We are hurtling toward the end of 2016. It has been an unhappy year if you take all the political, world turmoil and weather catastrophes into account. I think the nice thing about Thanksgiving is the opportunity it provides to give all your “fans” a virtual hug.
Who should you thank?
Now is the perfect time to spend quality time with data and analytics — time to decide how you want to thank all your stakeholders for being there for you this year. Messages of thanks are always appreciated, but who do you usually thank?
Back in the day, we made sure our referral sources were acknowledged and felt appreciated. That was a different time when referral sources were actually sources of referrals and not constrained by insurance directives, contracts, networks or whatever else gets in the way of a direct referral.
Staff, patients and vendors
You cannot do what you do every day if you do not have the support of your staff. Make sure they know that. I am a big fan of the “celebrate us” day off of work. Even if you cannot manage to close the whole office for a day, why not have a barbecue, catered lunch or a post-work event specifically designed to thank your coworkers?
Thank your patients. Let’s be real. If you are in patient care, the only reason you have a job is because there are patients who need care. We get caught up in the drama of providing services to others and the toll it takes on our spirit. It can be easy to forget that as difficult as our days might be, we are beholden to our patients.
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Patient appreciation days are fun. Who does not want to be appreciated? If the thought of putting together an event is too much, why not send cards — actual cards that are signed by everyone in the office? You can always send a “Happy Thanksgiving” card since everyone is eligible to receive a Thanksgiving card and you do not have to worry about offending anyone or leaving out someone.
Thank your vendors, manufacturers, suppliers and sales reps. If you have never been on the selling end of O&P and you think you get beat up by insurance companies and payers all day long, then you have never ridden with a sales rep.
I have been involved in O&P since 1987. I can tell you with certainty that we have some of the nicest, most helpful sales professionals. While you may expect them to thank you for your business around this time of the year, how about you tell them how much you appreciate their support, too?
November and Thanksgiving always provide a great opportunity to take a step back and show some appreciation. What are you going to do say thanks?
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- Elizabeth Mansfield is the president of Outsource Marketing Solutions and the Vice President of Clinical Education Concepts. She can be reached at elizabeth@askelizabeth.net.
