Working in the healthcare industry in modern times is a constant balancing act. Leading in the healthcare industry now is a balancing act on a tightrope stretched over a pit of lava while juggling the most priceless things in the world: the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people.
Leading an imaging center is a challenging position to be in. There are so many things to juggle, and all of it revolves around money. You always need more of it, but raising prices could very possibly cut your income irreparably.
If you want to see what other tricks we have up our sleeves, contact us to see what Diagnostics Marketing can do for your imaging center.
MRI Marketing Strategies: The Core Focus
Let’s face it: the MRI is not only the most commonly used imaging device – it’s the poster-machine of medical imaging. Not every imaging center has (or needs) an MRI, but most use this machine as their headliner. With how much the machine costs, maximizing profit with this one machine could make or break your entire practice.
So how do you approach this beast? There are several effective methods and approaches that you can use. To begin, we’ll start with three broad MRI Marketing strategies that draw specific demographics.
1 – The Low Cost Strategy
Nobody needs to know the exact cost of an MRI to know that it’s expensive. Because of this, in many cases, people who could benefit from an MRI will avoid getting one if it isn’t absolutely necessary. Even with imaging centers advertising “low-cost” MRIs, people tend to think about that “low-cost” in relative terms; $1,000 is cheap compared to $2,000, but still unaffordable for most people.
Because of this, if you’re going to try and utilize affordability as a key element of your overall strategy, implement it with transparency in mind. Potential patients will be much more likely to respond favorably if they can get a solid idea of what their costs would be before they even schedule an appointment. This can be implemented through a tool or widget on your website which allows visitors to input their insurance information and a few other details that would affect pricing, giving them a direct quote to show them what their out-of-pocket cost would be. This gives them the chance to place their long-term health ahead of their budgetary needs when they see that their actual cost would be much lower than they feared.
2 – The High Tech Strategy
Potential patients also respond well to evidence that a provider has the best technology or uses the most cutting-edge techniques. It is no secret that our collective scientific knowledge progresses continually. Even without following the specifics, the general population expects for their to be advances in medical care year-over-year. And, especially if they can afford it, patients want the best care they can get.
If they believe that you can provide that, then many will flock to you regardless of cost. This includes patients who are looking for second opinions as well as family members or caregivers who have a sense of responsibility toward the patient.
3 – The Comfort Strategy
MRI scans are known for being uncomfortable, claustrophobic experiences. However, with advances in the technology and design of the machines, this is no longer a necessary element of the process. Some of the newer machines have larger bores or even entirely open formats which can still give accurate results without any of the anxiety associated with the traditional machines.
If you have one of these machines, you should heavily consider placing that fact at the fore of your marketing efforts for your MRI program. This will draw a lot of attention from patients who suffer from claustrophobia, or for whom comfort is a higher priority.
Effective Digital Marketing
No matter which of the above approaches you focus on for marketing your MRI program, you should ensure that you do not neglect the digital format while formulating your overall plan. Most patients seek out answers for their medical inquiries online now. If you utilize a smart web presence, you can easily double or triple the number of patients coming through your doors in a short amount of time.
Google Places (to include business details and reviews)
A reputation management strategy that includes Google, Facebook, and one or two other review sites
A blog
Automated emails
PPC Ads
And that list only scratches the surface. Utilizing the internet as a primary marketing medium is generally cheaper than traditional advertisements and more effective in today’s marketing environment.
Which brings us to…
Marketing Outreach
You cannot neglect the importance of reaching out to physicians’ offices and hospitals in your area. Their referrals will provide a significant portion of your business. However, you must be aware that there are strategies that do and do not work for this. “Random Acts of Marketing”, as an article from DiagnosticImaging.com puts it, do not necessarily work out. Foisting pens and notepads onto your contacts at referring physicians’ offices just distracts them from the work they need to be doing. The net gain is minimal, and the costs can really stack up.
Instead of presenting your referring providers with empty gifts, take the time to get to know the members of their staff who you have to interact with as part of the business aspect. Focus on building a relationship with them. Genuine relationships will get you further than “Random Acts of Marketing”.
This does not mean that you cannot provide gifts or little “thanks yous” to your referring providers. However, you should be careful to ensure you do not get carried away.
Pro-Tip: Always be mindful of anti-kickback laws to ensure that you do not unintentionally land your organization in trouble.
How to Cut Costs in Your Medical Imaging Business
Increasing Revenue isn’t the only way to increase imaging center profitability. Increasing profits for your medical imaging business can also be done by intelligently (this really must be stressed) trimming your overhead. If you can meet all of your needs for $100k cheaper each year, then think of how that $100k could be redirected once it’s freed up.
Don’t Sacrifice Long-Term Success for Short-Term Gain
In other words, don’t be short-sighted. Be careful how you make your cuts. Cutting employees, employee pay, or benefits could be especially harmful. The healthcare industry, more than most others, relies on the expertise of its employees. Cutting into that foundation of expertise could do more harm than good in the long run.
Invest in Updates
Some cost-cutting efforts may involve some heftier up-front payments to upgrade systems or train employees on new processes. However, you may find that the updates pay for themselves in short periods of time. This article by imsimed.com includes a few good examples, such as putting an end to CD-burning for patient images. There are now several options to move more processes to the cloud for patient convenience, which could ultimately prove to be cheaper.
Lead Magnets and Automated Emails
Lead magnets are a great tool for building a contact list. This process typically involves writing articles, which can be buffed by smart SEO content or boosted by a small ad pay, which attract an audience by answering questions or giving advice that people actively need and want. These can focus on things like “MRI at an imaging center vs at a hospital” or “Three easy tips for making your next hospital visit cheaper”. Then, readers will be prompted to give an email address to receive more, similar content.
This gives you an easy method for gathering email addresses, which can be useful for ad pushes or for building a knowledgeable reputation among your subscribers. These users can be targeted by your email campaigns as needed. Using combinations of magnets and marketing automation like this can provide an easy method for pulling in more revenue for an imaging center.
Getting More Revenue for Your Imaging Center Will Take Work
This much is obvious, sure. But it needs to be said. It won’t be easy, even with these tips – but we’ve worked to make it as easy as possible for you. Utilizing a mix of cost-cutting and advanced MRI marketing strategies, you should be able to give your imaging center’s profitability a boost. No more balancing over that pit of lava – let your competition do that.
If you want to see what other tricks we have up our sleeves, contact us to see what Diagnostics Marketing can do for your imaging center.
There are two important questions to answer relating to starting an imaging center.
The first is:Should you open a diagnostic imaging center? The answer to this one will vary depending on who’s asking it.
The second is perhaps more important and needs to be answered first:What does it take to start an imaging center?
This article is going to give you everything you need to know about building an imaging center so you can come to an informed conclusion on whether or not this endeavor is right for you.
Setting up a marketing strategy for your new imaging center?
Before you start creating a vision and a marketing plan for a new imaging center, you’ll want to do some research. For your radiology center business plan, Imaging center profitability may be on a long-term upward trend, but with healthcare reform and economic changes, there are no guarantees. Is it worth the risk? The only way to answer this is to do the research specific to your situation and location.
Starting an imaging center is not cheap.
You’ll have to put in a lot of money upfront and it can take time to start making a profit. Will you need investors, a business partner, or some loans? Crunching the numbers should be your first step.
These are dozens of questions you will want to ask yourself in order to determine whether starting an imaging center is a good choice for you. Questions will help guide your research and planning into the financial and marketing aspects of opening an imaging center.
Consider The Location You’re Thinking About Opening an Imaging Center In
The number one rule of all real estate is location, location. location. Sounds easy but there some specific considerations to take into account when we are talking about where to open an imaging center.
Locations near physician’s offices and near the hospital are ideal.
More specifically, your imaging center should be located near the offices of your Referring Physicians. It needs to be accessible and convenient for the patients. Often a physician will recommend a certain test for a patient and tell the patient to come back to his office when it is completed.
Even if a test is not able to be performed immediately or even in the next few days, the patient likely lives or works nearby or at least is familiar with the area.
Pick a location that’s easy to find
If the patient cannot easily locate the radiology imaging center his or her physician recommended, it is the patient’s prerogative to go to any location he or she chooses. Missed appointments mean your radiology marketing budget is taking a hit.
Diagnostics Building Specifications
It is difficult to find a free-standing building that is suitable for all of the requirements for an outpatient imaging center. Even if your chosen building was built as an imaging center, changes will likely have to be made.
It’s up to you to make sure your facility meets all the requirements.
Look and Feel of the Place
Additionally, you’ll want to consider the overall appearance of the center both inside and out. If the building is old and the rooms are cramped, it could steer potential patients and referring physicians away from you.
Parking and Public Transportation to your Imaging Center
There must be enough parking spaces and many patients will need handicapped spaces. If the building is not free-standing, you must be cognizant of the types of businesses above your planned imaging center.
Ideally, your imaging center will be located within easy reach of public transportation. Otherwise, you are limiting your patient pool to those who have a vehicle.
MRI Specific Considerations
You must carefully consider the ideal location for the MRI room.
The MRI machine should be placed in an RF-shielded (radio-frequency) room.
The MRI space consists of three nested components:
An outer shell for structural support
A middle metallic RF-shield
An interior layer made of finish materials
It takes extra space for these items and they must be constructed properly. It can not be too close to moving traffic as that may interfere with the machine’s capabilities.
Steer Clear of ALL METAL
If metal is allowed in the room, catastrophe will ensue. Many times a “foyer” is constructed at the entrance to the MRI room with metal detectors to ensure there are no mistakes.
Consider The Noise of the MRI
The machine is noisy when in use and will possibly be a nuisance to any upstairs or even downstairs neighbors. If your facility is not in a stand-alone building you should assess the possibility of upsetting your neighbors. You also want to take into account any area of your facility that may be sound sensitive and make sure it’s not near any noisy equipment.
Additional MRI Considerations
Depending on where you are, the MRI may have to be a minimum distance away from moving vehicles as well. This includes lawnmowers and trash collection trucks when they are in use.
CT & X-Ray Machines
The x-ray room and the CT room will have to be lead lined. There will be questions about storage and elimination of any chemicals that may be needed for any specialty machines. Newer machines may not be as “hazardous” as older machines so a decision concerning what radiographic machines to purchase may have to be done prior to the final plans for the building.
Installing The Equipment
Remember, the machines to be installed are more often than not very large and very heavy. They will not fit through a doorway. Often the outside wall of the building will have to be removed for the installation, especially for the MRI. After installation, the wall, as well as any required lining, will have to re-installed. The ceiling of the room also will have to be lined.
The Pros Know Best
Start an imaging center: After deliberating and choosing a suitable location for your center, the hard work begins. Even if the building is already built, even as an imaging center, work will have to be done to the premises.
The layout of the facility should be designed by a professional in the area of imaging centers. Dimensions of rooms may vary wildly depending on the footprint of the proposed or existing building.
An MRI requires definitive parameters that a CT exam room or a room for a plain x-ray machine will not need. You’ll need to think about the width of the hallways and the location of the different modalities, as well as the location of the front desk and even the bathrooms.
Think your plans are done? Not till Uncle Sam says so!
After getting the plans drawn and approved by all of the stakeholders involved in the project, the process is just beginning. The county will have its say on the construction or the remodeling of the buildings. There will be details from the building department of your county that may also have specifications for the build of the center. They will go over every aspect in detail. You may think you have thought of every contingency but this is rarely the case.
Where are the exits on the building? Where will the fire extinguishers be placed? Don’t forget about those required pesky water fountains. What about sprinkler heads? Oh no, this may interfere with the MRI machine. You may also have to educate the authorities on the requirements of the machines you will be installing. It can be a difficult and tedious process.
Keeping Your Patients Happy
The entrance to your facility is very important. You need to be sure it makes all patients feel welcome and at ease. Keeping your patients happy also means the look of the interior is crucial. An interior decorator may be utilized to get the perfect “feel” of the imaging center.
Think Beyond The Building
A beautiful facility is a great start, but before you need to think ahead. How will you attract top-notch employees? How can you get 5-star online reviews ethically right out the gate? Established competitors have already considered these points and if you want to succeed you cannot overlook them.
Now that you have your plans in place, the land or building is purchased or at least under contract or option, it is time to begin. You may have thought that getting to this point was difficult but more work, the hard work, is about to begin.
Start an imaging center: Using a Contractor
You may have a contractor or you may have decided to handle the renovations or building yourself. It is not impossible and can be done. By now you know your design inside out. Your contractor should too but it is still your money. If mistakes are made, you are the one who will have to live with them.
Go to the site daily and check on everything.
From the site preparation to the actual building of the imaging center, if the site work is off and needs to be fixed at a later date, you will have to pay for it. Since you’re already paying a pretty penny, you’re not going to want to tack on extra costs because of a misunderstanding. Mistakes can be fixed, but always at a cost, and most often you will have to pay the bill.
Using a Foreman
If you have decided to be your own contractor, hire a foreman. A good foreman can save you aggravation and money. Not only can he take care of the details, but he should be able to set up an approximate, or definitive timeline for the completion of the work as well as a reliable cost. His knowledge will be invaluable.
Building a Great Staff for your Radiology Center Business Plan
Building a great staff for your imaging center takes time and effort. Consider hiring a chief technologist and let him or her interview prospective employees. If you have chosen well, that person will make a list of individuals they have worked with in the past and will know who is good and who is not. Their judgment may be better than yours in this case.
Don’t wait for your building to be completed to begin this step. Relocating, leaving another job, and upcoming travel can all play a part in when your new employees can start, not to mention training time.
Imaging Center Profitability: Co-ordinate your schedule with the vendors of your equipment.
Your machines should be ready to be installed at the proper time in relation to the building. The realization is that often what the salesman told you and reality may be different. The fact of the matter is that things may have changed over time. You should check and recheck all of the details to make this step as smooth as possible.
Finally, You Are Ready To Open Your Imaging Center
After following this guide to start an imaging center, you’ll be ready to, well, open the place! You overcame a lot to get here, now the real work begins.
Your next big hurdle is to go out there and get the business. Go for it. You can do this!
Have you done your research? Get the knowledge to get ahead!
There are two important questions to answer relating to starting an imaging center.
The first is:Should you open a diagnostic imaging center? The answer to this one will vary depending on who’s asking it.
The second is perhaps more important and needs to be answered first:What does it take to start an imaging center?
This article is going to give you everything you need to know about building an imaging center so you can come to an informed conclusion on whether or not this endeavor is right for you.
Setting up a marketing strategy for your new imaging center?
Before you start creating a vision and a marketing plan for a new imaging center, you’ll want to do some research. For your radiology center business plan, Imaging center profitability may be on a long-term upward trend, but with healthcare reform and economic changes, there are no guarantees. Is it worth the risk? The only way to answer this is to do the research specific to your situation and location.
Starting an imaging center is not cheap.
You’ll have to put in a lot of money upfront and it can take time to start making a profit. Will you need investors, a business partner, or some loans? Crunching the numbers should be your first step.
These are dozens of questions you will want to ask yourself in order to determine whether starting an imaging center is a good choice for you. Questions will help guide your research and planning into the financial and marketing aspects of opening an imaging center.
Consider The Location You’re Thinking About Opening an Imaging Center In
The number one rule of all real estate is location, location. location. Sounds easy but there some specific considerations to take into account when we are talking about where to open an imaging center.
Locations near physician’s offices and near the hospital are ideal.
More specifically, your imaging center should be located near the offices of your Referring Physicians. It needs to be accessible and convenient for the patients. Often a physician will recommend a certain test for a patient and tell the patient to come back to his office when it is completed.
Even if a test is not able to be performed immediately or even in the next few days, the patient likely lives or works nearby or at least is familiar with the area.
Pick a location that’s easy to find
If the patient cannot easily locate the radiology imaging center his or her physician recommended, it is the patient’s prerogative to go to any location he or she chooses. Missed appointments mean your radiology marketing budget is taking a hit.
Diagnostics Building Specifications
It is difficult to find a free-standing building that is suitable for all of the requirements for an outpatient imaging center. Even if your chosen building was built as an imaging center, changes will likely have to be made.
It’s up to you to make sure your facility meets all the requirements.
Look and Feel of the Place
Additionally, you’ll want to consider the overall appearance of the center both inside and out. If the building is old and the rooms are cramped, it could steer potential patients and referring physicians away from you.
Parking and Public Transportation to your Imaging Center
There must be enough parking spaces and many patients will need handicapped spaces. If the building is not free-standing, you must be cognizant of the types of businesses above your planned imaging center.
Ideally, your imaging center will be located within easy reach of public transportation. Otherwise, you are limiting your patient pool to those who have a vehicle.
MRI Specific Considerations
You must carefully consider the ideal location for the MRI room.
The MRI machine should be placed in an RF-shielded (radio-frequency) room.
The MRI space consists of three nested components:
An outer shell for structural support
A middle metallic RF-shield
An interior layer made of finish materials
It takes extra space for these items and they must be constructed properly. It can not be too close to moving traffic as that may interfere with the machine’s capabilities.
Steer Clear of ALL METAL
If metal is allowed in the room, catastrophe will ensue. Many times a “foyer” is constructed at the entrance to the MRI room with metal detectors to ensure there are no mistakes.
Consider The Noise of the MRI
The machine is noisy when in use and will possibly be a nuisance to any upstairs or even downstairs neighbors. If your facility is not in a stand-alone building you should assess the possibility of upsetting your neighbors. You also want to take into account any area of your facility that may be sound sensitive and make sure it’s not near any noisy equipment.
Additional MRI Considerations
Depending on where you are, the MRI may have to be a minimum distance away from moving vehicles as well. This includes lawnmowers and trash collection trucks when they are in use.
CT & X-Ray Machines
The x-ray room and the CT room will have to be lead lined. There will be questions about storage and elimination of any chemicals that may be needed for any specialty machines. Newer machines may not be as “hazardous” as older machines so a decision concerning what radiographic machines to purchase may have to be done prior to the final plans for the building.
Installing The Equipment
Remember, the machines to be installed are more often than not very large and very heavy. They will not fit through a doorway. Often the outside wall of the building will have to be removed for the installation, especially for the MRI. After installation, the wall, as well as any required lining, will have to re-installed. The ceiling of the room also will have to be lined.
The Pros Know Best
Start an imaging center: After deliberating and choosing a suitable location for your center, the hard work begins. Even if the building is already built, even as an imaging center, work will have to be done to the premises.
The layout of the facility should be designed by a professional in the area of imaging centers. Dimensions of rooms may vary wildly depending on the footprint of the proposed or existing building.
An MRI requires definitive parameters that a CT exam room or a room for a plain x-ray machine will not need. You’ll need to think about the width of the hallways and the location of the different modalities, as well as the location of the front desk and even the bathrooms.
Think your plans are done? Not till Uncle Sam says so!
After getting the plans drawn and approved by all of the stakeholders involved in the project, the process is just beginning. The county will have its say on the construction or the remodeling of the buildings. There will be details from the building department of your county that may also have specifications for the build of the center. They will go over every aspect in detail. You may think you have thought of every contingency but this is rarely the case.
Where are the exits on the building? Where will the fire extinguishers be placed? Don’t forget about those required pesky water fountains. What about sprinkler heads? Oh no, this may interfere with the MRI machine. You may also have to educate the authorities on the requirements of the machines you will be installing. It can be a difficult and tedious process.
Keeping Your Patients Happy
The entrance to your facility is very important. You need to be sure it makes all patients feel welcome and at ease. Keeping your patients happy also means the look of the interior is crucial. An interior decorator may be utilized to get the perfect “feel” of the imaging center.
Think Beyond The Building
A beautiful facility is a great start, but before you need to think ahead. How will you attract top-notch employees? How can you get 5-star online reviews ethically right out the gate? Established competitors have already considered these points and if you want to succeed you cannot overlook them.
Now that you have your plans in place, the land or building is purchased or at least under contract or option, it is time to begin. You may have thought that getting to this point was difficult but more work, the hard work, is about to begin.
Start an imaging center: Using a Contractor
You may have a contractor or you may have decided to handle the renovations or building yourself. It is not impossible and can be done. By now you know your design inside out. Your contractor should too but it is still your money. If mistakes are made, you are the one who will have to live with them.
Go to the site daily and check on everything.
From the site preparation to the actual building of the imaging center, if the site work is off and needs to be fixed at a later date, you will have to pay for it. Since you’re already paying a pretty penny, you’re not going to want to tack on extra costs because of a misunderstanding. Mistakes can be fixed, but always at a cost, and most often you will have to pay the bill.
Using a Foreman
If you have decided to be your own contractor, hire a foreman. A good foreman can save you aggravation and money. Not only can he take care of the details, but he should be able to set up an approximate, or definitive timeline for the completion of the work as well as a reliable cost. His knowledge will be invaluable.
Building a Great Staff for your Radiology Center Business Plan
Building a great staff for your imaging center takes time and effort. Consider hiring a chief technologist and let him or her interview prospective employees. If you have chosen well, that person will make a list of individuals they have worked with in the past and will know who is good and who is not. Their judgment may be better than yours in this case.
Don’t wait for your building to be completed to begin this step. Relocating, leaving another job, and upcoming travel can all play a part in when your new employees can start, not to mention training time.
Imaging Center Profitability: Co-ordinate your schedule with the vendors of your equipment.
Your machines should be ready to be installed at the proper time in relation to the building. The realization is that often what the salesman told you and reality may be different. The fact of the matter is that things may have changed over time. You should check and recheck all of the details to make this step as smooth as possible.
Finally, You Are Ready To Open Your Imaging Center
After following this guide to start an imaging center, you’ll be ready to, well, open the place! You overcame a lot to get here, now the real work begins.
Your next big hurdle is to go out there and get the business. Go for it. You can do this!
Have you done your research? Get the knowledge to get ahead!
Owning an Imaging Center used to be a direct path to riches. Not anymore. In the past, before the Stark Law, anyone could open an imaging center, provide an incentive to physicians in the area to refer all of their patient exams to the center, and you were assured of success. Today patients are more proactive than ever when it comes to selecting a medical provider.
Whether your imaging center is new or not, you won’t get far without patients.
Patients are at the core of any diagnostics center, new or old. Give your patients a reason to choose you over your competitors by building and maintaining trust through excellent service and great online reviews.
It’s especially important to generate positive online reviews from happy patients when you’re new to the game.
In 1988, Stark introduced an “Ethics in Patient Referrals Act” bill concerning physician self-referrals. Thus the Stark Law was enacted. It was a good law for all patients in the US. Many imaging centers have tried to outsmart the laws but it is not to be. Thus physicians have few, if any, incentives to refer to your imaging center.
However, all is not lost. Patients still have to have exams and physicians still have to refer them. The trick is to get your imaging center to be the main referral center. Some physicians will never send to you. They have allegiance to the center they are sending their patients to.
Front desk clerks do not always want to make changes. They may have been in communication with others at the center they are sending to and feel obligated to send to them. It is difficult to change habits and to get people to adapt to new ways of doing things, regardless of the benefits. How many times have you heard ”but we have always done it this way.”
Your job is to encourage them to give you a chance. Remember, they are very busy and are used to the way they have always done things. You have to give them a reason why your center is better and why they should refer to you. If the physician-employer tells their front desk to use you, they certainly will. If the patient requests your center, the physician’s office will have no choice but to oblige them. However, barring that, you will have to be very convincing if you want to open an imaging center.
Open an Imaging Center: Money, Money, Money
The reason to spend your time and finances and take a chance on an imaging center is, to be blunt, money. If you do not work hard and have faith and confidence, along with good solid numbers from extensive research, you definitely will not succeed. You might as well take a trip to Las Vegas and put all of your and your stakeholder’s money on red.
There is a much better chance with an Imaging Center if you have done your homework and have a method for success. Before even purchasing the land and building your Center, you must do some homework. There are important questions that have to be answered.
If you open an imaging center, who are the radiologists you will be using?
What will be the costs of the radiologists?
Are the radiologists considered to be good in their field by the referring offices?
Have you included the cost of maintenance contracts in your budget?
Have you taken into consideration the time your machines might be down for maintenance?
Have you researched the possible billing alternatives?
Is it cheaper for you to do the billing in your office or are you going to utilize a service?
If you are going to do the billing yourself, can you collect more or less than a service?
Do you have the physical resources to handle billing in your office?
Is your estimated budget for your center realistic?
Do you have a big enough bankroll to carry your center until it is cash flow positive?
Have you researched the reimbursement for the scans you will be providing?
Have you taken into account a decrease in the possible reimbursement?
Have you considered and pursued hospital affiliations that may increase your reimbursement?
Have you taken into account the possible overstatements by physicians offices?
Have you researched the possibility of success against other centers being utilized by physicians offices?
Have you started the paperwork to join different insurance plans?
Do you have a plan to reach the financial goals necessary for the center to be viable?
How long will it take to reach this goal?
Decisions
After researching these questions you need to be critical and decide if the answers warrant opening an imaging center. How much experience do you have, not only running a business but in the medical field in particular? There are always more problems on the horizon that you may have thought about. And it will be your job to solve them.
If you have made the jump to open a center, or perhaps you already have one, it is time to get serious about obtaining patients. You have to work on this every day. It is the backbone of your business. Anyone can open a business but not everyone has the ability to make it thrive.
If you need professional help, get it. This includes all aspects of your business. Often it is cheaper to pay for someone’s expertise than to learn it the hard way. Time is indeed money. The bills do not take a vacation because you want to. You will have to come back to reality when your employees are to be paid. They are not concerned about your cash flow, only you are.
To open an imaging center, you must be innovative in finding ways to obtain more patients. Figure out what patients are looking for in an imaging center. It often relates to costs. In today’s market with deductibles so high, many patients of the past are going without the necessary tests.
Many businesses are attempting to cut costs and may be self-insured. Many victims of accidents want auto insurance to pay their bills but do not know how to make it happen. What can you do to help with their problem and solve yours at the same time?
The answers are out there. You only need to find them.
Gaining knowledge of your local market is the first step in creating an effective diagnostic marketing plan.
Owning an Imaging Center used to be a direct path to riches. Not anymore. In the past, before the Stark Law, anyone could open an imaging center, provide an incentive to physicians in the area to refer all of their patient exams to the center, and you were assured of success. Today patients are more proactive than ever when it comes to selecting a medical provider.
Whether your imaging center is new or not, you won’t get far without patients.
Patients are at the core of any diagnostics center, new or old. Give your patients a reason to choose you over your competitors by building and maintaining trust through excellent service and great online reviews.
It’s especially important to generate positive online reviews from happy patients when you’re new to the game.
In 1988, Stark introduced an “Ethics in Patient Referrals Act” bill concerning physician self-referrals. Thus the Stark Law was enacted. It was a good law for all patients in the US. Many imaging centers have tried to outsmart the laws but it is not to be. Thus physicians have few, if any, incentives to refer to your imaging center.
However, all is not lost. Patients still have to have exams and physicians still have to refer them. The trick is to get your imaging center to be the main referral center. Some physicians will never send to you. They have allegiance to the center they are sending their patients to.
Front desk clerks do not always want to make changes. They may have been in communication with others at the center they are sending to and feel obligated to send to them. It is difficult to change habits and to get people to adapt to new ways of doing things, regardless of the benefits. How many times have you heard ”but we have always done it this way.”
Your job is to encourage them to give you a chance. Remember, they are very busy and are used to the way they have always done things. You have to give them a reason why your center is better and why they should refer to you. If the physician-employer tells their front desk to use you, they certainly will. If the patient requests your center, the physician’s office will have no choice but to oblige them. However, barring that, you will have to be very convincing if you want to open an imaging center.
Open an Imaging Center: Money, Money, Money
The reason to spend your time and finances and take a chance on an imaging center is, to be blunt, money. If you do not work hard and have faith and confidence, along with good solid numbers from extensive research, you definitely will not succeed. You might as well take a trip to Las Vegas and put all of your and your stakeholder’s money on red.
There is a much better chance with an Imaging Center if you have done your homework and have a method for success. Before even purchasing the land and building your Center, you must do some homework. There are important questions that have to be answered.
If you open an imaging center, who are the radiologists you will be using?
What will be the costs of the radiologists?
Are the radiologists considered to be good in their field by the referring offices?
Have you included the cost of maintenance contracts in your budget?
Have you taken into consideration the time your machines might be down for maintenance?
Have you researched the possible billing alternatives?
Is it cheaper for you to do the billing in your office or are you going to utilize a service?
If you are going to do the billing yourself, can you collect more or less than a service?
Do you have the physical resources to handle billing in your office?
Is your estimated budget for your center realistic?
Do you have a big enough bankroll to carry your center until it is cash flow positive?
Have you researched the reimbursement for the scans you will be providing?
Have you taken into account a decrease in the possible reimbursement?
Have you considered and pursued hospital affiliations that may increase your reimbursement?
Have you taken into account the possible overstatements by physicians offices?
Have you researched the possibility of success against other centers being utilized by physicians offices?
Have you started the paperwork to join different insurance plans?
Do you have a plan to reach the financial goals necessary for the center to be viable?
How long will it take to reach this goal?
Decisions
After researching these questions you need to be critical and decide if the answers warrant opening an imaging center. How much experience do you have, not only running a business but in the medical field in particular? There are always more problems on the horizon that you may have thought about. And it will be your job to solve them.
If you have made the jump to open a center, or perhaps you already have one, it is time to get serious about obtaining patients. You have to work on this every day. It is the backbone of your business. Anyone can open a business but not everyone has the ability to make it thrive.
If you need professional help, get it. This includes all aspects of your business. Often it is cheaper to pay for someone’s expertise than to learn it the hard way. Time is indeed money. The bills do not take a vacation because you want to. You will have to come back to reality when your employees are to be paid. They are not concerned about your cash flow, only you are.
To open an imaging center, you must be innovative in finding ways to obtain more patients. Figure out what patients are looking for in an imaging center. It often relates to costs. In today’s market with deductibles so high, many patients of the past are going without the necessary tests.
Many businesses are attempting to cut costs and may be self-insured. Many victims of accidents want auto insurance to pay their bills but do not know how to make it happen. What can you do to help with their problem and solve yours at the same time?
The answers are out there. You only need to find them.
Gaining knowledge of your local market is the first step in creating an effective diagnostic marketing plan.
Marketing to physicians should be a cornerstone of any imaging center’s overall strategy.
Effectively marketing to physicians comes down to professional relationships. Building and maintaining relationships with both current and prospective referring physicians is the name of the game. Email is an effective and surprisingly personal method for doing just that.
But what should your radiology email marketing convey? When should you send them? And how do you determine what’s working and what’s not?
Needless to say, setting up automated email funnels for various groups can be tricky. Today we are here to help you build your roadmap to email success.
But before we dive in, remember, your marketing is only as good as your reputation.
If your reviews are less than stellar, not only will patients look elsewhere for care, physicians will look elsewhere when sending referrals.
Writing physician emails to increase patient referrals
First and foremost, your focus should be on your physician emails. Since doctors are the ones referring patients to your facility for diagnostic tests, they need to be your focus. As a diagnostic center, one of your most valuable relationships is with referring physicians.
There are three groups of physicians to consider here.
Potential relationships: Doctors who have not referred anyone to you, but that you would like to build a relationship with. (Cold leads)
Previous relationships:Doctors who have referred patients in the past, but not within the last few months. (Warm leads)
Current relationships:Doctors that have recently referred patients. (Hot leads)
Each of these groups needs to have their own automation funnel which we will go over next.
New Physicians: Using a radiology newsletter to build relationships
Gaining traction with a provider that has never referred to your center is the most difficult group to engage so it’s very important that you are selective with the content you include in your radiology newsletters to these offices.
For radiology email marketing, the most important question you can ask yourself here is:
How can I best provide value to the person I am reaching out to?
Here are some proven tactics to use:
Personalize each email by medical specialization. By targeting the physician’s specialty you can provide information that is specific and therefore most useful to that office.
Let them know you researched them. If you’re sending cold emails you don’t want people to think you’re emailing every doctor this side of the Mississippi, but that you chose to reach out to them for a reason (which should be the truth anyway). Tell the referring provider exactly why you chose to reach out to them. These reasons could be:
You have a relationship with one of their partners
Introduce your facility. Let them know who you are and why they may be interested in building a relationship with your radiology center. This is your chance to focus on your strengths.
Ask them a question. Give them an opportunity to tell you what they are looking for or what they are having trouble with. You can send out a survey asking things like:
What difficulties do you face when referring patients to a diagnostic facility?
What are the biggest factors you consider when choosing a facility to refer patients to?
Important note: Always be respectful and courteous of their time. When marketing to physicians that you have not worked with previously, make it very clear that they can choose to stop receiving your radiology emails marketing at any time and make it easy for them to do so.
Winning back physicians who have referred patients to you previously
There could be a number of reasons that a physician who has previously referred patients to your imaging center is no longer doing so. Marketing to doctors in this category means striving to understand what caused them to stop referring and what you can do to make them interested in sending patients once more.
Here are some strategies to use when reaching out to this group:
Update them on what’s new with your facility. If they haven’t talked to you in a while, they likely aren’t up to speed on any new equipment, software, and referring guidelines you may have. Letting them know what they missed could mean you’ve already resolved the thing that made them leave in the first place.
Remind them of your referral process. Sometimes reminding people of how easy it is to work with you makes a big difference.
Let them get to know your staff better. Did you hire a new office manager? Let people know who to contact to get in touch with you. Giving everyone the chance to learn who’s who on your team will help strengthen relationships with physicians. Putting faces to names also helps make your business memorable.
Maintaining relationships with physicians who are currently referring patients
Making sure you’re fostering strong relationships with currently referring physicians is vital. The content you send to this group is highly dependent on the nature of your current relationship. So, always be sure you’re only sending emails to these doctors if and when they are wanting to receive them. If you have determined that these providers are interested in getting emails from your imaging center, here are some tips:
Tell them something they don’t know. Do some research so they don’t have to. Maybe there is a new imaging technology that is being developed for their specialty or maybe there are some new findings in how to interpret the results of a scan. Find the information that is most valuable to show them you care about their interests.
Make every email personalized. Maybe you have a doctor that is interested in hearing about new medical technology, and another doctor that is interested in hearing about upcoming community events. Ask people not only if they are interested in getting your emails, but also, what they are interested hearing about.
Learn how you can help them. It may be that there are ways you could help your referring providers out that you don’t know they need. So why not ask them? Finding out how you can best help people means you will understand what you can do to provide value to them.
Effective email marketing to referring physicians takes time
Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships doesn’t have to be hard, but it does take work. With these tactics, you can write effective radiology email marketing to your referring physicians that provide value to your referring partners. Every physician’s office is unique and research is an ongoing process. Measure your progress often to find what emails are best for your diagnostic imaging center.
In need of effective and professional email marketing centered on increasing provider referrals?
Marketing to physicians should be a cornerstone of any imaging center’s overall strategy.
Effectively marketing to physicians comes down to professional relationships. Building and maintaining relationships with both current and prospective referring physicians is the name of the game. Email is an effective and surprisingly personal method for doing just that.
But what should your radiology email marketing convey? When should you send them? And how do you determine what’s working and what’s not?
Needless to say, setting up automated email funnels for various groups can be tricky. Today we are here to help you build your roadmap to email success.
But before we dive in, remember, your marketing is only as good as your reputation.
If your reviews are less than stellar, not only will patients look elsewhere for care, physicians will look elsewhere when sending referrals.
Writing physician emails to increase patient referrals
First and foremost, your focus should be on your physician emails. Since doctors are the ones referring patients to your facility for diagnostic tests, they need to be your focus. As a diagnostic center, one of your most valuable relationships is with referring physicians.
There are three groups of physicians to consider here.
Potential relationships: Doctors who have not referred anyone to you, but that you would like to build a relationship with. (Cold leads)
Previous relationships:Doctors who have referred patients in the past, but not within the last few months. (Warm leads)
Current relationships:Doctors that have recently referred patients. (Hot leads)
Each of these groups needs to have their own automation funnel which we will go over next.
New Physicians: Using a radiology newsletter to build relationships
Gaining traction with a provider that has never referred to your center is the most difficult group to engage so it’s very important that you are selective with the content you include in your radiology newsletters to these offices.
For radiology email marketing, the most important question you can ask yourself here is:
How can I best provide value to the person I am reaching out to?
Here are some proven tactics to use:
Personalize each email by medical specialization. By targeting the physician’s specialty you can provide information that is specific and therefore most useful to that office.
Let them know you researched them. If you’re sending cold emails you don’t want people to think you’re emailing every doctor this side of the Mississippi, but that you chose to reach out to them for a reason (which should be the truth anyway). Tell the referring provider exactly why you chose to reach out to them. These reasons could be:
You have a relationship with one of their partners
Introduce your facility. Let them know who you are and why they may be interested in building a relationship with your radiology center. This is your chance to focus on your strengths.
Ask them a question. Give them an opportunity to tell you what they are looking for or what they are having trouble with. You can send out a survey asking things like:
What difficulties do you face when referring patients to a diagnostic facility?
What are the biggest factors you consider when choosing a facility to refer patients to?
Important note: Always be respectful and courteous of their time. When marketing to physicians that you have not worked with previously, make it very clear that they can choose to stop receiving your radiology emails marketing at any time and make it easy for them to do so.
Winning back physicians who have referred patients to you previously
There could be a number of reasons that a physician who has previously referred patients to your imaging center is no longer doing so. Marketing to doctors in this category means striving to understand what caused them to stop referring and what you can do to make them interested in sending patients once more.
Here are some strategies to use when reaching out to this group:
Update them on what’s new with your facility. If they haven’t talked to you in a while, they likely aren’t up to speed on any new equipment, software, and referring guidelines you may have. Letting them know what they missed could mean you’ve already resolved the thing that made them leave in the first place.
Remind them of your referral process. Sometimes reminding people of how easy it is to work with you makes a big difference.
Let them get to know your staff better. Did you hire a new office manager? Let people know who to contact to get in touch with you. Giving everyone the chance to learn who’s who on your team will help strengthen relationships with physicians. Putting faces to names also helps make your business memorable.
Maintaining relationships with physicians who are currently referring patients
Making sure you’re fostering strong relationships with currently referring physicians is vital. The content you send to this group is highly dependent on the nature of your current relationship. So, always be sure you’re only sending emails to these doctors if and when they are wanting to receive them. If you have determined that these providers are interested in getting emails from your imaging center, here are some tips:
Tell them something they don’t know. Do some research so they don’t have to. Maybe there is a new imaging technology that is being developed for their specialty or maybe there are some new findings in how to interpret the results of a scan. Find the information that is most valuable to show them you care about their interests.
Make every email personalized. Maybe you have a doctor that is interested in hearing about new medical technology, and another doctor that is interested in hearing about upcoming community events. Ask people not only if they are interested in getting your emails, but also, what they are interested hearing about.
Learn how you can help them. It may be that there are ways you could help your referring providers out that you don’t know they need. So why not ask them? Finding out how you can best help people means you will understand what you can do to provide value to them.
Effective email marketing to referring physicians takes time
Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships doesn’t have to be hard, but it does take work. With these tactics, you can write effective radiology email marketing to your referring physicians that provide value to your referring partners. Every physician’s office is unique and research is an ongoing process. Measure your progress often to find what emails are best for your diagnostic imaging center.
In need of effective and professional email marketing centered on increasing provider referrals?
Your Guide to Setting Up, Maintaining, and Growing Your Imaging Center’s Radiology Facebook Page
While most businesses now have a facebook page, radiology Facebook pages for imaging centers are less common than others. Even in the Medical industry, Facebook is a powerful tool for any practice.
In this article, we will discuss the “who, what, when, where and why” of using Facebook to promote awareness of and engagement with your imaging center.
Looking to increase your patient reviews on Facebook and Google?
Getting Started: How to Market Your Imaging Center on Facebook
Radiology social media outreach is complex due to the nature of their business. However, Facebook is the most popular social media site worldwide. Its position in the market means it has the broadest reach across all demographics. It also provides some of the most powerful user tracking tools available to marketers.
With a Facebook page, your imaging center can reach any demographic and also collect valuable data on real users to inform all your marketing initiatives, including market segmentation strategy. These things and more make Facebook the best place to start your radiology social media presence.
What to do With Your Diagnostics Facebook Page
1. Who? Market to referring doctors and patients in the same place at the same time.
Traditionally, the marketing approach for most imaging centers has focused on referring doctors while excluding patients. This made the most sense from a numbers-to-dollars perspective in the past, but that was before the rise of social media. On your radiology Facebook page, your practice can market to both groups at once.
For targeting patients, your posts should center on the human element of your practice, demonstrating an intimate level of care in your organization and the patient benefits you offer. According to Ragan’s Health Care Communication News, referring physicians spend 60% of their time on social media reading, sharing, and discussing healthcare news. So, focus your physician-targeted posts on sharing both your expertise and what’s going on in the world of diagnostics. The best approach is an all-inclusive one in which you post content frequently in a well-mapped flow of how and when to target all your market segments and their overlapping interests.
2. What: Broadcast all your cool technology (machines and images) for an easy eyeball magnet.
You’ve probably heard the term “eyeball economy,” which refers to the effect social media, SEO, and the science of web traffic have had on businesses and how they find new customers. Essentially, if you can get the eyeballs, the dollars will follow. So, lean on your strengths.
Radiology imaging centers have some of today’s coolest and most expensive machines that the public have personal access too. Broadcasting information about the impressive tech in your center(s), and sharing the images, GIFs, and videos these machines produce, are two great ways to get and keep eyeballs on your diagnostics facebook page. Whether this is a fMRI of the brain, contrast-enhanced images of the body, or cardiac imaging of a pulsating heart muscle, use the tech at your disposal to your advantage!
3. When: Frequently.
While your radiology Facebook page is not a personal one and you should avoid over-sharing, your imaging practice should post to its Facebook page at least once a week and not more than once per day. Ideally, you will set a schedule and queue up unique content for publishing at the same time on the same day each week, then fill in the days between with interesting and relevant “shares,” or repurposed content. Creating that much original content is a lot of work, so make sure you have a dedicated resource to allocate to your diagnostics center social media presence.
You can use an auto-posting system like Buffer to queue up your posts for set-it-and-forget-it simplicity.
4. Where: Cross-promote your content everywhere.
Because of its broad reach, Facebook should serve as the center for your content cross-promotion across all outreach channels. Link back to your practice’s main site as much as possible, and once you are an imaging center Facebook expert, branch out into other channels and begin driving traffic there as well. The goal is to whip up a cyclone-esque flow of traffic between all your social media outreach channels, your website, and all your followers.
Bear in mind that learning web traffic science and digital marketing is required to create a strong feedback loop that will make all your effort worthwhile. Either dedicate the time required and stick with it until your investment pays off, or reach out to an expert for help.
5. Why: All these reasons, and then some.
Your Facebook page can teach you more about what patients and referring doctors want. With special tools just for marketers, your imaging practice can track the online behavior of those “Like” your page.
A Facebook page gives you a chance to make lasting, human connections with referring doctors and their patients. Just as much as we are in an eyeball economy, we are also living in a relationship-based economy. Engaging with patients, referring doctors, and prospects in a personal way will draw them in and keep them close.
Facebook is good for search engine optimization (SEO).A Facebook page is a great tool for your radiology social media strategy to increase the visibility of your website and your branded content. While creating a strong flow of traffic requires a well-planned engagement funnel, any level of cross-promotion is helpful.
Your competition may already have a Facebook page.This point speaks for itself. Unfortunately, “everybody’s doing it” does apply to this scenario.
Creating an engaged, active following for your diagnostics Facebook page is a lofty, albeit important, goal. In conjunction with an active and relevant blog on your practice’s website, this is the first step to digital marketing for your radiology practice in the social media realm. Once your practice achieves this, you can move on to image-based social platforms like Instagram, which has an increasingly broad reach across many demographics.
Looking for more ways to keep your patients and referring providers engaged?
Your Guide to Setting Up, Maintaining, and Growing Your Imaging Center’s Radiology Facebook Page
While most businesses now have a facebook page, radiology Facebook pages for imaging centers are less common than others. Even in the Medical industry, Facebook is a powerful tool for any practice.
In this article, we will discuss the “who, what, when, where and why” of using Facebook to promote awareness of and engagement with your imaging center.
Looking to increase your patient reviews on Facebook and Google?
Getting Started: How to Market Your Imaging Center on Facebook
Radiology social media outreach is complex due to the nature of their business. However, Facebook is the most popular social media site worldwide. Its position in the market means it has the broadest reach across all demographics. It also provides some of the most powerful user tracking tools available to marketers.
With a Facebook page, your imaging center can reach any demographic and also collect valuable data on real users to inform all your marketing initiatives, including market segmentation strategy. These things and more make Facebook the best place to start your radiology social media presence.
What to do With Your Diagnostics Facebook Page
1. Who? Market to referring doctors and patients in the same place at the same time.
Traditionally, the marketing approach for most imaging centers has focused on referring doctors while excluding patients. This made the most sense from a numbers-to-dollars perspective in the past, but that was before the rise of social media. On your radiology Facebook page, your practice can market to both groups at once.
For targeting patients, your posts should center on the human element of your practice, demonstrating an intimate level of care in your organization and the patient benefits you offer. According to Ragan’s Health Care Communication News, referring physicians spend 60% of their time on social media reading, sharing, and discussing healthcare news. So, focus your physician-targeted posts on sharing both your expertise and what’s going on in the world of diagnostics. The best approach is an all-inclusive one in which you post content frequently in a well-mapped flow of how and when to target all your market segments and their overlapping interests.
2. What: Broadcast all your cool technology (machines and images) for an easy eyeball magnet.
You’ve probably heard the term “eyeball economy,” which refers to the effect social media, SEO, and the science of web traffic have had on businesses and how they find new customers. Essentially, if you can get the eyeballs, the dollars will follow. So, lean on your strengths.
Radiology imaging centers have some of today’s coolest and most expensive machines that the public have personal access too. Broadcasting information about the impressive tech in your center(s), and sharing the images, GIFs, and videos these machines produce, are two great ways to get and keep eyeballs on your diagnostics facebook page. Whether this is a fMRI of the brain, contrast-enhanced images of the body, or cardiac imaging of a pulsating heart muscle, use the tech at your disposal to your advantage!
3. When: Frequently.
While your radiology Facebook page is not a personal one and you should avoid over-sharing, your imaging practice should post to its Facebook page at least once a week and not more than once per day. Ideally, you will set a schedule and queue up unique content for publishing at the same time on the same day each week, then fill in the days between with interesting and relevant “shares,” or repurposed content. Creating that much original content is a lot of work, so make sure you have a dedicated resource to allocate to your diagnostics center social media presence.
You can use an auto-posting system like Buffer to queue up your posts for set-it-and-forget-it simplicity.
4. Where: Cross-promote your content everywhere.
Because of its broad reach, Facebook should serve as the center for your content cross-promotion across all outreach channels. Link back to your practice’s main site as much as possible, and once you are an imaging center Facebook expert, branch out into other channels and begin driving traffic there as well. The goal is to whip up a cyclone-esque flow of traffic between all your social media outreach channels, your website, and all your followers.
Bear in mind that learning web traffic science and digital marketing is required to create a strong feedback loop that will make all your effort worthwhile. Either dedicate the time required and stick with it until your investment pays off, or reach out to an expert for help.
5. Why: All these reasons, and then some.
Your Facebook page can teach you more about what patients and referring doctors want. With special tools just for marketers, your imaging practice can track the online behavior of those “Like” your page.
A Facebook page gives you a chance to make lasting, human connections with referring doctors and their patients. Just as much as we are in an eyeball economy, we are also living in a relationship-based economy. Engaging with patients, referring doctors, and prospects in a personal way will draw them in and keep them close.
Facebook is good for search engine optimization (SEO).A Facebook page is a great tool for your radiology social media strategy to increase the visibility of your website and your branded content. While creating a strong flow of traffic requires a well-planned engagement funnel, any level of cross-promotion is helpful.
Your competition may already have a Facebook page.This point speaks for itself. Unfortunately, “everybody’s doing it” does apply to this scenario.
Creating an engaged, active following for your diagnostics Facebook page is a lofty, albeit important, goal. In conjunction with an active and relevant blog on your practice’s website, this is the first step to digital marketing for your radiology practice in the social media realm. Once your practice achieves this, you can move on to image-based social platforms like Instagram, which has an increasingly broad reach across many demographics.
Looking for more ways to keep your patients and referring providers engaged?
More specifically, your imaging center should be located near the offices of your 
It is difficult to find a free-standing building that is suitable for all of the requirements for an outpatient imaging center. Even if your chosen building was built as an imaging center, changes will likely have to be made. 
You must carefully consider the ideal location for the MRI room. 
If you have decided to be your own contractor, hire a foreman. A good foreman can save you aggravation and money. Not only can he take care of the details, but he should be able to set up an approximate, or definitive timeline for the completion of the work as well as a reliable cost. His knowledge will be invaluable.
However, all is not lost. Patients still have to have exams and physicians still have to refer them. The trick is to get your imaging center to be the main referral center. Some physicians will never send to you. They have allegiance to the center they are sending their patients to.
Your job is to encourage them to give you a chance. Remember, they are very busy and are used to the way they have always done things. You have to give them a reason why your center is better and why they should refer to you. If the physician-employer tells their front desk to use you, they certainly will. If the patient requests your center, the physician’s office will have no choice but to oblige them. However, barring that, you will have to be very convincing if you want to open an imaging center.
To open an imaging center, you must be innovative in finding ways to obtain more patients. Figure out what patients are looking for in an imaging center. It often relates to costs. In today’s market with deductibles so high, many patients of the past are going without the necessary tests. 
First and foremost, your focus should be on your physician emails. Since doctors are the ones referring patients to your facility for diagnostic tests, they need to be your focus. As a diagnostic center, one of your most valuable relationships is with referring physicians. 
Important note:
Making sure you’re fostering strong relationships with currently referring physicians is vital. The content you send to this group is highly dependent on the nature of your current relationship. So, always be sure you’re only sending emails to these doctors if and when they are wanting to receive them. If you have determined that these providers are interested in getting emails from your imaging center, here are some tips:
For targeting patients, your posts should center on the human element of your practice, demonstrating an intimate level of care in your organization and the patient benefits you offer. According to 
While your 