Marketing for Physical Therapy Clinics

Selection
I picked this book because I hope to one day run my own physical therapy clinic and my course project involves building a website for a local PT clinic. Most physical therapists are lacking in business sense and I hope that my undergrad degree will set me apart in the industry. I was very excited to find a book that pulled my interests together.

The Book

While the book was designed to cover all aspects of marketing for a physical therapy firm, the primary focus of the book is on web marketing through the company's website, social media, and permission-based marketing. The dedication of the book sums up the purpose well stating the book is designed to "help our community market our services better." The heavy focus on web marketing is due to current state of physical therapy practices in the US. Most patients go to a new clinic with a prescription from their doctor, but choose a clinic based on personal recommendations and web-based research on local clinics. Word of mouth and the company website are crutial. Since word of mouth is harder to control, the book focused on what can be done, careful website building.

The book is written to be used either as reference for a company that is struggling in only one area of marketing or to be read cover-to-cover. The tone of the book gives it a feeling of being a self-help book crossed with a business text. When I'm done loaning it out, I'll keep it around for reference.

I've never found another book like this, even when looking for books on website building for other types of clinics. Specific information for healthcare providers to handle their businesses doesn't exist. Most providers also have negative attitudes about business since the 'only goal is to sacrifice patients for profit.' Due to this dominat belief, it's amazing there aren't more targeted books to break through to this market.

The Author
The author, Nitin Chhoda, PT, CSCS, is a physical therapist who in addition to his practice is a health and wellness speaker, runs a fitness camp, and has two websites and a blog to help other PTs with the business behind their clinics.

The book is intended for physical therapists who own their own clinics and the book would also be benificial to office managers and staff to make certain that everyone in the clinic is on the same page with regard to a consistent message in marketing.

Value of the Read

The value of this book comes from the industry specific research and proven techniques for using a website to meet different business objectives. The book doesn't discuss the techinical aspects of building a site, but rather focuses on content generation that will engage clients and drive traffic to the clinic. The most important part of the book is the discussion of making the message 'viral.' Ultimately, word of mouth is what drives new patients to a clinic. The book discusses how to use your website, blog, and permission-based marketing to get people talking about your clinic and sharing valuable wellness information.

The weak point of the book comes from the poor quality of the writing. Grammatical errors flurish on the pages along with inconsistant line spacing and the wrong words. It should have been a very fast read, but figuring out what the guy wanted to say was challenging at times. I keep looking back at the book still stunned at how unprofessionally it is put together yet what great information it contains. It's facinatingly bizarre.

Recommendation

I recommend this book though I give it only one star, if that. The terrible quality of the book makes it intolerable, but the information is indispensible. I corrected much of the book, often more than 3 errors per page so that it won't be as bad for all those who will be reading it after me. I've got several therapists lined up to read the book as soon as I'm done with it for school. I hate that I had to preface my recommendations to these men with, "It's horrible, but I corrected it for you. The information is really valuable, but it's hard to believe Amazon is selling something this horrid."