Once you’ve decided to add sleep to your list of services — either under the umbrella of your current practice or as a completely new entity — you’ve got work to do. Part of growing your OSA business should include a team of alliances: your Justice League of Appliances, your Fellowship of the (Sno)rings, your Apnea Avengers! Where do you find these superheros of health? Right beneath your nose.
Tap In to the Medical Community
Some of your greatest assets are the people who are already in the know about sleep apnea. This includes referring doctors, such as primary care physicians, ENTs, and allergists. Another untapped resource is EMTs or other first responders who may be called out in the middle of the night because an apnea sufferer has temporarily stopped breathing. It’s not enough to slip them a business card and move on, though. You have to stay in front of them so that when the opportunity arrives, they remember to refer YOU to a potential sleep apnea patient instead of giving them a referral for a battery of expensive tests.
Your Online Presence Matters
As a successful practice owner, you already know about the importance of an online presence. This is just as important when you’re trying to get a sleep practice off the ground — even if you’re not opting to open a dedicated practice for the time being. The alliances you build in your local medical community want to see for themselves that you know what you’re doing. They want to see that you have a website focused on educating the community about the dangers of OSA, online listings on Google and YellowPages, and a number of positive reviews from the patients you’ve helped. If they’re taking a chance on recommending you to someone in need, they want to know what you’re projecting online.
Before you start passing out those business cards and change the shingle in front of your practice doorway, put a team of like-minded professionals together. After all, what is Batman without Robin? Frodo without Sam? Captain America without Thor? Put together your own group of superheroes — that shall be called … The A(pnea) Team!