If your practice relies on referrals, the process of contacting physicians and making your case can be a daunting task. Here’s a quick-and-easy, 4-step action plan that makes referral marketing manageable and easy when you use the features built into your SpectraSoft scheduling system…
Step 1: Carve a Niche
If you want to solicit referrals from established physicians, odds are they already have a network of one or more specialists in your field. So if you simply promote yourself to a referring physician as a “physical therapy practice,” you can expect to find yourself at the back of the line of all the PTs contacting that physician.
A more effective approach is to focus on a niche of that physicians referrals. This could be a specific body part, a unique type of patient, or a specific zip code within the greater community. Here are some examples:
‘We’re the shoulder injury specialists’
‘We’re open evenings — ideal for your working patients‘
‘We’re conveniently located for your patients in the 85284 zip code’
Of course once you make one of these claims, you will need data to back what you’re saying. It’s easy enough to prove you’re close to patients in a certain zip code, or that you have special equipment for geriatric patients. Other assertions may require outcomes data.
SpectraSoft makes it easy to summarize the cases you treat most often and the results you achieved. Here’s how to generate three reports that will help you make your case. From the AppointmentsPRO or AppointmentsEverywhere program, click on…
Reports > Statistical Reports > Diagnosis Summary
Reports > Statistical Reports > Diagnosis Usage
Reports > Statistical Reports > Outcome Summary
Now you have hard data to say that you treat “X” shoulder injuries per month and achieve good or excellent outcomes “Y%” of the time.
Step 2: Involve Your Patients
Patients are often your most effective ambassadors — both to their friends and to referring physicians. As much as possible, let your patients know what you are doing and why. Explain what extra steps you have taken in terms of your equipment, education and treatments to help the patient see the best results possible. That good news may make it back to the physician.
Step 3: Keep Your Referrers Happy
Once you gain a new referring physician, you need to treat that resource like gold. Make sure you know how you stand with each of your referring physicians at all times. SpectraSoft can track all your referrals and generate reports for you on-demand to let you know how many patients you are receiving from each referral source.
First, you need to add each of your referring physicians and other marketing sources to your SpectraSoft system so that they can be tracked. To add a referrer to your SpectraSoft system…
(1) Click on Data > Contacts > Data
(2) Enter the requested information for the referrer.
Note: To add greater detail to your monthly referral reports, we recommend you create unique categories for each type of referrer you are targeting (i.e. primary physicians, attorneys, coaches, medical specialists, etc.). You can add categories in the same window you use to add a referrer.
Next, you will want to generate regular referral reports, so you know how you’re doing with each source. In AppointmentsEverywhere or AppointmentsPRO 10, just click on…
Reports > Trend Reports > New Patients By Primary Physician
Reports > Trend Reports > New Patients By Referral Source
Reports > Trend Reports > New Patients By Zip Code
If you see a drop-off in referrals, you know you better contact that physician at once to address the cause. If referrals are consistent or growing, it may be time to gradually expand your niche with that physician: “By the way, did you know our clinicians have experience in other cases besides shoulder injury?”
Step 4: Look for other sources of new patients
Referring physicians are not the only way to bring in new patients. You may want to try seminars, ads in publications, or sponsorship of a local school team or event. You can track the effectiveness of these marketing efforts in your SpectraSoft system the same way you track referrals from primary physicians. Just click on..
Reports > Referral Patterns > Referral Source
To identify the best opportunities for your marketing efforts, start by finding out where your best prospects are. The Zip Code report in your SpectraSoft scheduling system breaks down your patient volume by geographic area. Just click on…
Reports > Referral Patterns > Zip Code
Finally, lets talk about how to turn your patients into a powerful referral source.
Conclusion
Once you have all your information in place, you need to reach out to physicians. Our customers often ask us, “What’s the best way to reach physicians?” The one right answer is this: the best way to contact physicians is the best way you contact physicians.
If you are comfortable at networking events, go to them. If you’re good on the phone, dial them. If you like to teach and explain, put together a brief letter covering your niche expertise and mail/email/fax it. Start with the methods you’re most comfortable with.
Good luck!
