Publications

Members of the health club community have been preaching that exercise is an effective form of medicine for over 30 years. Finally, the medical community is listening. In today's world, it is common to hear the phrases "preventative medicine," "physical activity," and "exercise prescription" all in the same conversation (and maybe even in the same sentence).

Some health clubs are pushing the connection between structured exercise and medicine even further by partnering directly with the medical community to improve the health and lives of their community members.

The physician outreach model is one way to do this. Two simple steps make up the physician outreach model:

1. A pharmaceutical, medical device, or other company in the medical field has a drug, product, or service they wish to sell.
2. A company representative makes an appointment to meet with a local physician’s office to make connections, provide education about their product, discuss the merits of the product, and persuade doctors their product is the best option available.

For health clubs, this model varies slightly. You can use this strategy to sell an idea (exercise in a health club is valuable for patients) rather than a medication or a device. In this scenario, clubs are selling physicians the idea that the club programming it offers will help patients improve their well-being.

This e-book contains:

• A comprehensive overview of the physician outreach model, as used by leading health club operators
• Advice on creating and hiring a physician outreach representative
• Stories from clubs that have used this model successfully
• Additional resources, including a sample daily schedule for a physician outreach representative and templates to promote your club’s program