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A Physician Referral Building Game Plan For Medical Practices

By Lori Trzcinski posted 09-19-2018 10:13 AM

  
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It is a question most physicians in private practice face: How are we going to acquire more patients? The best answer is by generating more referrals from physicians in your market. That’s where a solid referral marketing game plan comes into play.

Building relationships with potential referring physicians will form the basis of your marketing efforts. If physicians and other health care providers in your area do not know of you, your partners or your ambulatory surgery center (ASC), how will they know you can be a resource for them and their patients?
Consider these critical pieces of your referral marketing game plan.

Prioritize Your Contact List
If your practice is fairly well established, divide your current pool of referring physicians into categories based on their referral history with you:
  1. Tried and True. These are the doctors with whom you have a good relationship. They refer often and only need acknowledgment a few times a year to keep sending patients your way.

  2. Needs a Push. These doctors should get a lot of your attention. They refer patients occasionally but have the potential to send more. They just need a little cultivation to improve their numbers.

  3. Less than Stellar. These physicians might send you a few patients now and then or have never referred to you. Do they need more education about your practice or services? With a little effort, you might find out if they have concerns that could be mitigated or if they are contractually obligated to send patients elsewhere.


If you do not already have a directory of physicians in your area, learn which doctors are affiliated with hospitals that are pushing procedures to outside GI ASCs. Look for a local medical society where you can network with other physicians, particularly general practitioners, family practitioners and OB/GYNs.

sidebar.pngCraft Your Marketing Message
Once you identify the people you will speak to, make sure you can give them accurate, helpful information about your practice. Your talking points should be clear about what your center can and cannot do. Information should be concise and consistent in every communication medium, whether in talking points and brochures, or on web pages and social media channels.

Focus on services that set your center apart. Maybe you have a competitive or technical advantage over others. Stress the service aspect of your center. For instance, let people know that your team can make the patient hand-off easier for the referring physician’s office.

Remember you are trying to foster a relationship, not just make a sales pitch. Be sincere. Talk about how the relationship benefits the referring practice and their patients. Do not randomly contact people without trying to facilitate a true relationship. If you show loyalty to providers, that loyalty will come back to you.

Get Your Staff Involved in Referral Marketing
As you develop each step in your plan, think about which staff members could take on a particular task. Someone who is cheerful and outgoing might make a great ambassador from your practice to other clinicians’ offices, while a quiet, diligent employee might welcome the opportunity to do research or
schedule networking appointments.

During staff meetings, present a plan to talk to a certain number of providers within a set time period and assign staff members to the practices you have identified. Or put it on the schedule that once a week a staffer will visit target providers. This is another reason to make sure staff members care enough
about your business to extend themselves in this way. If generating new leads is not a good match for staff members, consider hiring an outside consultant to go out on your behalf. Just be sure they are well-informed about your practice and services and can make you look good.

These marketing visits don’t have to be a chore. Consider having a partner or staffer take lunch to their offices. Better still, host an event at your center. This could be an open house, a lunch-and-learn or a networking meeting that involves different specialties. Take time to introduce your visitors to your practice’s offerings, and everybody wins. And when referrals come in, take time to send a thank-you message to the referring physician.

Acting on your referral marketing game plan will no doubt take time—first in research and preparation, then in communication and follow-up. But when your schedule fills up, and you have satisfied patients and providers who can generate even more word-of-mouth referrals for you, the time and effort will be well worth it.

By Lori Trzcinski | Posted September 18, 2018
SHSMD Digital Engagement Task Force Member
Marketing Manager
Physicians Endoscopy
Jamison, PA

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