Guest guest Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Who are you paying when you pay for a domain name? Sharon At 02:06 PM 3/14/2006, you wrote: Good luck! I had my website done by somebody abroad. It costed me 300$. It is a simple website, I posted my office forms for download and a contact page. Do you have any friends who know computers and can instal a server at home, maybe ? A server can be almost any cheap second hand computer that will host your website for free. You can buy a domain name from the internet. I pay 15$ yearly for mine. I know it sounds complicated but on the long run it is much cheaper than paying somebody to host your website. With marketing I suggest joining the local Chamber of Commerce. It is a more direct way of marketing your practice style and ideas. It will help you meet people that may help. Any kind of advertising will bring some patients but some are too expensive : like radio, major newspapers. Try the local newsletters, the ones that are distributed in developments. Freebies...I don't know. I ordered some welcome to the practice cards from a company called smart practices (but they are not that cheap). I just printed my own brochures, using adobe illustrator, brochure paper and my own laser printer. A color laser printer at Sam's club is 300 $. I can tell you this : if you are the breadwinner in the house, keep a side job for a while (like 9 months). I am still doing locum tenens (mostly oc med) 4 months after opening and I see maybe 5 new patients/week. Tomorrow is my first call with the local hospital. It depends on the area but if you start from zero patients (like me) and are in a suburb, good doctor or not, it will take time (and prozac- just kidding). Hi All, Reading the current thread with utmost intrigue. I am 2 months into start up of my solo/solo practice about 10 miles from my " day job " that I still work at part time in to cover my living expenses. I live 10 minutes from my office.I take no insurances ....for now..(except will contract with medicare because I fell a duty to) mostly because of the hassle factor and because of what was so eloquently put forth. I feel insurance companies handcuff us. I am totally word of mouth. My " day job " does not know of my start up, therefore I cannot let patients know. It has been a financial struggle as the star up cost was 35K and my expenses are $1500/month and I am not busy. I work out of one room...with a window...and a bathroom ..in a womens center. I use Alteer.  I need assistance with marketing. I was recently mentioned in a trade magazine, The Network Journal as one of the best Black d! ocs in the NY metro area (Family Practice). I am trying to capitalize on this by having the local paper run an article. I also have visited local establishments with practice brochures and business cards....including my hair salon, a vitamin/herbal store, art store, massage therapists/ churches/civic groups. There is also a local health fair at the end of April I found out about today that I will get more information on. I am trying to keep costs to a minimum. Any idea where I could get free give aways for the health fair? I don't see pharaceutical reps. Also anyone out there know how to get a low cost website up and running? Any assistance would be appreciated. n Bobb-McKoy,MD Ideal Family Health, P.C. Englewood, NJ 07631  P.S. Pam Wibble, you are an inspiration! Greg & Amy Hinson wrote: Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. Really some good advice out there and I knew I could count on this group for help. A few comments. It doesn't sound like there is a lot of enthusiasm out there for the idea of changing to a cash-based practice (in spite of this month's FPM journal). And, the more I think about it, I really think that it would create much more anger in my current patient population then actual inconvenience or hardship, enough that I am beginning to see that this is not the best option. I really like the idea of having a cash practice that charges a nominal yearly membership (e.g., maybe $200/yr) and in return for this giving away a yearly wellness visit (to discourage patients from thinking of the practice as a use-only-when-you-need-it urgent care clinic). But, I would upset too many people with the change. Slowing down, ! in any other way, is going to be tough. I do not have a bad plan to drop, with the exception of Medicare and Medicaid. Opting out of Medicare seems so drastic and I need to learn more about what happens during the following two years if you change your mind. And my Medicaid is primarily obstetrics and well child care. Both make up maybe 30% of my practice. Most of the rest is fee for service BCBS. I am only contracted with two payors, and they both pay fairly well. The problem is demand. The only way I can get by with only seeing 25-30 people/day (and another 15 for my NP) is by spending another 1-2 hours a day answering phone messages and email messages (and providing shoddy care in doing it). Not that the patients are demanding this free service; they'd all be willing to come in if given a slot. So it seems like the only answer is going to be to ramp up the practice. The local hospital is recruiting and has someone in mind they'd l! ike to join me. We could hire a manager. Bring the billing in-house. Hire a nurse or two. But my instincts are telling me that this will all just fuel the fire. It feels like I should be getting smaller, not bigger. Although I love where I live, and want to stay, I love the idea of starting over and doing it right from the beginning. Maybe finding the right area that would support a cash practice, or even a cash housecall practice. And, as long as I am dreaming, use our savings as a safety net while the practice grows by word of mouth alone, by providing the absolute best possible care! Anyway, thanks for the advice, I'll keep you all updated as I explore the option of hiring another physician and trying to tame this beast. Yahoo! Travel Find great deals to the top 10 hottest destinations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Try http://www.cheapdomain.com. It is just a random pick, I am sure there are more similar companies. I think this is the one my husband uses. Since my practice name was already taken with .com, I had to pick ..net. > Who are you paying when you pay for a domain name? > Sharon > > At 02:06 PM 3/14/2006, you wrote: >> Good luck! >> I had my website done by somebody abroad. It costed me 300$. It is a >> simple website, I posted my office forms for download and a contact >> page. Do you have any friends who know computers and can instal a >> server at home, maybe ? A server can be almost any cheap second hand >> computer that will host your website for free. You can buy a domain >> name from the internet. I pay 15$ yearly for mine. I know it sounds >> complicated but on the long run it is much cheaper than paying >> somebody to host your website. >> With marketing I suggest joining the local Chamber of Commerce. It >> is a more direct way of marketing your practice style and ideas. It >> will help you meet people that may help. Any kind of advertising will >> bring some patients but some are too expensive : like radio, major >> newspapers. Try the local newsletters, the ones that are distributed >> in developments. >> Freebies...I don't know. I ordered some welcome to the practice >> cards from a company called smart practices (but they are not that >> cheap). I just printed my own brochures, using adobe illustrator, >> brochure paper and my own laser printer. A color laser printer at >> Sam's club is 300 $. >> I can tell you this : if you are the breadwinner in the house, keep >> a side job for a while (like 9 months). I am still doing locum tenens >> (mostly oc med) 4 months after opening and I see maybe 5 new >> patients/week. Tomorrow is my first call with the local hospital. It >> depends on the area but if you start from zero patients (like me) and >> are in a suburb, good doctor or not, it will take time (and prozac- >> just kidding). >> >> >> >>> Hi All, >>> Reading the current thread with utmost intrigue. I am 2 months >>> into start up of my solo/solo practice about 10 miles from my " day >>> job " that I still work at part time in to cover my living >>> expenses. I live 10 minutes from my office.I take no insurances >>> ...for now..(except will contract with medicare because I fell a >>> duty to) mostly because of the hassle factor and because of what >>> was so eloquently put forth. I feel insurance companies handcuff >>> us. I am totally word of mouth. My " day job " does not know of my >>> start up, therefore I cannot let patients know. It has been a >>> financial struggle as the star up cost was 35K and my expenses are >>> $1500/month and I am not busy. I work out of one room...with a >>> window...and a bathroom ..in a womens center. I use Alteer.  I >>> need assistance with marketing. I was recently mentioned in a >>> trade magazine, The Network Journal as one of the best Black d! ocs >>> in the NY metro area (Family Practice). I am trying to capitalize >>> on this by having the local paper run an article. I also have >>> visited local establishments with practice brochures and business >>> cards....including my hair salon, a vitamin/herbal store, art store, >>> massage therapists/ churches/civic groups. There is also a local >>> health fair at the end of April I found out about today that I will >>> get more information on. I am trying to keep costs to a minimum. >>> Any idea where I could get free give aways for the health fair? >>> I don't see pharaceutical reps. Also anyone out there know how to >>> get a low cost website up and running? Any assistance would be >>> appreciated. >>> n Bobb-McKoy,MD >>> Ideal Family Health, P.C. >>> Englewood, NJ 07631 >>>  >>> P.S. >>> Pam Wibble, you are an inspiration! >>> >>> Greg & Amy Hinson wrote: >>>> Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. Really some good >>>> advice out there and I knew I could count on this group for help. >>>> >>>> A few comments. It doesn't sound like there is a lot of enthusiasm >>>> out >>>> there for the idea of changing to a cash-based practice (in spite of >>>> this month's FPM journal). And, the more I think about it, I really >>>> think that it would create much more anger in my current patient >>>> population then actual inconvenience or hardship, enough that I am >>>> beginning to see that this is not the best option. I really like the >>>> idea of having a cash practice that charges a nominal yearly >>>> membership (e.g., maybe $200/yr) and in return for this giving away >>>> a >>>> yearly wellness visit (to discourage patients from thinking of the >>>> practice as a use-only-when-you-need-it urgent care clinic). But, I >>>> would upset too many people with the change. >>>> >>>> Slowing down, ! in any other way, is going to be tough. I do not >>>> have a >>>> bad plan to drop, with the exception of Medicare and Medicaid. >>>> Opting >>>> out of Medicare seems so drastic and I need to learn more about what >>>> happens during the following two years if you change your mind. And >>>> my >>>> Medicaid is primarily obstetrics and well child care. Both make up >>>> maybe 30% of my practice. Most of the rest is fee for service BCBS. >>>> I >>>> am only contracted with two payors, and they both pay fairly well. >>>> >>>> The problem is demand. The only way I can get by with only seeing >>>> 25-30 people/day (and another 15 for my NP) is by spending another >>>> 1-2 >>>> hours a day answering phone messages and email messages (and >>>> providing >>>> shoddy care in doing it). Not that the patients are demanding this >>>> free service; they'd all be willing to come in if given a slot. >>>> >>>> So it seems like the only answer is going to be to ramp up the >>>> practice. The local hospital is recruiting and has someone in mind >>>> they'd l! ike to join me. We could hire a manager. Bring the billing >>>> in-house. Hire a nurse or two. >>>> >>>> But my instincts are telling me that this will all just fuel the >>>> fire. >>>> It feels like I should be getting smaller, not bigger. >>>> >>>> Although I love where I live, and want to stay, I love the idea of >>>> starting over and doing it right from the beginning. Maybe finding >>>> the >>>> right area that would support a cash practice, or even a cash >>>> housecall practice. And, as long as I am dreaming, use our savings >>>> as >>>> a safety net while the practice grows by word of mouth alone, by >>>> providing the absolute best possible care! >>>> >>>> Anyway, thanks for the advice, I'll keep you all updated as I >>>> explore >>>> the option of hiring another physician and trying to tame this >>>> beast. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> Yahoo! Travel >>> Find great deals to the top 10 hottest destinations! >>> >>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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