Once you realize that many of your patients will benefit from dietary supplementation, the next step is to make sure that your patients get supplements that actually benefit them.  It's not my intent to make this article a seminar on nutritional supplements, but there are several pertinent facts that should be emphasized so that you and your patients get the maximum results of any supplements that you recommend.  If your patient’s don’t see results from your recommendations then they will lose confidence in your abilities and you will lose confidence in dietary supplements, even though your patient’s would benefit from them.

The controversy over the advantages of natural supplements vs. synthetic supplements has been raging since chemists first discovered the chemical structure of organic compounds and began synthesizing them in the lab.  The chemists were able to synthesize vitamins, enzymes, and hormones with chemical formulas identical to those found in nature.  They were able to manufacture these substances at a significantly lower cost than it took to isolate them from natural sources. The assumption was, and is, that these synthetic supplements are just as effective as natural supplements, because they are chemically identical.

Nutritional counseling and supplementation is a vital component of a Lifestyle Medicine (LM) practice.  But it is much more than just prescribing a multi-vitamin supplement for your patients.

Proper nutrition is best achieved through proper diet, knowing what to eat and, just as importantly, knowing what not to eat.  The field of nutrition is still in its infancy and there is so much more that will be discovered in the future.  That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t include nutritional products in your treatment program. By applying what we already know about nutrition to your patients you can greatly improve their health.

Lifestyle Medicine is defined as the application of environmental, behavioral, medical and motivational principles to the management of lifestyle-related health problems in a clinical setting.  In practice it means that by improving overall healthy living, the patient can prevent, manage, or even reverse a wide variety of diseases.  It is not a new concept for many alternative healthcare providers, but in the world of allopathic medicine it is a relatively new idea.

Only recently has there been a big push to prevent diseases by the medical establishment.  There has been no incentive for doctors, or anyone in the medical field, to prevent diseases or manage them through lifestyle changes.  The first attempt to influence overall health was, and is, through the campaign to prevent or stop smoking.  Very recently there has been an increased push to educate the American public on a healthy diet and reduce the number of calories in the typical diet in order to fight and prevent obesity.

Since ‘preventive’ care and procedures is the buzzword of the day in healthcare, now is the time to increase nutritional supplements used in your practice.  Vitamins and other nutritional supplements will improve your patient’s health and improve your bottom line.  But, you need to be knowledgeable in the use of nutritional supplements, or have someone on your staff who is an expert in the field.

Over the next several weeks I will discuss how utilizing nutritional supplements in your practice can benefit your practice and your patient’s health.  There will be difficulties and challenge that you will face if you decide to make this transition, but the rewards will be well worth the effort.

As you look for additional areas to increase the revenue for your practice, look to include retail sales of nutritional supplements to your existing patients.  When you prescribe (recommend) nutritional support to your patients, you can make it convenient for your patients by stocking vitamins and other dietary supplements right in your office.  Alternative healthcare providers have been doing this for years to increase their revenue and to ensure that their patients take home the appropriate nutritional supplements.  Whether they actually take the supplements is another matter, but at least you’ve done what you can as their doctor.

As a physician, becoming part of a physician referral network is one of the best things you can do for your medical practice. You’ll build relationships that will help ensure the success of your practice even as other sources of revenue evaporate due to changes in the economy and health care system. You can either join an existing referral network or, if you prefer, create one of your own by seeking out and cultivating relationships with other physicians.

If you join an existing network, you’ll have to evaluate it carefully to determine whether or not it meets your needs. To maximize referrals, be sure there are relatively few physicians in your specialty within the network. Make sure the network conforms to patient rules and laws and that the software or platform is easy for your staff to use.

Let’s use the definition of alcoholism provided by the AMA approved by the Boards of Directors of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (February 3, 1990) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (February 25, 1990).:

“Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial."

Can you substitute the word ‘obesity’ for ‘alcoholism’ and ‘eating’ for ‘drinking’ and still make to definition accurate?  Most patients dealing with obesity and healthcare professionals treating obesity would clearly answer the question with a resounding ‘YES’.

Concierge Medicine (CM) is a concept where patients pay an annual fee, similar to a retainer fee that attorneys receive, that allows the payee constant access to their personal physician.  The fee can range from $1000 to $15000 per year, but averages $1500-1800 per patient.  For this fee the patient receives 24/7 access to their personal physician, priority scheduling, and maybe discounts on routine and preventative screenings.  It sounds like a good deal for the patient, but what are the advantages and disadvantages for the doctor?

IBM: Our goal is simply stated.  We want to be the best service organization in the world.

Google: To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Facebook: To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

As a physician, your medical practice is your identity – and it is the only branding opportunity you have with your patients.  Like it or not, they associate your face with your practice and will make treatment decisions and recommendations accordingly.  Having accepted that, how do you develop a medical practice marketing strategy as a physician?

The first decision you must make is what niche you want to occupy within your specialty.  If you’re a dermatologist, do you want to be seen as the life-saver who identifies and treats skin cancer or as the Botox specialist for the masses?  If you’re a cardiologist, are you the preventative-maintenance authority who advocates lifestyle changes or the brilliant diagnostician who recommends all the right medical tests?  There is no right or wrong answer here, and every niche has value – but you need to decide how you want to brand yourself and ultimately, your practice.  A scattered marketing strategy will be ineffective because potential patients won’t be able to figure out what you have to offer them.