Patient referrals fuel your practice’s success. Without them, clinics sputter to a stop. But getting referrals is no easy task. It involves tremendous extroversion and a willingness to be active in the community. It also requires a commitment to build long-term relationships. It involves selling the practice (public relations) as well as its services and products (marketing).
Over the next few blogs we’ll cover the different areas on how to round up referrals.
Physician Referrals
Don’t go to a doctor asking for referrals before you’ve found out the doctor’s philosophy and needs. You don’t want the doctor to lump you with equipment and drug salespeople. If you haven’t done your research, you’ll ultimately get brushed off. You may even get a seat in the waiting room next to several other “salespeople” who are pitching their products.
You can topple the “salesman” perception by building a relationship with the doctor. Certain activities that can position you better as a doctor’s equal include:
- Observing surgeries
- Attending rounds
- Surveying the doctor’s patients, (with his participation), about some area of common interest, such as back pain
- Co-presenting a health care lecture to the public
- Having the doctor do in-services for your staff
- Doing in-services for the doctor’s staff
- Getting the doctor’s advice on a topic of concern
- Developing or reviewing protocols for treatment
These interactions help you draw on your own areas of expertise, but they also provide opportunities to get to know the doctor better. Through your interactions, you’ll discover his viewpoints, concerns and interests.
Once you have a flow of referrals coming from a doctor, don’t abandon your communication. Continue to follow up occasionally to check how things are going, provide education and to learn from the doctor. Having rapport becomes crucial if there’s a problem with a patient.
Don’t lump all doctors together.
Doctors are reluctant to complain to you directly. Communicate regularly and prod a bit to see if you can improve your services. By keeping the lines of communication open, you’re likely to have the doctor open up. Just as you keep a patient file, keep a file on all your referral sources. These files can include the doctor’s need, wants, desired protocols and any special notes. In fact, orient your staff to check the doctor’s referral file whenever a new referral source arrives. Encourage staff to update these files with any new information.
By doing the above you’ll see a marked improvement in your physician referrals, but, there’s other steps to improve your referrals overall.
