FON: THE BUSINESS OF INTEGRATIVE HEALTH & MEDICINE

Image of blog title with a motorcycle driving on the freeway.

Social Media’s Free Ride Is Over: Challenges and Opportunities

As an Integrative health organization that has invested significant time and resources building audiences on social media, you are now faced with a stark reality: You do not own your profiles… nor your followers, likes, and subscribers; you simply rent them. The rules of engagement are beyond your control. The social media ‘organic reach’ free ride is officially over. It has been for a while—ever since Facebook pulled in the

No Magic Formula to Grow Integrative Health Companies: Start Here Instead

Whether your business is a medical practice, supplement company, pharmacy, technology platform, nonprofit organization, or provider of other goods or services, one thing holds true: there is no single, magic bullet formula to grow your integrative or functional medicine enterprise. Word-of-mouth referrals and the activation of fanatical brand-ambassadors remain the holy grail of any organization. The above is absolute for integrative and functional medicine enterprises. But how does this low-spend,

Leveraging Medical Savings Accounts for Integrative Health Products and Services

You possess a powerful tool to enhance your business and expand your influence and goodwill for the good of your patients and customers. It’s called a medical savings account. Are you leveraging this tax-deferred tool? I have always wondered why integrative healthcare practices and businesses aren’t savvier at promoting the economic attributes of health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible savings accounts (FSA) to their current, and prospective, patients and customers.

Growing Value and Opportunity for Integrative Oncology in Hospital Settings

I was recently interviewed by Stacey Richter for the Relentless Health Value podcast on the topic of integrative oncology in hospital settings. During our spirited discussion we covered lots of ground, including the growing science supporting integrative oncology and the profound opportunity for hospitals and cancer centers to engage and educate their communities on true cancer prevention focused on smart lifestyle—read: beyond vaccines, colonoscopies, mammograms and early detection. Relentless Health

The Integrative Health Business: ‘Administrators’ Versus ‘Builders’

I often see integrative and functional medicine business and organization leaders smothered from the weight of managing day-to-day operations: process and repetitive tasks allow neither adequate time nor sufficient resources to deal with strategic business development and execution. Rare are the super-competent administrators or business owners who are as savvy and productive in the areas of business development and growth as they are at keeping the ship moving… from a

Arrow on 'Pricing' Target

Establishing Prices for Integrative Health Products and Services

As an integrative functional medicine business owner or executive, you may serve a local, national, international clientele, or a group of constituents comprised of varying demographics and psychographics. So how do you best decide fair market value for what you offer? Determining Pricing for Products and Services If you are a physician who has opted out of commercial insurance and Medicare, you may charge for each patient encounter; or offer

Bag of soybeans illustrating a commodity

Is Functional Medicine Becoming a Commodity?

A commodity is defined as any “basic” good or service that is produced to meet a marketplace demand. Commodities are, well, commonplace—interchangeable, and indistinguishable from other products or services of the same type. Functional medicine should never be considered indistinguishable; widely accessible? Yes. Indistinguishable? No. I am deeply concerned that certain functional medicine enterprises are in danger of becoming a commodity. Let me be clear: I am a staunch proponent

episodes of care, image of the cover of the pdf book on "episodes of care"

A Practical Guide to ‘Episodes of Care Clinical Programs’

This guide is intended to provide value while you explore the potential benefits of episodes of care programs as it relates to your unique practice, medical center, or hospital. Episodes of care programs refer to a specific period during which a patient receives clinical and educational services and support for a particular health condition or illness. These programs utilize a patient-centered, collaborative approach, and incorporate a range of clinical interventions

Integrative Health Brand, image of blog title "Your Integrative Health Brand, and Platform - Invest or Fail" over a football field.

Your Integrative Health Brand and Platform: Invest or Fail

Whether you mainly trade on your personal brand or lead an organization, sustainable success is wholly dependent on relationships. It’s based on your reputation in the market, and how you make people feel. Your processes, sales-savvy, or technological prowess alone will not guarantee your success; if you solely rely on tools and process, your empty enterprise will ultimately fail. Don’t get me wrong: your systems and processes are important. So