ALTERNATIVE BUSINESS MODELS:
BEYOND THE BRICK & MORTAR STORE/OFFICE FRONT
the box. Healthcare, in general has become a more integrated
networking profession full of specialists and young professionals.
It is important for our profession to continue to grow and evolve
along with this new generation while keeping our strength in the
roots of our superior tradition of customer service and expertise.
I am in love with my mobile business and I love the freedom
of not having to pay the extravagant rent prices of the Northern
Virginia region. My patients absolutely cherish the fact that I can
make orthotics for them in the same day at their home or their
doctor's office. My mobile foot orthotic practice is equipped with
a 6’ x 12’ box trailer, a commercial grade truck, and is outfitted
for patient evaluation and fabrication. Although, patients have the
option to be evaluated at their home or in their doctor's office, I
have cut down the waiting time between evaluation and delivery
of custom foot orthotics to about 3 hours or less while continuing
to provide excellent customer service and quality products to my
patients.
One of the most important items that helped me succeed with my
business it the use of technology. Technology is not just for hip
twenty-something's, it is for every age and it keeps our profession
competitive in the healthcare sector. Technology allows us to keep
in contact with our customers in ways that make our service go
beyond the brick mortar store front. Keeping in touch with my
patients before, during, and after their treatment keeps my mobile
business personal and makes my patients feel that they are truly
getting the best service in town.
Whether you're tweeting, liking, posting, blogging, or using
other social media, you are connecting one-on-one with your
patients making them feel special and not a number. Many of the
physicians and allied healthcare professionals in practice today,
who will send you referrals, are using social media marketing to
connect and promote their practices on various levels. You need to
do this as well.
Connecting with your patients and other allied health professionals
through social media is important, but make sure you are also
connecting with your
local healthcare network
through those same media
channels. It is just as
important and helps to
make your networking bond
stronger across all levels of
professional contact. This
type of updated contact
allows you to be more
transparent – even ‘liking’
your healthcare providers’
Facebook pages, makes them
feel important and gets your
practice noticed, again,
leading to more referrals for
your business in the future.
Whether you own a traditional store or a mobile business there are
always obstacles business owners must face. While accreditation
challenges are hard enough for the traditional business, mobile
businesses will find it just as challenging. One of the main reasons
accrediting for strictly mobile businesses can be difficult is because
there are currently no existing regulations and standards on mobile
fabrication labs. This applies to Medicare as well as the ABC.
Therefore, accreditation is impossible for this type of business
model.
It is also important to realize that the volume of foot patients seen
in one day is very limited with only one mobile facility. Central
fabrication labs can turn out hundreds of orthotics per day due to
the size and equipment in their facilities. Fortunately, I am still a
growing small business and see this as a good problem to have.
While I am not faced with the burden of having to pay an
exorbitant amount of money in rent each month, gas and auto
repairs can become quite pricey. I have an hour and a half radius
that I travel in so that my cost of travel does not exceed my
business intake. Whether you are keeping with the traditional
brick and mortar model or wanting to venture into the world of a
mobile orthotics practice, it is important to keep in the forefront
why you are in this profession and what you can do to continue to
help grow the awareness of our field.
Pedorthics is an important part of the healthcare community
and should be a household name. With the future of networking
and technology, we have an opportunity to take advantage of
connecting and building more personal relationships with our
customers. I encourage you to continue to “stay hungry and stay
foolish.” Implement new strategies to connect with your patients
and adapt to the changing ways of healthcare.
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Pedorthic Footcare Association www.pedorthics.org