What Every Healthcare Practice Should Know About Gaining and Retaining Referrals

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Clinton Phelps
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1 A Practice Buildlers White Paper What Every Healthcare Practice Should Know About Gaining and Retaining Referrals (Please see next page )

With so much competition, referrals don t come as easily as they used to... unless you take action to secure them. Referrals are the lifeblood of your practice.

2 With so much competition, referrals don t come as easily as they used to... unless you take action to secure them. Referrals are the lifeblood of your practice. Keeping a steady stream of referrals virtually guarantees you a more prosperous, rewarding and fulfilling professional life. But how do you obtain referrals? For most practitioners, the two main sources of referrals are current/former patients and professional colleagues. For specialists such as surgeons or radiologists, the vast majority of referrals will come from the latter. For primarycare physicians, general dentists and many physical therapists, referrals come from both professional referrers and patients. Referral patterns can change slowly or suddenly. Take the case of interventional radiologists. According to Medicare databases, bypass surgeries in America decreased 47% from 1996 through 2006, while angioplasties and stent placements increased 213%! During that same time, surgeons utilization of angioplasty and stenting skyrocketed 1,095%. The rate among cardiologists rose 395%. But the utilization rate among radiologists increased by only 24%. In 1996, radiologists were performing far more of these procedures (63%!) than either cardiologists (23%) or surgeons (9%). By 2006, radiology s share had declined to 25%, less than either cardiologists or surgeons. What changed this referral pattern? Surgeons and cardiologists saw opportunity in angioplasty/stenting. They purchased or leased their own equipment so they could bring this service in-house. Instead of referring patients out to interventional radiologists, they began performing the procedures themselves. In 10 years, they reduced radiology s share of the angioplasty/stenting market from a healthy 63% to a paltry 25% by redirecting the referral pattern. Obviously, being an outstanding practitioner isn t enough to guarantee or generate referrals. Referrals require ongoing effort and due dilligence. White Paper: Gaining & Retaining Referrals page 2

How to Increase Referrals the Easy Way From Your Existing Patients In terms of sheer numbers of potential referrals, it makes sense to focus your efforts on your own patients first.

3 How to Increase Referrals the Easy Way From Your Existing Patients In terms of sheer numbers of potential referrals, it makes sense to focus your efforts on your own patients first. With spheres of influence that extend outward to their families, friends, co-workers and colleagues, your patients are a gold mine of potential referrals. Soliciting referrals from them is often much easier because you may see them in your practice regularly and you already have access to all their personal contact information. The single most effective way to increase referrals from your current patients is to ask for them. If you are like most healthcare practitioners, you may be uncomfortable with the idea of asking patients for referrals. You may believe that asking makes you appear needy or greedy or unprofessional, so you simply avoid it. Instead of keeping yourself from a potentially huge source of revenue for your practice, remember that you got into healthcare to help people. Asking for referrals is simply asking for the opportunity to help more people. And don t forget the Internet as a source of referrals. Medical Web Referrals is a medical listing service designed to connect patients with medical professionals. For a $499 annual fee, you can list your practice at For most practices, a single referral can cover this cost. White Paper: Gaining & Retaining Referrals page 3

Are You Really Selling Anything? Eliminate the notion that you are selling your patients on giving you referrals. All you are really doing is trying to help as many people as possible.

4 Are You Really Selling Anything? Eliminate the notion that you are selling your patients on giving you referrals. All you are really doing is trying to help as many people as possible. That s why you went into healthcare and private practice, right? The best time to ask for a referral is when a patient thanks you for your care or the results. At that moment, they re giving you an open invitation. Instead of just smiling politely and thanking them back, this is your perfect opportunity to say something like: I really appreciate hearing that, Mrs./Ms./Mr. Jones. I joined this profession so I could help as many people with your condition/disease/illness/problem as possible. If you know someone a family member, friend, co-worker or business colleague with a similar problem, please have them call so I can help them, too. It s that simple. You have expressed your appreciation and enlisted their help. You have asked for a referral without appearing needy, greedy or unprofessional. And you ve created additional goodwill between yourself and your patient. If the patient makes a similar comment to a member of your staff, you might follow up with a personal note to the patient expressing the same sentiment as the quote above. Better yet, make sure every member of your staff is trained to encourage referrals, too. Ask for referrals every chance you get, and watch your patient referrals add up quickly. White Paper: Gaining & Retaining Referrals page 4

5 Encouraging Professional Referrals. Don t like asking other practitioners for referrals? If you re like many practitioners, you d rather get a root canal sans anesthetic than visit other practices and ask for referrals. Here s a much better alternative Hire a practice representative to do the visiting for you. A good practice rep will foster and develop relationships between your practice and non-referring practices (and strengthen relationships with referring practices!). A good practice rep, properly trained, can return several times your investment in terms of new revenue for your practice. Smart practitioners know that it s often the practitioner s front desk/office staff that really generate referrals. How can you increase the likelihood that they ll refer to you? Flowers, fruit baskets and tickets to shows are OK, but they aren t long-lasting nor do they keep your name in front of your potential referrer. Instead, try a personalized, perpetually filled flower vase, a small ceramic vase imprinted with With sincere appreciation, from (your name/practice name). Arrange with a local florist to keep fresh flowers in the vase for as little as $10 per week. By having your front desk periodically call referring front desks for quality checks on the local florist, they ll have an excuse to talk with the staff. Your staff will bond with theirs, ensuring that you re the professional they ll refer to most frequently. Look for useful premium items that are long-lasting and keep your name in front of the referral source. And remember that retaining referrals is as important as gaining them in the first place. When you receive a professional referral, do you: Give the patient top priority and see them promptly? Thank the referring physician with a call or Follow up with your clinical findings and progress reports? Make sure his/her patient is happy with your care? Make yourself readily available for consults with the referrer? Return the patient with a personal thank-you note? Remember, if a referred patient has an unsatisfactory experience in your practice, you are making yourself and the referrer look bad. And you are not likely to see another referral from that source. Educate Professional Referrers About the Benefits of Referring to You. Do referring docs understand all the ways you can help them and their patients? If not, you must find ways to communicate these benefits. That s where intelligent, strategic marketing comes in. Whether you have specialized credentials, advanced technology and/or exceptional outcomes with certain types of patients, you must communicate these advantages. White Paper: Gaining & Retaining Referrals page 5

Market for Refferals Now To Survive and Flourish When the Econony Recovers Practice Builders pioneered medical practice marketing in 1979 and has consulted with and created compelling brands and

6 Market for Refferals Now To Survive and Flourish When the Econony Recovers Practice Builders pioneered medical practice marketing in 1979 and has consulted with and created compelling brands and persuasive messages for far more physicians than any other company of our kind well over 15,000. Our marketing consultants and strategists have helped thousands of practitioners overcome their diverse challenges with comprehensive strategies customized for their unique situations. We understand physicians, referral relationships and the needs of patients. We work within your budget, help you put your marketing plan into action and help you achieve your practice goals so you can focus 100% on what you love to do care for your patients. The results, as thousands of our clients will attest to, can be spectacular. Today, your goals are clear to you. And a smart, proven solution to your marketing challenges is right in front of you. If you want something you ve never had before, then do something you ve never done before. Don t procrastinate a moment longer. Learn more about the many ways we can help you strategize and boost your exposure to patients and professional referral sources. White Paper: Gaining & Retaining Referrals page 6

7 OUR MISSION Help healthcare practices and businesses achieve maximum success by being devoted to their goals, informed about their specialties, fast and flexible in the face of change and completely focused on client service. one technology drive, building i, suite 829, irvine, ca

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