Unified Practice

As a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, you’re able to provide your patients with guidance on how to take care of themselves outside of your in-person appointments. Because there are so many facets to TCM healing, offering your patients step-by-step guides to at-home care is a great way to take your patient offerings to the next level, especially if in-person care is not an option.

While acupuncture may be your main treatment offering, Michelle Grasek, acupuncturist and acupuncture marketing expert, recommends providing inexpensive virtual video classes on other supportive treatments as a great way to add another avenue of income that provides a unique and valuable benefit to your patients who may be too sick or high risk to make it into your practice.

What can you offer?

In the wake of COVID-19, a lot of practitioners who normally only offer acupuncture have had to find new ways of offering treatment to their patients. Even as you return to normal, it’s worth considering keeping a telehealth option available for patients who want or need help but cannot make it into your practice for a variety of reasons. You can also create for-pay classes that teach your patients how to treat themselves at home in different ways. This doesn’t replace the care you provide but, instead, gives your patients a better understanding of their treatment and provides them with a feeling of control within their healing process.

These classes can be prerecorded and offered to patients for a small fee. For example, Grasek says she offers a Gua Sha class for $20. 

Consider treatments like:

• Acupressure
• Herbal medicine
• Gua Sha
• Dietary recommendations
• Supplements
• Use of heat packs
• Stretching
• Mindfulness and meditation

How do you record these classes?

Grasek recommends two platforms for video recording your classes: Thinkific and Teachable. Below is a high-level breakdown of the basic plan for each platform to help you pick the one that’s right for you. We still recommend doing your own analysis on all the features before deciding which platform fits your business.

How do you market your classes?

Once you’ve recorded your classes and decided the price you want to sell them at, it’s time to decide how you want to tell your patients about your new offering. Grasek recommends coming up with a mini marketing strategy for these classes. 

By using the marketing avenues you normally use (email, social media, text messaging, website, etc.), you can get the word out about your new classes. In this messaging, make sure you clearly state how these classes are meant to enhance the treatment your patients are already receiving and will aid in their healing process when they can’t make it into the clinic for an appointment. 

Grasek recommends providing a small clip of the class to show your patients what they can expect and the value the class will provide them. She also recommends providing a detailed description of the class along with a list of any tools they may need to succeed. 

While marketing your videos, don’t forget that repetition is your friend. Send multiple emails, social media posts, text messages, etc. advertising your classes. We recommend changing up your copy and spacing out your efforts by a few days to avoid seeming like a broken record. Think about different benefits and features your class offers and include one or two of those in each message you send out.

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