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Join me in this episode as we dive into how you can overcome your technology fears and how it can transform your private practice. Discover the reasons behind our tech fears and learn valuable strategies to overcome them. I'll guide you through taking small, manageable steps toward embracing digital tools that align with your goals. From scheduling apps to telehealth platforms, we'll explore how to enhance efficiency, save time, and improve client experiences. Don't let fear hold you back—unlock the power of technology and revolutionize your practice today!
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Websites, local SEO, and marketing strategy for dietitians in private practice. Hosted by Courtney Vickery, web designer and dietitian, helping you build a site and online presence that actually gets you clients.
In each episode, we'll tackle the practical side of private practice: websites that actually convert, tech tools that don't give you headaches, and strategies to streamline your workflow. Whether you're drowning in admin tasks or just starting your practice, we're here to help you spend less time managing your business and more time doing what you love - helping your clients.
Join us as we chat with successful dietitians and practice management experts who've figured out how to make technology work for them, not against them. We'll share real solutions for real practices, focusing on what actually works in the world of weight-inclusive care.
From fixing your scheduling nightmares to making your website work harder for you, Tech Savvy Dietitian: Websites, Local SEO & Marketing for Dietitians in Private Practice brings you practical strategies you can implement right away. Because your time is better spent helping clients, not fighting with tech.
📍 This week's episode of dietitian turned designer is sponsored by, in envato. Elements. And envato elements is perfect. If you need stock photos, stock videos, graphics, custom fonts, and more. It's what I use for almost all of my client projects, but you can use it for all of your blog posts and social media posts in anything else you need to create. So be sure to check out and envato elements, you can use my link, which is go G O.
Dot decklet designs.com backslash and envato, which is spelled E N V a T O.
Hi, and welcome back to another episode of dietician turned designer. On this episode, we're going to be talking all about technology and overcoming the fears that you may have about using technology, because I get it. It can be scary. First we're going to talk about what actually contributes to this fear.
Likely it's because we're unfamiliar or not quite understanding of the technology that is available to us or how to use it. Technology is constantly evolving, so it makes sense that it feels overwhelming and it's hard to keep up. So the key to this is to just keep an open mindset, be willing to learn.
And this first step is to take small steps. So we're going to start small. I want you to just identify maybe in the next week or two, one tool that you want to learn more about. You don't have to learn everything about it, but just some tool that you were interested in that you want to learn a little more about and something that aligns with your goals in your practice or your business, and that will help you.
Let's start small. That could be something like a scheduling app, like Calendly. You could use Calendly to have people schedule a discovery call or, um, any other kind of meetings that might be helpful for your practice, even within your team. Just starting there. Instead of opening it up to the world, you could start with your own team.
It doesn't have to be Calendly. It could be something integrated with your EMR. That could be a practice better or simple practice, just starting with one small step and not looking at it as, oh, I have to go into Calendly and set up all these different types of. Events and all these different settings. Just start with one.
And, just dedicate a little bit of time to learning and familiarizing yourself with that platform so that he can help build your confidence and how to use it.
, if you already are using a scheduling platform like Calendly, You could start to look at maybe a tele-health platform. There are several different ones and some integrate again with practice better or simple practice. But if you don't want to do that, another really simple one is doxy.me. , that's a really simple one for yourself and your clients to use. And again, starting small, it doesn't mean that everyone has to use this new platform. You could start with one client, maybe one that you've been working with for a long time and have them kind of give you feedback on their experience with it so that you can learn what to do differently.
Moving forward. Some things that people always mentioned when we're talking about software technology is they are concerned about privacy or security. And especially if you're in the healthcare field. Worried about HIPAA compliance. It's really important to do your research. Choose a reputable platform.
One that makes sure that it prioritizes data protection. And, simple things like when you're looking in the browser and you look at the top and you see H T T P you're looking for that S which means it's secure. And you're looking for things that have encryption or compliance with privacy regulations. So I'm going to give you some examples. If you use zoom.
You might likely already know this, but you can't just use the regular version of zoom. You have to actually have the HIPAA compliant version. And if you're not sure you need to go and look and see, did you sign what's called a B a. And that will ensure that you are using the version of zoom that is HIPAA compliant, because it's really important to do that in the healthcare setting.
if you use practice better, , if you use the zoom integration, it still needs to be HIPAA compliant. it's a little bit easier to think about that when you're already in S setting, that would hopefully be HIPAA compliant. But if you were using zoom all alone as a standalone, with some other configuration for your practice, just go in and make sure that you have signed that BAA and that you were covered under their HIPAA protection.
Another example would be your email. I know a lot of therapists use Hushmail because it's HIPAA compliant, but you can also use Google workspace. As long as you go into those admin settings and sign that BA again. I think a lot of times people will just assume like, oh, well I've got Google workspace. It's it's HIPAA compliant, but did you sign the paperwork? Because if you didn't, then you need to make sure that you go in and do that so that you are actually covered.
Let's talk about some of the benefits of actually embracing technology and private practice and in business, because, I've talked a lot about automations and, I've mentioned several times, I am consider myself a software nerd. Making sure that you start small, but think about all the ways that you could save time in your workflow.
By having these automations. I'll give you some examples. I have some clients that use, for example, a Google form as an inquiry application on their website. You would think. A lot of people will do this. They go in and they make the Google form and then it gets submitted and they get an email to let them know. And then they type out an email and respond back to the client.
Well, there are ways to make that so much faster and save you so much time. One thing would be to use Zapier I've mentioned before. For example, if you have a question on your inquiry form that they're feeling out and it says. Do you live in any of the states, the states that you are licensed to work in?
And if they click, no, you can set up, what's called a filter in your Zapier flow. That then we'll send them an email that you've already written from you. Automatically. That says, hi, thank you so much for inquiring. Unfortunately, we aren't licensed in these states, you know, maybe here's a list of other people I recommend checking out or having a page on your website that you could send them to you that.
They could go and check out a list of recommended providers. Or if everything's filled out correctly, you can still send them an email afterwards that either says, hi, thank you so much for submitting your inquiry to work together. Here's what you can expect next. I was telling a client last week, that clear is kind right, because if they know exactly what is coming next, then they're going to have more confidence in you, which automatically means they're going to trust you more. They're going to have a better experience and that's just going to help improve that customer journey.
That in turn there'll be become advocates for you and your business, which will get you more referrals. Being clear and having these processes in place that you don't have to spend the brain power thinking about. Because again, every little bit is going to add up every time you get an inquiry and you think, oh, I need to send them an email.
I forgot, or I just having that on your mind, all day or until the end of your sessions, trying to remember that. It's a lot and we may not even realize how much it's affecting us because it's so subtle. But again, just having these little automations set up in place will save you time in your sanity.
Some other examples, you don't have to use Zapier. So if you, again, use practice better, like I talked about in the automation episode, you can automatically have emails that get sent to them after they fill out the form. Even put links in there so that they can go ahead and schedule that discovery call or go ahead and schedule their first session.
Whatever it is in your workflow. And again, I want to note. Coming back to the piece of it being scary is that. Number one, you don't have to do this on a wide scale. You can start out small with a couple of clients that try it out. , number two, you don't have to have everything set up. I know I kind of felt that way in the very beginning and got overwhelmed myself.
Because I felt like I had to have the entire process set up, start with just the inquiry. Just literally the first three steps they go to your website. They fill out a form. It automatically sends them an email that says, thank you. Just start there. And then as you learn more about what would work best for your process, then you can go back and, you know, get a little more comfortable with the software and then add those things in.
So next, talking about of course social media, because that is software and then the software that we can use in order to make that a little bit easier for us. You know, scheduling apps and things like that. So again, of course, social media helps you to share educational content, engage with your clients, which is really the most important piece.
And build that online presence, just like your website does, because again, if you, in this day and age don't have any sort of online, , Presence. People are going to be less likely to trust you because they don't know anything about your brand. There's no visibility. There's no testimonials or information that lets them know other people have worked with you and that you are a legit person in a legit company.
So when you were looking at what tools you want to use when it comes to technology and software, I want you to think about these four things. Number one, identify your business's specific needs and goals. You may not use social media and some places don't and they don't need to. And that's okay. But you know, a to of course, think everyone needs a website because a lot of times that is where it starts. What do you do when you go to find a new doctor or I have.
Anything, any kind of service you're going to Google it. And if they don't have a website, Especially if you don't have a website where they can start that first step. Are you going to be likely to want to work with them? These days. Probably not. , you know, thinking about what your practices specific needs and goals are, and then think about what areas of those goals and needs could benefit from technology. Maybe start with that inquiry process, if that is not in a very clear step-by-step process.
Then I would start there. If you already have a really good system for, , the inquiry process and you feel like it's pretty streamlined, it's it makes sense. There's not a lot of work involved for you. That's extra. Then move on to the onboarding process. How could you make the onboarding process even better for your clients instead of you going in, and I need to send this form and that form, and you know, here manually send this email. What can you do to use technology to make it a little bit easier for you and your clients?
And then once you think about that research and look at what options you have available that would align with your needs. Go read reviews again, that online presence, right. And the online trustworthiness factor. So read reviews, watch tutorials take advantage of a free trial. Free trials are the best thing, because you can go in and try it and see if it works for you. And if not, then the great thing is you don't have to sign up for it. You can move on to the next.
And then look for support and training. You know, a lot of the digital resources and technology that you look at, they're going to have webinars. They're going to have video tutorials. They're going to have chat, support, take advantage of that so that you can get confident and get the most out of that technology or that software.
, I offer consultations 90 minute consultations where we can literally go through and look at your system. And look at what software you're using and figure out is this, what is the best fit for you and what other options are there and how can we set it up? So that is the most beneficial for you.
And then again, starting with that phased approach, don't try to do everything at once. Break it down into chunks or blocks one piece of technology at a time, get comfortable with it, and then gradually introduce other things. Remember technology is a tool and it's supposed to enhance and streamline your practice. It shouldn't be a source of more frustration. Of course, technology doesn't always work properly and we might.
Occasionally get frustrated, but it shouldn't be a giant source of frustration for you should make your life easier overall. So try to embrace it as much as you can so that you can better serve yourself and your clients. You can expand your reach and achieve your business goals. Don't let fear hold you back from exploring all those opportunities that digital tools and platforms can offer.