Lawful to Advertise. Publicity Within Certain Lines Necessary and Legitimate—Progressive Physicians Ignore Old Rule—Courts Uphold Right of Doctors to Make Their Qualifications Known in the Public Press—Time Brings Radical Changes—Numerous Reasons Why a Competent Practitioner Should Advertise—Futility of “Ethical” Opposition—Severe Judicial Rebuke for Medical Society Leaders Who Attempt to Debar and Discredit Men Who Advertise—Finding in the Celebrated Dr. McCoy Case—Indecent and Obnoxious Advertising—The Proper Kind—How to Obtain Valuable Publicity in a Dignified Manner[61]

CHAPTER V.

Getting Country Patients. Making Connection With Prospective Patients—Again, the Intelligent Use of Newspapers—First Steps to Be Taken in the Location of Good Cases—Correspondence an Important Feature—The Kind of Letters that Inspire Confidence and Bring Patients to the Doctor’s Office—What a Physician Should and Should Not Say in His Correspondence—Specimen Letters—The Danger Line in Correspondence—Effect of the Right Kind of Letters—Humoring the Family Physician—Getting in Touch With the Latter—How to Make Him a Friendly Co-operator—Arranging for Country Trips—Proper Method of Procedure—Working on a Business Basis—Schedule for Receiving Callers—Reception of Stranger Doctors—Division of Fees to Secure Their Support—Treatment of Country Patients—How Big Fees Are Obtained[73]

CHAPTER VI.

Reception of Office Patients. Attractive Quarters the First Essential—How to Select and Furnish Rooms—Reception of Strangers on Arrival—Separation of Callers—Reception Room Attendant an Important Factor—The Kind that Wins—Hints on Treatment of Callers—Recourse to Correspondence File Vitally Essential—How Letters Should Be Kept in Order to Get the Necessary Information Speedily—Letters Frequently Give Clues as to the Writer’s Business Calling and Financial Responsibility—Object in Making Callers Wait Before Physician Receives Them—How the Reception Room Attendant May Become a Valuable Ally—Stenographers Should Be Kept Out of Sight[93]

CHAPTER VII.

The Correspondence File. Proper Handling of Correspondence One of the Vital Essentials to Success—Life Blood of the Specialist’s Practice—Right Kind of Correspondence Clerk an Indispensable Ally—Method of Keeping Letters on File So as to Secure Best Results—Sample Letters that Bring Large Financial Returns—Methods of a Competent Correspondence Clerk—How He Makes Money for His Employer—Tracing the Financial Rating of Strangers—Securing Names and Addresses of Prospective Patients—Utilization of Newspaper Clippings—“Follow-up” Systems—Advantage of Using Plain Envelopes in Writing to Strangers—Obtaining Testimonial Letters from Patients—Use of These Letters in Attracting New Comers—Conducting Correspondence With People in Small Towns—Purpose in Avoiding Duplication of Testimonials[103]

CHAPTER VIII.

Getting at Financial Status. How to Ascertain the Monetary Resources of Callers Who Appear Unannounced—Line of Conversation That Will Lead Any Man to Unwittingly Reveal His Financial Standing—Free Examinations and How Smart Specialists Make of Them a Big Drawing Card—Bringing a Caller to the Point of Submitting to an Examination—Means by Which an Impression is Made—Benefit in Keeping an “Assistant” Within Handy Reach—Clinching the Caller as a Patient—Avoiding the Naming of a Definite Time for Treatment—Reasons Why Some Specialists Fail to Obtain Good Fees—Lack of Tact in Getting at a Caller’s Ability to Pay a Reasonable Fee—Crude Tactics that Defeat the Purpose of the Physician—Danger in Too Much Haste and Rash Promises—Modesty Properly Applied the Great Winner[119]

CHAPTER IX.