One of the chief reasons for Practo’s existence is to make doctors’ lives easier by empowering them with the right tools and information. We’ve spoken extensively about the best practices in running a medical practice on the Practo Blog. We wanted to add to that by taking real-world examples, and analysing how you can apply that information to your own practice.

While searching for examples, we realised that Practo has started from scratch and has gone on to carve a niche for itself, and in the process of doing so, has learnt some valuable lessons. Running a medical practice may not be exactly like running a business, but we’re sure that you might have noticed the similarities. We’d like to share what we’ve learnt, with the hope that you get some insights on running an efficient practice.

So here’s a sneak peek at Practo’s playbook:

Setting goals and measuring progress

Every organisation needs to grow, and it is important to first define what ‘growth’ means. One key indicator of growth is the number of visitors on practo.com. We set targets based on market research, and once we have a concrete number to shoot for, we can measure the progress and update goals based on it. Tracking and measuring lets us know we are on track and obsessing over the goal gives direction and purpose to our efforts.

Practice tip: To a doctor, growth can mean many things – it could be the number of patients seen, or the quality of healthcare imparted. For example, quality of care can be measured by number of satisfied patients versus the number of total patients. This kind of a quality score can help in ensuring great patient experience.

Don’t reinvent the wheel

As a young company, some of the challenges we face have already been encountered by others. So, instead of trying coming up with a solution from scratch, we speak to other vendors and players in the field to see how they’ve solved those problems. Applying those insights to our own problem-solving process saves time and increases efficiency.

Practice tip: Similarly, challenges faced by doctors in India are quite common. No matter how unique your problem seems, it’s highly likely that other doctors have also faced something similar. As you know, our blog has a lot of information on managing a medical practice effectively. You can try posting in Doctor forums, ask other doctors, or just plain old Google it. You may get some valuable insights on how to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.

Stay customer-obsessed

The customer is the entire reason for any company to stay alive. Putting the customer first is Practo’s guiding philosophy. Any decision we take is first gauged on its impact on the customer. Keeping the customer in the forefront of all business decisions is a surefire way of ensuring maximum customer satisfaction.

Practice tip: Analogously, the patient is the whole point of the clinic’s existence. As discussed earlier, any goal you set for your practice should factor in your patients. Making sure that they are well tended to, and putting the patient first in all decisions regarding the clinic will be conducive to meeting those goals. More about improving patient experience.

Increase awareness about your value

Practo.com is the best place to find doctors online, and Practo Ray is a widely used Practice Management Software in India. Having a great service is only half the battle – communicating this value to potential customers is what will sustain long-term growth. This communication needs to be effective – we believe in being in the right place at the right time. Which means spending time on analysing where potential customers spend their time, and figuring out the best mediums to get the message across.

Practice tip: In order to run a robust practice, with enough patients to sustain it, communicating what you have to offer is smart route to take. As for the ‘right place, right time’ mantra, this could mean strategic placement of clinic signboards, or being present in medical conferences for better exposure and more referrals. Using services like Practo Reach that increase visibility to relevant patients is also a great step forward. Check out this free ebook on marketing your practice.

Conclusion

We want for our customers to lead more efficient and convenient lives – and we know we need to sustain ourselves to reach this goal. You know this applies to your practice as well. We hope these insights provide some actionable learning points to grow your practice in the right direction.