How we got our name…
Blue Ocean Family Medicine was named after our first trip to Tennessee. Tara (my wife and now practice manager) and I had just put an offer on a house in Hendersonville that had been accepted. It was official we would be moving and opening a new family medicine clinic in Hendersonville.
On a return flight to Idaho, we were discussing the business plans of opening a direct primary care practice and knew that one of the first steps was to choose a name. Tara was working on her homework for her MBA and was reading about blue ocean business strategies.
A Blue Ocean Strategy
She described to me that a blue ocean strategy is choosing to create a business that is not in existence today or in an unknown market space. By creating something new you are in a market with no competition allowing for unlimited potential and growth. This type of strategy creates new demand for a product or service instead of being in direct competition with other businesses.
This is opposed to a red ocean, or the market and businesses that are already in existence. It is called a red ocean because the competition is cut-throat leaving the ocean a bloody red. There are too many competing businesses looking for the same consumers.
We decided that we wanted to open a family medicine clinic in Hendersonville using a blue ocean strategy…
and create a business that is truly unique and would allow us to really help people become and stay healthy. To do that we decided to open a direct primary care practice. By removing insurance middlemen, the physician-patient relationship is restored. Patients pay a membership fee directly to the practice and in return have direct access to Dr Lofley. Patients can now have TIME with their physician (30 and 60 min visits are standard) and easy ACCESS (in-person visits, video visits, call, text, or email and have same-day to next day access). In office dispensing of generic medications and at-cost labs provide additional savings to patients. This is our blue ocean strategy for primary care.
Blue Ocean Family Medicine was born
We now had the beginnings of a name for our practice. After several renditions we settled on Blue Ocean Family Medicine. We then held a design competition through 99designs.com where we outlined what we were looking for in a logo. After selecting our favorite designs we were able to further refine what we liked until we developed our current logo with a wave and a cross.
Even better than the blue ocean strategy is the imagery surrounding a blue ocean. When I close my eyes and think about a blue ocean I can hear the waves crashing on the beach, sense the sand between my toes, and feel the sun kiss my skin.
The environment is so healing
When you step into Blue Ocean Family Medicine we want you to feel a healing environment. There are beautiful photographs of the ocean adorning the walls (keep taking those beautiful photos Levon – saltycures.com).
We have a Sisyphus Table in the waiting room that rolls a ball thru sand, all the time developing and erasing stunning patterns. Watching the Sisyphus is very calming.
If you haven’t been to Blue Ocean Family Medicine, come and see us. We would love to meet you. Just schedule a free appointment to come and learn what we do and experience the calmness of the blue ocean. I can’t wait to meet you.
