Driving allergy patients to your door

Optometric Management, Feb 2003 by Alexander, Michael

An allergist offers a new perspective on marketing the allergy aspect of your practice.

Allergic rhinoconjunctivitis affects 20 to 40 million people in the United States, including 10% to 30% of adults and up to 40% of children. The severity of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis ranges from mild to seriously debilitating, leading to significant cost in medication and lost work time.

Most allergy patients tend to invest in over-- the-counter (OTC) antihistamines and decongestants before turning to their eyecare professionals. However, after they see you, they're relieved of symptoms and are forever grateful. From that point on, they're able to enjoy a physical lifestyle, which may have been difficult before treatment. As you can see, treating allergic disease can be rewarding and produce gratifying results.

In this article, I'll explain how to build the allergy service of your practice. The first strategy concerns allying or partnering with other healthcare professionals.

Come together

It's not unusual in the business world to see alliances announced each year. According to "Definitive Guide to Successful Alliances & Partnerships," 20 years ago only 1% to 2% of revenue was tied to business alliances. Today, an estimated 20% of earnings in many firms are from partnerships. Microsoft is an excellent example of the value of creating alliances. Bill Gates' company allies with software developers and outsources its help desk.

Allying yourself with other healthcare professionals fills a gap in servicing the needs of your patients, but it also strengthens your professional relationships. In an increasingly competitive world, maintaining focus on professional obligations improves your profession and your role as patients' advocate. Plus, an alliance gives you access to a larger market.

Who should you ally with? I suggest you build relationships with local allergists, pediatricians and family physicians.

Worthy allies

I believe pediatricians and allergists are the best colleagues for eyecare professionals to forge alliances with. But no matter who you ally with, each partner will bring something of value that will assist the patient.

In my experience, the right partner is one who makes a tangible commitment toward the patient's welfare. There should be open communication of patient information, and no partner should try to undermine the alliance. Often, alliances fail because of rivalry between the partners. Before forming a partnership, you may want to spend some time convincing all parties that alliances are beneficial.

One way to form alliances is at education meetings. I've built relationships by asking pharmaceutical companies to help sponsor these meetings, in which a colleague and I present interesting case studies. In this open forum, we discuss patient management, and it allows our individual expertise to come through in a non-- competitive arena. The audience of potential-- referring physicians can decide how valuable this cooperative expertise is for their patients.

You may find yourself allying with new physicians. I've discovered new physicians are eager to develop relationships with existing practicing physicians. They're interested in knowing your area of expertise and will soon develop confidence in your ability to treat their patients after you develop open lines of communication.

Brochures - front and center

In addition to forming alliances, you can build your allergy practice with internal and external marketing.

One of the simplest methods of marketing your allergy service is with a patient brochure. It's inexpensive, effective and produces immediate results.

You can acquire brochures from numerous institutions, including the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (www.aaaai. org); the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (www.allergy.mcg.edu); and, of course, pharmaceutical companies.

The content of the brochures should be straightforward. They should describe allergic conjunctivitis and state that you, the eyecare professional, can treat all types and severity of ocular allergy.

Display the brochures in the waiting room. If you practice in a hospital or medical center, place them in the foyer or lobby. Another option is to ask local pharmacists to place the brochures on their counters.

Additional marketing options

Another low-cost marketing method is to record a short greeting on your office's answering machine, informing patients that they can see you for relief from their allergies. Consider adding this greeting before allergy season starts. That way, you can treat patients preventively with the appropriate medication.

Also, when patients are in your office, it's important to educate them with wall charts. Often, pharmaceutical companies will supply these, or you can make a donation to a self-help group that will be pleased to supply you with educational materials.

Externally, it's possible to market your allergy service by becoming your community's eye allergy expert. Advertise in the Yellow Pages or contact the editor of your local newspaper. The predictable nature of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis means that the local press will seek you every season for a short comment. If you have a Web site, add your allergy service and associated Web links. That may lead to community groups booking you to give a short lecture, which is a great generator of patient referrals.