8 Essential Tips for Doctors to Build a Personal Brand and Succeed in Multi-Point Practice
Undoubtedly, “multi-site practice/physician groups” became another hot topic in China’s healthcare sector in 2015. Within just a few months, nearly 100 new physician groups were established. Their rapidly growing numbers and strong favor from investors have made this emerging model highly prominent in the current healthcare landscape.
“Recognizing the Temple, Not the Buddha” Is a Trap: Doctors in the New Era Must Prioritize Building Their Personal Brands
Physician groups have emerged alongside the gradual relaxation of policies allowing physicians to practice at multiple locations. Although widely viewed favorably by external observers, a more sober and careful reflection reveals that the practical implementation of physician groups is not as straightforward as initially imagined. The single challenge of securing “a continuous and stable patient base” alone has been sufficient to confront the overly optimistic founders of various physician groups with harsh realities. A deeper examination of the underlying reasons makes it clear that, within the traditional healthcare system, physicians never had to worry about patient acquisition and thus failed to recognize the importance, necessity, and urgency of “building a personal brand among patients.”
Stark reality has repeatedly proven that the mindset of “trusting the hospital, not the doctor” remains a common perception among the majority of patients. In practice, only a small number of physicians who have proactively built their personal brands on the patient side have successfully transformed their careers. Multi-site practice is merely a directional trend; without strong patient-facing personal brand influence, communicative power, credibility, and guiding authority, physicians will inevitably face a sharp decline in patient volume, which will become a significant concern for many.
On November 21, the second session of the “Physician Brand Training Camp,” hosted by DianDian Doctor and co-organized by Jiamei Dental and Beijing Muyang Yunchuan Company, officially commenced. During the course, participating physicians noted that in the era of internet healthcare, particularly following the further relaxation of multi-site practice policies, many physicians who have expanded their practice outside their primary institutions have indeed found that the previously expected high patient volumes at top-tier (Grade III Class A) hospitals have not materialized. Hospitals where these physicians practice on a multi-site basis also suffer from a lack of patient referrals; even with the involvement of so-called renowned experts, they fail to attract a greater number of effective patients.
Shi Bing stated that there is currently a significant disparity in patients’ perception of physician brands versus hospital reputations. This leads patients to select physicians based solely on the prestige of their affiliated hospitals, while overlooking the physicians’ personal brands. The social recognition of physicians’ personal brands has become the first major “pitfall” on the path toward implementing multi-site practice.Establishing a professional “personal brand” for physicians helps them better realize their personal value, while also enabling patients to make more targeted choices when selecting a doctor.This is a win-win process for both doctors and patients, and it is also an inevitable path to determine whether the multi-site practice policy can be truly implemented.
Shi Bing, Founder of DianDian Doctor
Traditional physician brands are largely academic in nature and remain little known to patients; in contrast, the physicians of the future will cultivate both an academic brand and a personal brand, enabling broader yet more precisely targeted brand dissemination.
How to Build a Doctor’s Personal Brand? Shi Bing Discusses the Four-Step Method and Eight Pieces of Advice
How Should Doctors Build Their Personal Brand? Shi Bing Explains,Doctors can build their personal brands by following four steps: brand positioning, brand substance, brand strategy, and brand exposure.
1. First, before building a personal brand, physicians should clearly define their personal brand value proposition, determine their career plans based on their individual characteristics, and select their area of specialization.Strive to condense your positioning into a single, concise sentence that highlights your greatest strength and leaves a lasting impression on patients.
2. Factors to consider when establishing personal positioning include: Internal environment: the hospital, department, individual academic/surgical profile, and areas of expertise; External environment: geographic region, target patient population, and competitors; Reference environment: similar models in other departments or fields.Take Dr. Cui Yutao as an example; his positioning is that of a “Parenting Icon.” In the maternal and child health sector, particularly among pregnant and postpartum women, the title “Parenting Icon” has gained widespread recognition for Dr. Cui. This moniker is even frequently mentioned in news coverage. Physicians in other specialties can adopt a similar phrasing to define their own professional branding, such as “Painless Dentist [Name].”
3. After determining the positioning, physicians should enhance their professional skills, personal professionalism, and resource networks required for building their personal brand, thereby laying a solid foundation for developing a strong brand essence.The formation of brand connotation is ultimately determined by the public; therefore, a positive public image is a significant factor influencing the development of brand connotation.
4. Brand exposure refers to the need for physicians to promote their personal brand across various channels within their professional resource networks and to gather feedback on the impact of their personal brand.These channels include those directly accessible to physicians themselves, as well as third-party channels, such as new media and traditional media. It is worth noting that physicians should fully leverage both types of channels and avoid focusing exclusively on any single approach.
5. In the current era of self-media, physicians should promptly establish their own media channels, including personal Weibo and WeChat accounts (such as WeChat Official Accounts [Subscription Accounts]), and consistently update content. Such content may include popular science articles or personal insights on the current state of the healthcare sector.Secondly, make effective use of traditional media. Engage in communication activities through local mass media to achieve sustained coverage and establish close collaborative relationships with journalists from local media outlets. Various channels, such as print and television media, can be utilized, and a “media publicity plan” should be formulated based on the characteristics of local media.
6. In terms of new media, it is essential to fully leverage various doctor-patient platforms such as Haodafu and Chunyu Yisheng, and engage in frequent interactions with patients on these platforms.
7. Physicians should also have their own printed materials, which may include patient education brochures (which must contain a personal introduction) or postoperative rehabilitation manuals.
8. Physicians must actively write popular science articles and grant more media interviews to accumulate material for the future publication of popular science books.
In summary, by employing appropriate methods, developing meticulous plans, conducting evaluations and adjustments, maintaining patience during periods of limited recognition, and persevering consistently, physicians can successfully establish their personal brands.The sooner you build your personal brand, the better.Doctors need to take prompt action. It is reported that Diandian Doctor has already launched preliminary training on personal branding for physicians across multiple specialized disciplines. The next step will involve carefully selecting 30 doctors to receive direct, specialized support, with the aim of leveraging collaborative efforts to assist physicians in their journey toward multi-site practice.