Expand your Practice with Anorectal Manometry – Part II
Connect with Your Community
Seeking a new way to expand your practice and generate new revenue? In Part I of this blog, we discussed how to examine your existing patient base to identify people who might benefit from anorectal exams. In Part II, we explore developing alliances with organizations in your community to expand your pool of patients for the exam and possibly for therapy.
With an open mind and a little creative thinking, you can identify community organizations and resources and develop a strategy to forge connections that will help enlarge your patient base and benefit those organizations as well:
Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Communities
Fecal incontinence is among the major reasons seniors enter nursing homes. The difficulties of caring for a loved one with toileting issues are significant for family members—and so too for nursing home staff. Partnering with nursing homes and assisted care facilities to diagnose and potentially treat these patients can expand your exam volume dramatically.
While nursing homes may have relationships with physicians providing general patient care, they may not have specialized expertise in your treatment areas. Moreover, nursing home staff may not even be aware that patients with defecation problems may improve with appropriate treatment and that effective treatment begins with a precise diagnosis. Delivering exams onsite will typically be a benefit for elderly patients. Because mCompass® is portable and anorectal manometry can be delivered by a nurse or medical technician, administering exams in almost any location, including nursing homes, is simple and practical. With mcompass disposable catheters, probe disinfection is not an issue.
Senior Living Communities
While many seniors may not be experiencing full-blown incontinence, some may be beginning to experience soiling, chronic constipation and related issues. Naturally, diagnosing and addressing these problems early on is a benefit. But many people will be reluctant to admit to problems.
Developing a presentation on a broader related topic such as senior nutrition and digestive issues, gut health—a popular topic today—or digestive issues and aging is an excellent way to connect with a new potential patient group and start a conversation. Many senior communities present lectures and educational workshops and are looking for speakers. Keeping your focus somewhat broad but at the same time touching on issues relevant to constipation and incontinence will make your discussion more appealing and help generate attendance. Distribute literature or a link to a relevant web page on your site to enable those who may have a problem to contact you.
New Mothers
Pregnancy and delivery bring a host of pelvic floor-related problems, which can be diagnosed with anorectal manometry—and often treated as well. Speaking about postpartum health-related matters at new mothers groups is an effective way to connect with this population. These groups are numerous and easy to find. The process is similar to the process described above.
Referring Physicians
Of course, recommendations from referring physicians represent an excellent way to expand your patient base. Don’t overlook the full range of doctors who might provide references. These include gerontologists, OB/GYNs, pediatricians, primary care, and many others. Many physicians may be unaware of the benefits of anorectal testing, that the exam can be administered in a physician’s office and that they are covered under many insurance codes. If your practice has a marketing team, call on them for help. Or simply meet with potential referrers as you likely have done in the past to grow your referral network.
Why refer anorectal exams to hospitals when they can become a profitable treatment offering for your practice? Compact, portable, affordable, and easy-to-use, mcompass makes anorectal manometry practical for any medical practice. Contact us today to learn more.