Physical Therapist Ranked in Top Health Care Professions

According to recent data analysis, jobs in Physical Therapy are ranked fifth on the list of top job opportunities.Other jobs rated in the top five professions are biomedical engineer, dental hygienist, occupational therapist and optometrist.

CareerCast.com evaluated each profession on the 2013 Jobs Rated report released on December 3rd. The rankings were based upon quality of four main criteria; environment, outlook, income and stress. The data was provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, with additional data from trade associations and industry groups.

As a result of the growth of the healthcare industry there have been projections of an estimated 31% growth in career opportunities in the medical industry, thats an addition of 4.6 million jobs. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupational and physical therapists also are expected to be in high demand during the next few years.

More data from U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics also reveals the prediction of 33% more Occupational Therapists working by 2020, according to a 2012 occupational outlook. The number of employed Physical Therapists is also expected to grow by a significant 39% by 2020.

With the consideration of the four factors most essential to job satisfaction, combined with the projected growth of the industry, a career in Physical Therapy is the place to be.

Additional Health Care Industry Data from the top 12 professions 2013 Jobs Rated report:

• Biomedical engineer, 62% projected growth

• Dental hygienist, 38% projected growth

• Occupational therapist, 33% projected growth

• Optometrist, 33% projected growth

• Physical therapist, 39% projected growth

• Chiropractor, 28% projected growth

• Speech pathologist, 23% projected growth

• Pharmacist, 25% projected growth

• Podiatrist, 20% projected growth

• Respiratory therapist, 28% projected growth

• Medical records technician, 21% projected growth

• Physician assistant, 30% projected growth

Affordable Care Leaves Consumers Confused

A critical problem in healthcare marketing today, specifically with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is the marketing is not put into understandable terms for public consumers. Ongoing polls show that the most effective advertising and marketing are those with a considerable amount of basic text infused with informed persuasion, an aspect which has been continually lacking in the industry today.

Everyone tends to assume that the public has some knowledge of the ACA, as the media has had us immersed in this widespread and controversial health care reformation. However recently there have been discoveries that the general public does not understand the majority of the information that has been provided to them regarding this significant change in healthcare.

As reported in the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: March 2013 57% of Americans, with the information provided to them, do not grasp how the changes the ACA is constituting will affect them. Perhaps more importantly, the marketing is ineffective to the most relevant audience, those with income under $40,000 and the uninsured.

A more recent mid August Gallup poll found that 3 in 10 Americans were not familiar with the ACA. Despite the continued efforts of the Obama administration to raise awareness on the health care law; according to Gallup 15 percent of Americans say they are very familiar with the law. Fifty-three percent say they are somewhat familiar with the ACA, 18 percent are not too familiar, and 12 percent are not familiar at all. This shows the essential issue with the effectiveness of the ACA’s health care marketing campaign.

Additionally, Gallup reports that there is still a significant amount of apprehension from the American public regarding this new law. “More Americans disapprove (49%) than approve (41%) of the Affordable Care Act. An additional 11% have no opinion. As this landmark legislation enters the next phase in its implementation process, it remains divisive. With the exception of a bounce likely caused by President Barack Obama’s re-election in November 2012, Americans have been more disapproving than approving of the healthcare law.”

What health care professionals can learn from this information, is that though medical jargon may be commonplace for you in your practice, the most effective marketing that will yield clients is information that they can understand. Infuse your in depth understanding to very basic relatable language and you will have the perfect combination for effective marketing.

Tracking Effectiveness of Your Marketing Plan

No matter the marketing method or methods your practice is utilizing, from online ads to radio, you should be aware of the results these means of advertising are yielding your business. In whatever decision you’re making regarding marketing there are ways to track your ROI, or return on investment. Here are some ways how:

Every outside interaction your business has should positively reflect your staff and practice, this can be something as basic as answering an incoming phone call. An inbound phone call could be a potential patient and or possibly a new referral source, which is the lifeblood of your business. Email should hold more significance to your staff than purging a full inbox, as email is a primary method of outreach for new patients. To ensure you are keeping your outside relations as positive as possible, reiterate appropriate methods to your staff and emphasize the importance of these vessels of communication.

Some more ways to increase the value of these methods and overcome objections from your staff are:

• Increase incentive by compensating them with every converted new patient appointment.
• Train them to understand their benefits; such as job security, potential for professional growth, financial security for them and their employer.
• Utilize digital resources for tracking for convenience and efficiency

When interacting with potential clients and referral sources, remember to listen to their needs and ask open ended questions. If you are trying to gauge the effectiveness of a new online advertising, there are a few questions you can easily tap into a conversation with a caller:

1. How did you hear about us?
2. Where did you see our advertisement?
3. What was it about the ad that encouraged you to contact us?

To keep track of these observations, create a log, excel spreadsheet or notebook with the patients name, phone number and response. There are even programs available that can record phone conversations that can be saved in your database, this can be valuable for tracking ROI as well as ensuring your staff is providing your standard of customer service.

Keeping Patients Through the Test of Time

Recent surveys reveal that 25% of patients leave medical practices each year for a variety of reasons. These reasons can go unknown to practitioners until complaints or negative reviews appear on the internet, publicly decreasing the value and trust current and potential clients have in your practice. There are some simple solutions to avoid losing patients and keep the reputation of your staff and practice at their best.

Having untrained or unprofessional staff members interacting with patients is the fastest way to lose that patient. Be sure to thoroughly train employees and make sure they have sufficient knowledge on proper customer interaction as well. Be in tune with the workings of your practice, provide an open relationship with staff for feedback and opportunities for improvement.

The simplest way to improve your doctor patient relationship as well as to evaluate your staff and overall quality of service is a patient satisfaction survey. Getting the quality of your care at its best is especially important now as by 2015, the Health reform’s new medicare stipulations provide for reimbursement based on satisfaction scores. Through a company, an online template, or your own method conduct quarterly customer satisfaction surveys. Analyze the results and strengthen any points of weakness in your customer experience.

Patients often cite long wait times before and during appointments as a con of their experience with their doctor. Each patient and their medical condition is different, getting times down to an exact precise science is an unrealistic expectation. With this in mind, have a system established with your front desk to call patients in the event of a delay or if you’re running late. Patients will appreciate this respect and consideration and are more likely to forgive the inconvenience.

Connect with your patient. Forming a friendship and personal relationship will make the patient have a deeper connection with you, making the overall experience of visiting your office a comfortable one. When explaining medical details with patients also remember they have not had your medical training, instead of the use of technical lingo explain things in terms that they can understand. Be a human first, ask questions, be understanding and be approachable, patients return to great people not just great service.

Has Your Practice Gone Mobile?

Over 93 percent of all adults now have cell phones, the new standard is that these cell phones are internet accessible. Experts are forecasting that within the next couple years more people will be using their phones for internet access than desktop computers. Is your website mobile friendly? Computer accessible sites and mobile sites are not the same, small print and a different page configuration can cause slow loading. With consumers now being accustomed to a certain standard of speed and accessibility with web browsing, you do not want to be the one behind on your mobile website.

With 93 percent of adults using mobile internet, that is a large amount of potential clients that could be using your site. This growing technology is not just modernization but a marketing  opportunity. By going mobile you will have access to millions of smartphone users, you will have a clean easily navigable site, faster loading and better Google search rankings. Going mobile will expand the arms of your practice as well as providing a bottomless amount of potential for new clientele.