LM328 - Drawing Up a Winning Strategy for Over-the Counter Hearing Devices

Abstract:
This course is designed to help attendees understand changes to legislation impacting OTC products and the potential implication for their practices. This course will help owners identify the business strategy that is best for their practice, create operational processes, and implement those processes in their offices.

Summary:
This course is designed to help practice owners understand changes to legislation impacting OTC products and the potential implication for their businesses. It will help owners identify the best business strategies, create operational processes, and implement those processes in their offices.

Regardless of a practice’s size or how many years it has been in operation, it will face changes. The outcome of those changes is determined by how owners prepare for them and implement solutions. Performing a detailed practice assessment is the first step in confronting the challenges that OTC products may present. We have identified a 4-step decision tree to walk owners through a high-level overview of their practices. Each step is a separate assessment designed to review or create key elements of the practice’s philosophy and business operations, with the goal of evaluating how well OTC aligns with the practice. It may be determined early on in this process that OTC is not a good fit, but even so, owners should still proceed with the rest of the assessment to create a plan for communicating their position to the community. Some key questions to consider are:

1. Can you clearly state your value proposition?
2. Does your practice consistently deliver on your brand promise?
3. Do your patients say that their experience is consistent throughout their journey?
4. Does your staff understand your brand? Can they articulate it?

Brand alignment is very important. It reflects how well the practice communicates authentically and delivers on its brand promise. Value proposition provides a reason for patients to choose the practice’s services over a competitor. Treatment philosophy alignment and brand alignment are foundational factors in framing a practice’s position in relation to OTC. If we use a car analogy, treatment and brand alignment are the frame of the car, while financial alignment is the gas. To determine if it makes sense to offer OTC at a particular practice, it’s necessary to identify the practice’s revenue requirements and anticipate how the addition of an OTC revenue stream will change it. Developing a winning OTC strategy requires alignment along the entire decision tree, but assessing financial alignment is absolutely critical.