The concepts in this article are CRITICAL to understand if you are serious about building an exceptional practice that will flourish over the next decade. You need to understand that how consumers expect to purchase, consume, and utilize services and products has rapidly evolved over the last 5 years, ESPECIALLY SINCE COVID. Practically all industries have seen a shift in how products and services are delivered. Healthcare is no different. How healthcare is delivered is rapidly changing and the astute nurse practitioner entrepreneur needs to understand this.

The modern practice = having pathways that deliver care however the patient wants.

YOU MUST ELIMINATE ANY FRICTION TO CARE.

Let me repeat that.

YOU MUST ELIMINATE ANY FRICTION TO CARE.

If there is friction (difficulty) with the delivery methods of your services and products to your patients, then the patient will go elsewhere. You need to make it as easy as possible and deliver what the patient wants. It is what it is.

You MUST have multiple pathways within your practice for care delivery. You need to deliver care in person AND via telemedicine AND via mobile AND these services need to be delivered FAST.

Additionally, you need to provide a plethora of different complimentary services in your practice because the competitor that provides everything the patient is looking for is just a mouse click away.

Remember, patients are looking for VALUE that is delivered CONVENIENTLY.

Think about the evolution of other industries over the last 2 years.

Food = The restaurants that implemented delivery or had a drive thru THRIVED during COVID. Guess what? Those consumer behaviors have stuck around. Food delivery is accounting for almost 50% of restaurant revenue now. The restaurants that failed to evolve closed or are struggling. Delivering food directly to the house is the new norm.

General consumer goods = If your product is only being sold in brick-and-mortar stores, your sales are lacking. The sales of goods online have EXPLODED in growth over the past 2 years. You would be foolish not to have an eStore at a minimum if you were selling a product. Everyone reading this has purchased products online over the last year. It is the norm and continues to grow.

Entertainment = Look at the variety of streaming services that are available now. You can practically watch anything that has ever been created with just a few clicks of a button. That is AMAZING. Same thing with video games, you can practically download any video game you want with a few clicks of a button. Blockbuster failed for a reason… You must always be evolving. YOU MUST ACCOUNT FOR CHANGE. The new norm is entertainment on demand delivered in the home. I wonder if movie theaters will survive in many areas…

Employment = COVID caused a mass migration from the office to the home. Telecommuting has literally become the NORM in hundreds of different industries. This is one of the reasons why people are leaving cities and moving to more rural areas. They don’t need to go to the office anymore. You better believe that this trend is here to stay, and this will change the habits of consumers drastically. These individuals are the same ones that will utilize Doordash, on-demand entertainment, and telemedicine based services!

These are just a few of the top examples of what has happened over the last 2 years. Healthcare is no different…

Telemedicine has EXPLODED in growth over the past 2 years. If you still aren’t providing care via telemedicine in your practice, you really should. It doesn’t need and shouldn’t be the only way you deliver care, but it needs to be one of the pathways to reduce friction!

Mobile services that are delivered in the patient’s home has EXPLODED in the last 2 years. People love having care delivered to their home, just like they love having food delivered to their home. It doesn’t necessarily have to involve you going to their home, but having medications or labs delivered to their door is just as convenient. You need to make sure you have a pathway that delivers a service or product directly to the patient’s home.

Lastly, you need to ensure you deliver a variety of different services and products in your practice. Yes, you should have a SOLE focus such as men’s health, women’s health, weight loss, etc., but you need to also have a variety of accessory services in your practice that compliment your main one.

Choose your main service line and then ensure you have complimentary accessory services within your main focus. The whole point is to get the patient in the door through your main focus (men’s health, weight loss, etc.). Once they are there, then they can “shop around” for the other services your practice provides!

I have a men’s health clinic, but we also provide fertility treatment, weight loss, and anti-aging services because my patient demographic wants these services. I can either enjoy the additional revenue from these additional accessory services or someone else will. Plus, patients want convenience and would rather obtain these services from a trusted source vs. going elsewhere. Remember that. Patients do not want to shop around. They want everything in one place (to a point, don’t provide opioid addiction treatment in an aesthetics practice!).

Remember, the modern practice is one that has MULTIPLE processes that delivers to the patient what they want. We live in an on-demand society. Healthcare cannot escape this, especially for the niche cash practice! Provide convenience, deliver what the patient wants, deliver your services effectively with ease, and you will become successful!