The Ultimate Guide to Marketing to Doctors for Referrals

80% of Americans believe the healthcare they get is either good or excellent. That’s already a pretty high number, but as a physician, you want to do the best you can to get your patients the highest level of care possible.

One way to do so is to create a great network of doctors your patients can refer to. But how do you go about marketing to doctors for referrals in the best way possible?

Read on to find out the best strategies for marketing to physicians for referrals.

Make an Effort to Get to Know Nearby Practitioners

If you’ve just opened a medical practice, then make an effort to get to know others who are nearby. You can either choose to make a personal visit or you can send out emails (or snail mail) to nearby practices. Let them know you’ve just opened up, what type of medicine you practice, and that you’re open to creating a network with others.

On the other hand, if you’re well-established in the community, you should also make an effort to welcome newcomers. Again, you can either make a personal visit or send them some kind of welcome note (by email or snail mail). Make it a point to check in again every few months to see how they’re doing.

Do Some Personal Marketing

Marketing your medical practice is always a good idea. It’ll attract new patients, after all. For instance, marketing for stem cell clinics will get people the information and services they need for a better quality of life.

But marketing can do more than just advertise your services to patients. It can also create awareness and help other local medical practices find you. That way, you don’t have to make as much as an outreach effort.

But before you embark on doctor referral marketing, first make sure you’ve spruced up your website to make it easier for them to refer patients to you. For instance, think about creating a special referral page on your site. Not only is this simple to do, but it also streamlines the referral process.

Create a Shortlist

Once you’ve gotten to know the medical professionals around you, then you’ll have a better idea of who you want to create a network with. In an ideal world, you’d partner with everyone, but unfortunately, that’s just not doable nor is it wise.

For example, you may have noticed a local doctor who gets poor reviews from his patients because he has poor bedside manner or has brushed off their concerns. In that case, this is not someone you want in your network of doctors’ referrals.

To ensure you provide your patients with a high-quality of medical professionals they can trust, you need to continually vet your options and cut ties with those who don’t go above and beyond.

Make Use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

You may think that because you’re a small medical practice that you don’t need fancy software to keep track of your patients. While this may be true now, you never know if you’ll scale your business significantly in the future.

Your doctor referral network may also be wildly successful, which means a deluge of new patients for all physicians involved. You want to be prepared for this, and a CRM system can make it much more manageable.

In a CRM program, you can put down all patient details, including if they’re referrals or not. You can then use this information to see which doctors are sending you the most referrals. Think about sending them a thank-you present and/or mail so they feel appreciated.

You can also use this information to craft more personalized emails. For example, if you have patients who are referred from a chiropractor, you can put them on an email list that gives them tips on relieving pain. Or if they’re referred from a nutritionist, you can put them on relevant email lists that have to do with diet and wellness.

Have Open Communication With Other Physicians

Creating a strong network is only half the work. The other half is keeping open communication and being transparent with referring physicians.

For example, if someone’s slipped and fallen at work, they may have initially seen a GP. That GP may have then referred the patient to your chiropractic practice.

If this is the case, you’ll want to update the GP with your findings and prescribed treatment for the patient. They’ll surely appreciate the updates and will feel more confident about referring their own patients to you. In addition, this information can help them shape better treatment plans as well.

If you find that your practice is too busy and you aren’t able to find time to provide updates, you shouldn’t neglect it. Instead, have a trusted administrator in your practice take on these duties for you.

Make sure they understand the importance of their job. Not only is it their responsibility to make timely reports to referring doctors, but it’s also on them to represent your practice in a positive fashion. Because of this, it may be worth it to initially invest some time into training them to ensure they perform tasks correctly right from the start.

Perfect Your Marketing to Doctors for Referrals

Now you have some great tips for marketing to doctors for referrals. The quicker you can employ them, the better for your patients. That way, you’ll have great doctor referrals to give them when they need comprehensive healthcare.

Did you enjoy this article on how to get a referral from a doctor? Then make sure to read our other blog posts too!