Keystone:
The wedge-shaped piece at the crown of an arch that locks the other pieces in place.
3 critical pieces can make or break a healthcare practice. When one piece is weak, the others suffer. But when all three are dialed in, a practice can run smoothly, be built to scale, and provide more freedom and opportunities for nurse entrepreneurs and their employees.
Without a solid message and marketing strategy, a practice can’t grow because it’s not attracting new patients to serve.
Without a solid patient experience, a practice can’t retain patients, and high patient turnover means the practice can’t sustain itself.
Without a solid team building process (hiring and training), a practice is severely limited by how many people it can help and can also lead to dysfunctional work environments.
But when these 3 pieces ARE in place…
A well-crafted message and marketing strategy will continue to bring in new patients. New patients will enjoy their overall experience, stay with a practice exponentially longer, and tell their friends and family. And quality teams will keep patients happy and healthy, providing you with an opportunity to expand the services you offer, grow your practice and be of service to more people!
How Balance Builds Successful Practices
Every practice is different. Each practice has their own unique mix of strengths, challenges, goals. The secret to building a practice that is successful, scaleable, and sustainable means finding the right balance among these 3 keystones.
While you certainly could tackle all 3 at once, it’s not absolutely necessary.
One nurse owner might have amazing team members, but a weak marketing isn’t brining new patients through the doors.
Another nurse owner might have great marketing, but they’re a one-person operation overwhelmed with work (which also hurts the patient experience).
And yet another nurse owner might have a dialed-in message and fantastic employees, but are baffled by why patients are leaving out the backdoor just after a few months.
In each of these examples, the nurse owner doesn’t need a complete overhaul. They just need to focus on their weakest link so that the entire practice can strengthen, and grow!
In the Message & Marketing Accelerator, we review your practice’s brand and marketing strategy for attracting ideal patients. Together we will:
- Discuss your patient growth goals
- Review all your current promotional materials and communication outreach
- Clarify your ideal patient avatar and create a compelling description of your services for them
- Identify what makes your practice unique and the ethos of your brand
- Build a strategy for your online presence and brand awareness
- Find opportunities to expand your professional network
- Improve processes for requesting reviews and referrals
By the end of the Message & Marketing Accelerator, you will have clarity and confidence in your message and brand because it will be uniquely aligned with you, your practice, and how you best serve your patients. You will know the best steps for communicating with and educating your target market, both online and in person.
Your message and marketing will no longer be a mystery. Instead, your message and marketing will become a powerful magnet that attracts the right kinds of patients for your specialized practice.
Topics covered in the Message & Marketing Accelerator include, but are not limited to:
- Collateral materials and brand assets (business card, brochures, letterhead, etc.)
- Digital brand building (social media, listing sites, review sites, like Yelp, etc)
- Ideal client avatar
- Marketing budget and strategies
- Professional networking and strategic partnerships
- Community outreach opportunities
- Patient communication broadcasts (newsletter, etc)
In the Patient Experience Accelerator, we review your systems and process for:
- onboarding new patients
- optimizing the patient visits (and, no, that doesn’t mean shorter visits. Quite the opposite, in fact)
- increasing reviews and referrals from patients
- and improving patient visit follow up communication
By the end of the Patient Experience Accelerator, more of your time (and your employee’s time) will be focused on patient care, and not on unnecessary admin issues.
Your patients will be happier because each time they interact with your practice, the experience is smooth and enjoyable. Patients will easily get the answers to their questions, access the resources they need, and feel cared for each step of the way.
Topics covered in the Patient Experience Accelerator include, but not limited to:
- Improving form and database processes and automations
- Implementing personable communication SOPs for onboarding new patients, patient visits, and visit follow-ups
- Payment structures and enrollment processes
- Telemedicine options and communication structure
- Schedule/Time management
- Ways to personalize the process for each patient
In the Team Building Accelerator, we review your systems and process for:
- Setting the culture of your practice
- Identifying and hiring quality candidates
- Writing enticing job descriptions
- Structuring job positions (W2, 1099, etc)
- Comprehensive compensation packages
- Employee standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Job training
- HIPPA & OSHA compliance
- Performance evaluations and feedback
By the end of your Team Building Accelerator, you will have a clear step-by-step system for recruiting, training, and managing the best teams for your practice!
Each employee have clear expectations and processes for their roles and, most importantly, they will be the right culture fit for your practice and the patients you serve!
Topics covered in the Team Building Accelerator include, but not limited to:
- Communicating the values and core beliefs of your practice
- Recruiting and interviewing top candidates
- Structuring compensation packages that make people excited to work for you (Hint: it’s not only about money)
- Employee handbooks and formalized training processes
- Setting clear expectations and running effective team meetings
How the Keystone Accelerator Process Works:
Take the Keystone Self-Audit
To get you where you want to go, we need to know where you’re starting. Our self-audits accomplish 2 things:
- Guide you through a process that gives you clarity on your keystone and see opportunities for improvement
- Give your coach an in-depth view on what’s working and what’s not.
Your self-audit is the foundation upon which we craft your coaching and support!
Professional Review
Once you fill out the audit, your personal coach, Veronica Pike, president and co-founder of AANE, will review your materials prior to your strategy-building consult.
Strategy-Building Consult
Next, it’s time to collaborate! Together, you and Veronica will have a 90 minute session where you discuss your specific challenges and what you’d like to accomplish in the next 90 days.
Based on her years of experience owning multiple practices and coaching hundreds of nurse owners, Veronica will help you see the stepping stones for reaching your goals while avoiding common mistakes. The strategy-building consult sets you up for success!
90-Day Keystone Game Plan
Based on your strategy-building consult, Veronica will send you your custom 90-Day Keystone Game Plan. This is your guide for activities, timelines, and milestones to help you strengthen your Keystone quickly and effectively.
Monthly 1-1 Coaching
Next, it’s time to collaborate! Together, you and Veronica will have a 90 minute session where you discuss your specific challenges and what you’d like to accomplish in the next 90 days. Based on here years of experience owning multiple practices and coaching hundreds of nurse owners, Veronica will help you see the stepping stones for reaching your goals while avoiding common mistakes. The strategy-building consult sets you up for success!
Get my Self Audit
About The American American Academy of Nurse Entrepreneurs:
The American Academy of Nurse Entrepreneurs (AANE) has a long-standing mission to help NPs build sustainable practices.
We want more nurses to be able to serve more communities.
We want nurses to know how to build practices that support work/life balance for the nurse-entrepreneur and the people they employ.
We want to be a part of the solution for improving our nation’s healthcare and providing more quality healthcare options to patients, especially in under-served communities.
A Letter From Veronica
Veronica co-founded Med2You, a healthcare company based in Austin, Texas that provides primary and psychiatric care to underserved populations with a completely remote care team led by nurse practitioners.
Veronica started her business as a single provider with a mobile “doctor bag,” cellphone and a laptop. She has since built her company to a team of nurse practitioners, physicians, and administrative personnel with operations throughout Texas.
As a family nurse practitioner and entrepreneur who has operated her own practice since 2013, Veronica knows the unique challenges and needs APNs have when navigating the business, legal and regulatory components of starting and operating a thriving healthcare practice.
Now, her mission is to put this knowledge in the hands of other advanced practice nurses so that they can realize their full potential as clinicians, entrepreneurs and leaders in their community.
With her business partner, Griffin Mulcahey, a healthcare regulatory attorney, Veronica has designed the educational programs, resources, and community support network that is the American Academy of Nurse Entrepreneurs (AANE).
Veronica is also a sought-after speaker around the country. She speaks to healthcare entrepreneurs, clinicians, hospitals, and associations – proudly educating and helping the growing community of healthcare entrepreneurs who are giving more options and better care to communities around the country.
