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The Battle for the IVF Market: 5 Wall Street backed companies vs. private practice

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Part 3 of a four part series on the main business challenges facing fertility centers because of the shift from "small clinic" to "entrepreneurial endeavor"

Multi-million dollar private equity firms offer fertility practices an ultimatum: sell part of their practice, or have their market-share siphoned away.

Major firms spend hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide because they are in a race to consolidate as much of the fragmented IVF market as they can. This is only to speak of companies who own and operate networks of fertility clinics. In parallel, in 2017, PitchBook tallied more than $178 million invested into startups developing fertility products. In our series about fertility practices’ tectonic shift from small clinic to entrepreneurial venture, we’ve detailed the challenges that independent fertility practices face that their big new competitors don’t. So who are these new titans, and what are they up to?

Flip the Script

This week marks an important week in the world of infertility as it is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). It’s a week where people unite, help educate others about infertility and open up conversations to all that it all entails. I am so grateful for the infertility community and RESOLVE as we work to educate others on what it’s like to wear these shoes.

I Didn't See THAT Coming! One Woman's Struggle with Infertility and How it Changed Her Life

How did I get here?! I have NO idea how I got here!

As a little girl dreaming about the life I aspired to have – a high powered career, a doting husband, two beautiful children – it never crossed my mind that I might not be able to have one of those things. From a young age I was told that if I wanted something, I just had to work hard enough, and it could be mine; something about the world being my oyster – you know the saying. So, that’s what I did. I worked hard. I was dedicated. I crushed high school. I sailed through college. I landed an amazing job with a Fortune 100 company right out of college at the ripe age of 22. And finally, that sexy guy that I had kept on my arm for the past four years - my best friend turned love of my life - finally asked me to marry him! I was getting everything I ever wanted. But, why shouldn’t I? I followed the recipe of life that had been handed to me – I worked hard and maintained focus. For that, I deserved everything I ever wanted. Crack that oyster open y’all! I want my pearl!!

Our Story of Infertility

My name is Owen and I am so excited to share my story with you guys today. I am a part time orthopedic Physician Assistant and a full-time mommy. I still get butterflies when I call myself a mom… I will never get used to hearing that and I will never take it for granted. Unless you have personally struggled with infertility, you probably have no idea that this week is National Infertility Awareness Week. A week dedicated to bringing awareness to a topic that is under discussed and over prevalent. I'm sharing our story in hopes of removing the stigma surrounding infertility and to help at least one person feel less alone.

Flip the Script - Tia Gendusa

Hello and welcome lovely readers! I am so, so happy you took a few minutes out of your busy day to connect with me here at Fertility Bridge! My name is Tia and I am a former IVF warrior that writes over at ForeverOrchard.

My path to motherhood closed in late 2017, after unsuccessfully going through four egg retrievals, three transfers, and suffering two miscarriages. We fought and failed for five years, and I spoke frankly about our lives and our decision moving forward in THISPOST.

A New Vision and Different Strategy for IVF Centers to Thrive Beyond 2018

Part 2 of a four part series on the main business challenges facing fertility centers because of the shift from "small clinic" to "entrepreneurial endeavor"

We might criticize REI fellows for not wanting to take over existing IVF practices, but they are making the same decision that current practice owners have made for decades. They are deciding to be doctors and not CEOs. At the time, starting an independent practice didn’t mean launching a commercial enterprise. The difference is that new doctors know they can’t get away with that today.

Set Up to Fail: Fertility Clinics Not Structured for 2018

It’s common to razz new subspecialists coming out of their Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) fellowship. I often hear from recruiting physicians, that new REIs are not entrepreneurial. That they have no desire to take over a retiring doctor’s fertility center and run their own practice. It is said that fellows and new specialists want to work for someone else, clock their hours, and go home.

There may be valid points in this general perspective, but I see a much more comprehensive picture. Would you like to see what I observe from my semi-outsider’s vantage point?

5 Tips for Fertility Clinics Who Want a 5 Star Reputation

Fertility clinics help patients through one of the most difficult times of their lives: growing a family. Given the sensitivity and life altering nature of infertility, finding a high-quality fertility clinic is the number one priority for patients.

Today, most patients head online to find their fertility doctor. Even if they’ve received a referral from another doctor, friend, or family member, there’s little chance of them NOT checking you out online. What will they see?

That’s where online reputation management comes into play. Ensuring that the offline realities of the great care you provide are properly reflected online should be one of the main priorities of your marketing. In fact, your online reputation could be the main reason you get - or lose - a potential new patient to another fertility clinic.

A Stern Warning for Fertility Clinics Who Complain About Patient Review Sites

"Change is not painful. resistance to change is painful."

Consider this a gentle "love tap" from a friend.

A direct warning from me is far milder than what the market has in store. If I don't speak up about this single issue now, then I am neglectful in my duty to help protect the field of reproductive health from cultural and technological shock, because the internet-led market has proven to be unforgiving.

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Why did these 9 patients just leave word-of-mouth referrals for their fertility doctors on Instagram?

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"The only thing that matters is the lab"

That's what a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist (RE) told me over lunch at the 2016 American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) annual scientific congress. "The patient experience doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is if they get a baby or not." My efforts to show him all of the evidence to the contrary were fruitless. That was the end of the conversation. Why try to convince the inconvincible?

Flipping People's Peanuts at MRSi 2017: Everything is changing, and it's just the beginning

This is my third annual recap of the Midwest Reproductive Symposium international (MRSi) , so I'm going to have a little fun with this one. I don't feel like writing another list and I think there's a more valuable point I can convey to you. As of right now, MRSi holds the title for my favorite meeting in the field of reproductive health and I want to use it nudge other meetings to follow suit. I should be a fair judge, I go to almost all of them.

It certainly doesn't hurt that it's on Lake Michigan in Chicago in the summer time, and Dr. Angeline Beltsos knows how to incorporate an interesting theme. Those are pluses, but not enough to make a meeting my favorite. It's big enough to have a diverse range of programming and small enough to be very collaborative and social. People get to know each other and build meaningful relationships. I truly understand how important that is for the field. Louise Brown, the first baby ever born from IVF was a guest at the conference.

Start With Why: Association of Reproductive Managers (ARM) Meeting Recap 2017

We didn't plan it this way...really. Yet still, there was a theme.

The Association for Reproductive Managers (ARM) is the practice managers' professional group within the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). As a group, we meet in person twice per year: at ASRM in the fall, and at the ARM Annual Meeting in the spring. We just wrapped up our 2017 meeting on April 28 at the Hotel Chicago (guess which city).

The 7 Steps of the Fertility Bridge Proven Process for Tracking IVF Marketing Results

Jackie Sharpe is Regional Marketing Director for HRC Fertility in Southern California. Once, at an Association for Reproductive Managers (ARM) marketing meeting, I asked Jackie, "Is it easier, or harder, to track the effectiveness of marketing today than it was several years ago?"

I could tell she had thought about it before. "It's harder," she replied.

Harder? We have every tool under the sun, from Google Analytics to every kind of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and marketing dashboard. We can track every click, page view, Instagram like, Yelp review...everything down to how many minutes the average visitor spends on our website. How is it not easier than ever to track our ROI? Yet, you know what? She's absolutely right.

6 Indispensable Numbers Your IVF Marketing is Doomed Without

so...What can you do for me?

When a fertility doctor (or any business owner for that matter) hires a marketer, they very often want to know, to the dollar, what the results will be.

Imagine if I bragged, "My company will increase your new patient visits by 40%!" Would they know, even remotely to the number, what a 40% increase looks like? Would they know to what they could attribute the increase? I've found that the answer is almost always no, because in the fertility field, we rarely have the data we need to gauge the effectiveness of our marketing. Even less often is that data readily accessible. I called this The Biggest Marketing Challenge Facing Fertility Centers, back in 2016. Unfortunately, not much has changed.

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Should I fire my fertility center's marketing manager?

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Fertility doctors frequently ask me, “Is it better to have an in-house marketing person or contract an outside marketing firm?” You might expect me to favor the choice of hiring the firm. I don’t. The two are not mutually exclusive; each role is critically important to the other. In fact, across the board, your staff are paramount to your fertility practice's efforts to recruit new patients. There are assignments that your in-practice marketer should and should NOT be tasked with to maximize effectiveness and cost-efficiency. The same is true of your agency. Depending on the size of your practice, it may seem redundant to have both an internal marketing person and an agency on retainer. When used correctly, they will each pay for themselves and then some.

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The 7 Worst Responses to Fertility Doctor Reviews on the Internet

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"The customer is always right"

Who knew this hyperbole, coined by Harry Selfridge in 1909, declaring his department store's commitment to customer service, would go on to become a thorn in the side of employees everywhere? It's a terrific internal mantra to aspire toward, but it can be very harmful when interpreted as a universal rule. Customers, or in our case, patients, may sometimes project their frustrations on to you or your staff and no one has the right to be abusive to your team members. Maintaining the notion that a single patient's point of view is infallible can put unfair stress on our employees. Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental Airlines, says that when companies don't support their employees when a customer is out of line, resentment results and service deteriorates. If we don't care for and support our staff members, how can they in turn care for and support our patients?

Why Would Anyone Else Care About Infertility? How I Became an Ally to a Community I Had Nothing to Do With

"Don't worry, you can always adopt"

I don't know if I ever had a conversation with anyone struggling with infertility (about the topic) before a few years ago. If I had, I probably would have said something silly like the above. I would have said it with the best of intentions, and hopefully, I would have kept an open mind. I knew nothing about infertility. I had barely heard of IVF. I had no idea what a reproductive endocrinologist (RE) was. I am a young male with zero medical background and no personal connection to infertility. On paper, I was the least likely person to become an ally of the infertility community. And that's the very reason it seemed so important to become one.

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What 22 Infertility Bloggers Hated About Choosing Their Fertility Clinic

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Recently, someone who is very involved in the field of infertility reinforced what hundreds of patients have told me for two years; there's an astounding gap between the way many fertility practices deliver their services and what patients want and expect. That's exactly why our company has the word "Bridge" in its name. According to a study conducted in 2012 by Forrester, 80% of companies say they deliver superior service to their customers. Meanwhile, only 8% of those companies received a superior customer rating. If you're seeking treatment for infertility, the delivery of the services you receive should be nothing less than superior. No clinic is entitled to your selection. Even in states and countries where some rounds of IVF are covered, there are still many circumstances in which you could pay tens of thousands of dollars of your own money. If you live in a large enough area, or are able to travel, you have a choice. Your choice isn't an easy one to make, given how much is at stake. I don't own any fertility centers (...yet), but because we direct their marketing based on what you tell us, I'll speak about them in the first person voice.