Name change can be necessary for your practice

Practice Management. By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. Feb. 27, 2006.

To understand why Keith Rezin, MD, twice changed the name of his practice, you only need to look at how it has grown and evolved.

Dr. Rezin, an orthopedic surgeon in Morris, Ill., started as a solo physician and named his practice Rezin Center for Orthopedics. As he added physicians and locations, he later renamed it Rezin Orthopedic Centers, as a way to denote multiple locations.

Last year, the group, which now boasts eight locations as well as seven orthopedic surgeons, a physiatrist and a podiatrist, changed its name yet again to Rezin Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

The change came with a strong marketing punch. The group changed its letterhead, spiced up its Web site and developed a slogan -- "Work. Play. Live." -- that the doctors felt appealed to the masses.

"We wanted to let people know we place a special emphasis on sports medicine, too," Dr. Rezin said. "It was a kind of change in regards to the overall look of the practice."

While changing the name of their practice is not an everyday occurrence, some physicians will do so in order to gain a competitive marketing advantage. They might see a changing patient demographic that they want to reflect in the name, such as a primary care practice that caters to a growing senior population and wants to include a reference to gerontology.

A group also could see a market opportunity that it wants to capture by expanding the reach of its current practice, such as an orthopedic group adding spine specialists and reflecting that in its name.