service. You will be assigned an account manager who will work for hand in hand with you to achieve your goals. Unlike other companies that assign entirely too many clients to account managers to the point where they only can talk to their clients once a month, our manager is always available to you. Contact them, and they will get back to you quickly, often within the same day. They can facilitate your requests and help you achieve your goals. Call today for a demo and to learn more about our Medical Marketing Account Management services!