Dr. Gyl Kasewurm is an audiologist practicing in Michigan, USA. She’s spent decades building a successful practice, but has also continued to modernize: Her website is filled with information about hearing aids, hearing protection, and advice for patients and families alike. Her offices’ reception is designed to look beautiful rather than clinical, and thus make her patients feel comfortable. She also runs a blog called Dr. Gyl, where she shares clinical experience and advice as well as bringing in guest bloggers.
Gyl previously participated in the Ida seminar on Living Well with Hearing Loss. She answered a few questions for us via email about her blog and being both patient-centered and a businesswoman.
What inspired you to start your blog?
I have worked with many audiologists and hearing healthcare professionals over the years and I know how frustrating it can be owning and operating your own practice. I wanted an avenue to share ideas and things that were working in my practice in hopes that others could benefit from the information.
The blog is an interesting combination of patient centered care and business sense. Does one influence the other?
Obviously, patient care is always paramount and I believe that good business practices should include policies and procedures that focus on outcomes and helping patients hear as well as possible. In today’s world, patients can literally go anywhere to purchase hearing aids but the journey to better hearing includes so much more than a device and it’s not enough to be good at what we do. To be an exceptional hearing healthcare professional today, you have to exceed patient expectations and be a Super Star!
Where do you find your guest bloggers?
I have the good fortune to meet many exceptional hearing healthcare professionals in my travels and I entertain every opportunity to enlist colleagues to share their ideas and experiences in my blog. I sometimes suggest a topic but people are usually more than willing to share their unique ideas and then I encourage them to write about them.
If an audiologist was reading your blog for the first time, what would you want her/him to take away from it? Any advice for them if they wanted to start their own project?
I would want them to take away the idea that we have tremendous opportunity and are fortunate to be in this profession. However, good business doesn’t just happen – it takes lots of planning and monitoring to make a successful business. Don’t settle for mediocrity – strive to be the very best at what you do. Our patients deserve that.
Branding isn’t an easy thing to accomplish. It takes time to brand a business and time to brand yourself as a blogger. That’s why it’s important to have a written plan and then to monitor the results of your efforts and to change them when things aren’t working.
Make sure you are tracking everything you do. No one is as good as they think they are, but numbers don’t lie, so track the number of patients you see and what percentage you actually convince to get help for their problem which usually means convincing them to obtain hearing aids. It’s not easy but I believe it’s our heuristic obligation to help as many patients as we can to hear better and that means learning how to deal with common patient objections to getting hearing aids. Also, focus on the process of hearing better and not just on the device. Finally, I would suggest that people think outside the box and always look for new and better ways to do things.