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Notifying Your Existing Patients
During your transition to your DPC, you will want to notify your existing patients about the change. If you have a non-solicitation clause in your agreement, you have to be careful how you do this. Before announcing your departure, there are some ways to circumnavigate this and maintain contact with patients without breaking your non-compete clause. Check your contract - does your non-compete clause include email addresses and social media connections?
CONNECT WITH YOUR PATIENTS ONLINE BEFORE YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT:
- Open social media pages on all platforms and “friend” your patients from those (check your contract, some employers have shut down social media networking with patients)
- Start your website as a physician (not the name of your new DPC….yet)
- Consider posting some blog posts about health topics on your website/blog
- Ask friends to share your posts so that patients can see them too
- Join all the local community groups on social media with your full name and participate in some discussions. Patients will start to take notice that you are there.
EMPLOYED PHYSICIANS - TRY TO NEGOTIATE NON-SOLICITATION CLAUSE:
Most employers may restrict your ability to notify patients about a new (competing) practice. However, that is not universally true. It’s best to have a conversation with your employer to get the best terms possible.
Consider using the discussion point that your DPC practice will be totally different from your current FFS practice. You can argue that because the new practice will be so different you won’t be competing against each other. Each situation will have different results depending on the hospital and administrators. The best-case scenario is to obtain the contact information (mailing address and emails) of all of your patients. You may want to prepare for a negative outcome, that they say no to patient solicitation. Before you announce your departure, there are some ways to circumnavigate this and maintain contact with patients without breaking your non-compete clause. Check your contract - does your non-compete clause include email addresses and social media connections?
IF SOLICITATION IS PERMITTED - ANNOUNCEMENT(S)
- HOW MANY? Send at least 2 notifications (letters, emails, or other) to create some anticipation and build-up to opening your DPC practice. This can be a great marketing strategy and ease potential shock patients.
- CONTENT: Your announcement should include, and likely start, with your “why.” Let patients know the reasons why you have decided to switch to DPC, namely, to provide better care to them! This will help incite an emotional and human response from patients. At the end of this letter, create some anticipation, with a teaser and sign-off with “stay tuned” or “more information coming soon.”
- FOLLOW UP: Your subsequent announcements should give more detailed information on your DPC practice, including timeline, website, how to sign up, and contact information. You can also use this letter to invite each of them to an informational meeting or town hall to help answer their questions about DPC.
MAILING LETTER(S)? It can be expensive to send letters to each patient or family when you have thousands of patients, so most physicians elect to only send one letter. You can use a local mailing service or you can recruit family, kids, or friends to help you stuff envelopes. This can be very time-consuming but can save you money on start-up costs if you have the time. Conversely, if you have enough money to use a service, this can save you significant frustration and time. Remember email is much more affordable, but at least one mailing would be appropriate. To invite patients to events you could consider postcard type mailing which is much more affordable.
SPREADING THE WORD IF YOUR NO SOLICITATION IS IRONCLAD
- Continue to post health blog posts and share them on all your social media
- Monitor your community social media groups and if patients post asking about where you went, recruit a good friend to answer the post with your details
- Get involved. Offer to give a talk at your local business association/community center/church on medical topics. Give your new cards out and ask your community to spread the word.
- Solicit newspaper or television media to write an article or do a TV news piece on your practice. Share it on your social media and ask friends and family to do the same.
- The power of social media reaches far beyond the non-compete. As long as the patient finds you, and not the other way around, your non-compete patient solicitation clause has not been violated.
NON-COMPETE RADIUS:
- Patients will travel for medical care from their physician that they trust, especially when DPC allows care to be done easily through telemedicine.
- Find the location that suits you best. Take a 2-year sublet or lease. Once your non-compete is up, you can decide to move your DPC location closer to your original patient panel. Who knows, maybe your new location will suit you better.
SAMPLE NOTIFICATION AND TRANSITION LETTERS (DPCA members only)
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Notifying Your Existing Patients
During your transition to your DPC, you will want to notify your existing patients about the change. If you have a non-solicitation clause in your agreement, you have to be careful how you do this. Before announcing your departure, there are some ways to circumnavigate this and maintain contact with patients without breaking your non-compete clause. Check your contract - does your non-compete clause include email addresses and social media connections?
CONNECT WITH YOUR PATIENTS ONLINE BEFORE YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT:
- Open social media pages on all platforms and “friend” your patients from those (check your contract, some employers have shut down social media networking with patients)
- Start your website as a physician (not the name of your new DPC….yet)
- Consider posting some blog posts about health topics on your website/blog
- Ask friends to share your posts so that patients can see them too
- Join all the local community groups on social media with your full name and participate in some discussions. Patients will start to take notice that you are there.
EMPLOYED PHYSICIANS - TRY TO NEGOTIATE NON-SOLICITATION CLAUSE:
Most employers may restrict your ability to notify patients about a new (competing) practice. However, that is not universally true. It’s best to have a conversation with your employer to get the best terms possible.
Consider using the discussion point that your DPC practice will be totally different from your current FFS practice. You can argue that because the new practice will be so different you won’t be competing against each other. Each situation will have different results depending on the hospital and administrators. The best-case scenario is to obtain the contact information (mailing address and emails) of all of your patients. You may want to prepare for a negative outcome, that they say no to patient solicitation. Before you announce your departure, there are some ways to circumnavigate this and maintain contact with patients without breaking your non-compete clause. Check your contract - does your non-compete clause include email addresses and social media connections?
IF SOLICITATION IS PERMITTED - ANNOUNCEMENT(S)
- HOW MANY? Send at least 2 notifications (letters, emails, or other) to create some anticipation and build-up to opening your DPC practice. This can be a great marketing strategy and ease potential shock patients.
- CONTENT: Your announcement should include, and likely start, with your “why.” Let patients know the reasons why you have decided to switch to DPC, namely, to provide better care to them! This will help incite an emotional and human response from patients. At the end of this letter, create some anticipation, with a teaser and sign-off with “stay tuned” or “more information coming soon.”
- FOLLOW UP: Your subsequent announcements should give more detailed information on your DPC practice, including timeline, website, how to sign up, and contact information. You can also use this letter to invite each of them to an informational meeting or town hall to help answer their questions about DPC.
MAILING LETTER(S)? It can be expensive to send letters to each patient or family when you have thousands of patients, so most physicians elect to only send one letter. You can use a local mailing service or you can recruit family, kids, or friends to help you stuff envelopes. This can be very time-consuming but can save you money on start-up costs if you have the time. Conversely, if you have enough money to use a service, this can save you significant frustration and time. Remember email is much more affordable, but at least one mailing would be appropriate. To invite patients to events you could consider postcard type mailing which is much more affordable.
SPREADING THE WORD IF YOUR NO SOLICITATION IS IRONCLAD
- Continue to post health blog posts and share them on all your social media
- Monitor your community social media groups and if patients post asking about where you went, recruit a good friend to answer the post with your details
- Get involved. Offer to give a talk at your local business association/community center/church on medical topics. Give your new cards out and ask your community to spread the word.
- Solicit newspaper or television media to write an article or do a TV news piece on your practice. Share it on your social media and ask friends and family to do the same.
- The power of social media reaches far beyond the non-compete. As long as the patient finds you, and not the other way around, your non-compete patient solicitation clause has not been violated.
NON-COMPETE RADIUS:
- Patients will travel for medical care from their physician that they trust, especially when DPC allows care to be done easily through telemedicine.
- Find the location that suits you best. Take a 2-year sublet or lease. Once your non-compete is up, you can decide to move your DPC location closer to your original patient panel. Who knows, maybe your new location will suit you better.
SAMPLE NOTIFICATION AND TRANSITION LETTERS (DPCA members only)