Flu Season is Your Time to Shine—for Patients’ Benefit and Your Own

This year’s severe flu season is taking a deadly toll in nearly every state in the nation, and it’s not done yet. Urgent care in general is playing a key role in helping to minimize the consequences by continuing to administer vaccines for those who’ve remained healthy so far, and to prescribe antivirals and provide supportive care for those who have the flu. But what does your community know about your expertise and ability to provide the necessary care? Prominent signage and traditional and nontraditional marketing practices work, but you can also get your urgent care operation’s name out there by providing expert advice through local media. MD Now has popped up in newspaper and TV news stories throughout Florida, where its clinics are located. Both CEO Peter Lamelas, MD and Chief Medical Officer Jeffrey Collins, MD, MA have been quoted extensively, explaining who should get vaccinated and what to do if patients do get the flu. By issuing press releases with contact information to local media and emphasizing its presence in various communities, MD Now makes it easy for reporters to know who to go to when they need a quote from a medical expert. Getting your name in the paper or on TV for positive reasons prequalifies you as a provider of quality care in the minds of potential patients. Urgent care can be a crowded marketplace in many areas. Making contact with local media can be an effective, low-cost way to differentiate your locations from your competitors’.