"Understanding how to profit from your referral
marketing system is the greatest free referral
practice-building and profitability secret any
physician will ever discover. Be aware that over
60% of your new patients join your medical
practice business because of referrals."
Take one easy step and you will never go back. Just realizing that nearly 100% of your medical practice is referral-based should be a clue to your need to focus on ways to capitalize on this free referral process advantages. Your medical patients arrive at your door either by referring themselves or by others who refer them. Physician offices rarely have a walk-in business for growth.
Various studies have revealed that about 40% of your patients are self-referred. The other 60% are doctor referred (Target Marketing Mag. April 2012). Immediately, you can see the advantage of catering to physicians who refer patients to your practice, to you.
The process of recruiting a continual stream of new (sometimes old patients) patients from other medical doctors who predictably can become a resource for referring their patients to you is called “referral marketing.” Referral marketing is a very profitable process if it’s done right. There are certain fragments of the process, when they are lined up properly, that require an organizational structure---a plan that enables a medical professional to efficiently continue to build their
medical practice.
You create a “system” that works for you and is unique to your medical practice. This article is all about how to do that and make it work. Free referrals to your medical practice is a blessing you can’t afford to pass up.
The tide of any medical practice sustainability is a function of bringing in more new patients than you are losing from your practice. The goal is to maintain constant growth of your medical practice business by the use of medical practice marketing. The problem with that is most doctors in private practice don’t keep records or have a way of measuring the monthly gain or loss of patients.
Consequently, they never know whether their practice is growing or disintegrating. It’s so slow of a change that it goes on rarely noticed. When you make the effort to create a referral marketing system, you will quickly know how your practice is doing…the first big advantage of a
referral system.
Your first focus on improving physician referrals of patients doesn’t mean you abandon self-referred patient marketing, you’re just adding to it.
The essential factors necessary for creating your own "doctor referral"
marketing system...
1. Search out which physician’s have already been sending you patients.
If you don’t already have a system in place to know which medical doctors have sent you a patient over the last year… set one up today! It has to be recorded whenever a referral patient from anywhere contacts your office... even the ones that never pan out, never show up for their appointment, or never reschedule.
Your office staff members must all be made aware of the importance of this endeavor, and repeatedly reminded of it. These contacts should be recorded in one place only, preferably a front desk journal, not loose slips of paper kept in a folder somewhere.
The information recorded should include the date of contact, name of person your staffer spoke to and who they are, the name of the patient being referred and their contact information, name of the doctor referring the patient, and reason for the referral (medical problem).
2. Define what kind of medical issues those patients are most commonly referred to you for.
When you investigate the list of referred patient’s medical problems, you will be aware of what other doctors in your community consider you an expert at diagnosing and treating. The list of medical problems also reflects other doctor’s perceptions of what you do best.
It may be that you are good at other medical skills that they don’t know about yet and is your job to make that clear to them during the marketing contacts you make with them.
A physician associate of mine, who unconsciously left other physicians with the perception that he preferred not to do gyn major surgery cases, revealed to our practice group that he had done only one hysterectomy in the past year but had done more OB deliveries than any of us had.
He didn’t know that local doctors perceived that about him, nor, if he did, he would not have known how to correct the misconception... nor would have I in those times.
3. Putting the word out that you love to consult with referred patients...
Local physicians don’t know what you desire unless you tell them. The fact that you accept referred patients, contrary to public opinion, does not indicate to others that your practice is suffering (a common embarrassing belief among physicians), but rather to the fact that you are building
your practice.
A polite introductory short letter (not email) to the physicians in your community helps to increase referrals. Describe your reasoning for sending the letter to them, meanwhile being humble, honest, and transparent. Assuming that all the local physicians know what you like to do in your practice is a significant missed opportunity mistake.
4. Segment your lists of physician referrals...
Make two lists to start with. Expand those to more focused physician referral lists after you know the doctors who refer the most patients. The first list should be the physicians who already refer patients to you. The second list you need is a list of those physicians who potentially might be good to approach about sending you referral patients.
The medical community grapevine usually reveals which physicians refer patients commonly, and to whom they send them. Later on, you can market more to the physicians that send you occasional patients (a sub-list of physicians) as opposed to ones who already send you lots of patients.
Never neglect those physicians that constantly send you patients… treat them even better than
your own mother.
How to create a referral marketing system...
1. Design a step-by-step protocol that your office staff members must follow when every referred patient contact occurs...
The protocol should include such items as...
- What the new patient should be told about the referral visit on the phone, and how you
want the process handled. - Set of responses to questions the referred patient will most likely ask. Commonly they
want to know if their health insurance covers the referral. - Options for appointment scheduling. When you want to see those patients,
length of appt., etc. - Emphasis on seeing them as soon as possible and your special interest
in solving their medical problem.
2. Construct a protocol to be followed by your office staff during the patient’s first appointment in your office...
It should include the following...
- Exaggerated efforts at hospitality by all members of the office staff
- Minimal waiting time in the reception area
- Patient with appointments should be inconspicuously moved ahead to an exam room
ahead of other waiting patients
- Explanation to the patient the sequence of events that will happen—like put on exam gown before the physician enters, re-dress and be moved to the consultation private office or room, findings, treatment options, and decisions to be discussed in the private environment, etc.
- Possible second or third follow-up visit and for what reasons... all explained to the patient
- How and when the doctor’s findings and treatment (if any) will be sent back to her, or
his, own physician
- Tell the patient what will happen next, or what should happen next in the process
- Give a time-line for the results of tests and treatments to be completed
- Need for any further consultations, if any, you believe may be advisable
3. Compose a protocol for your office members to follow for the follow-up
visits, if any...
Should include such things as...
- If the patient does not call back for a second follow-up visit by _____time frame, do______.
- Ways to be sure the referral doctor actually got your findings and written report
- Ways to be sure the patient completed the tests you may have ordered
- Ways to be sure all results of tests ordered have been done and you have seen the reports
- Ways to be sure the patient is informed of the test results
Above are the basics of an office referral system management of a patient who has been sent to you on referral. Once you have a fixed system in place to manage this part of the referral system with the patient, speed and efficiency are possible, and confusion in your office is eliminated.
It reflects on your better than average ability to manage medical problems without mistakes, delays, forgetfulness, or incompetence. Your credibility is vastly increased and substantiated.
4. Critical reminders -- Requirements for maximizing your medical practice income...
Requirements for maximizing your medical practice income
1. Good knowledge of medical practice management
2. Having the energy for continuous medical practice marketing
3. Medical practice business planning is important.
4. Marketing for physicians and their office staff is a winning set up.
5. Learn what makes a medical practice business successful.
6. Your medical practice business system is essential.
7. Bothe practice marketing and physician marketing is rewarding.
8. Business success is the objective of all physicians in private medical practice.
9. My business website—www.marketingamedicalpractice.com
(Part 2---The follow-up article will continue with and complete this topic to how you should effectively manage referral doctors, and how to market to them in a way that they will gladly refer patients to you once they understand what you will do for them and their patients.)
Article #33, Title, "How To Create a Referral Marketing Program That Floods Your Private Medical Practice With Patients, (Part 2 of 2)
----Professional Probe----
"Even animals accept referred patients"
"By combining the primary practice-building process of soliciting
a constant flow of referred patients with your efforts to magnify
your professional credibility, competence, integrity, and skills
by promoting yourself to your local physician community,
you have created a professional gold mine for your future
in private medical practice."
Articles © 2013-2022/CGG INVESTMENTS LLC. All rights reserved. #31, 3-16-22
