Ophthalmology Practice Management - Producing an Effective Practice E-Newsletter

If you've decided to adopt an e-newsletter service as part of your marketing plan, you've made the right decision. E-newsletters serve several important functions in ophthalmology practice management. They enable you to connect with your patients on a regular basis, updating them on changes in your practice; they are a valuable educational tool that can provide tremendous benefit to your patients; they become a record of your practice itself; and they serve a key purpose when it comes to marketing your practice. E-newsletters, done well, inspire trust and help you retain and attract patients.

As part of your ophthalmology practice management, a good electronic newsletter can showcase your care for your patients, but what should you include to achieve this goal? How should you organize it? What do your patients want to read? Read on for answers to these questions -and more.

Setting Up Your Newsletter

When you set up your newsletter, you can include the entire newsletter in the body of an email, or you can send an email with a link to the newsletter on your website. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A newsletter in the body of an email can work well, since information comes directly to the patient's inbox; however, patients who use text-only email will miss out on images and visual elements that you include. On the other hand, sending just a short message with a link to your site may mean that not as many people look at your newsletter. It's really a question of what's effective for your practice. You may find that a link to your site, accompanied by a tantalizing sentence or two, is the best compromise. Intrigue your patients with a well-thought-out headline ("3 Eye Problems You Can Avoid with an Annual Exam") and they'll want to hear more.

Your Email List

Be sure that patients opt to receive the e-newsletter from you; otherwise, you risk alienating people who may already be overloaded with emails in their inboxes.

Keep it Simple

Keep your newsletter user-friendly and easy for patients to scan. This applies to electronic communications in general, since our eyes move differently on the screen than they do on the page. Moreover, some of your patients have impaired vision that demands particular attention to usability principles.

Engage and Educate

Each newsletter should include basic information -a quick link for setting up appointments and any significant changes to your ophthalmology practice management team, for instance. You'll also want to include educational information that will benefit your patients. Think of questions that your patients often ask you, and use those questions to decide what information to include. You can profile specific eye conditions, or eye problems associated with other diseases; you can include information about certain treatments or surgical options; you can discuss current ophthalmological research in laymen's terms; or include any other content that your patients would find useful.

Most doctors use less than 20% of the potential of their website for gaining new patients. A great looking website is only one part of getting patients from the internet. Are you getting as many patients as you can from yours? You may find the free expert guide, “7 Mistakes Doctors Make When Getting Their Website Done,” a valuable ophthalmology practice management resource.