Building relationships with MD's are similar to many others that we build. They are multi-layered, successful, unsuccessful, and filled with many nuances, variables, personalities and quirks that come with the territory. They can evolve into meaningful exchanges and respect between two providers and they can also crumble when not tended to. It adds another challenge to your marketing efforts and reminds us that approaching physicians is like any other relationship in that we must have enough rapport to have a meaningful exchange of words and for those that we value, we must spend time maintaining them.

The relationships that we build will result in patient referrals. However, there are variances as to how many you might see. There is no magic number. I have heard many of you mention that you see only 2 to 3 MD referrals a month, and others reporting upwards of 3 to 5 a day.

I am often asked, how long will it take to begin seeing referrals? That's a harder answer but I would say I would be surprised if with good effort you weren't seeing them within 6 months and hopefully much sooner. There are other variances to consider from local hospital politics, insurance issues and of course how busy of an MD office that you target can all play a role. For established relationships there is always the opportunity to expand upon the physicians knowledge of your services to expand the number of referrals you are seeing from one particular MD. 

One benefit of a conversational approach is that you can continue to build upon your relationship. Conversations about other conditions that you can treat can be introduced to build upon the foundation you have already laid. Respect and understanding for each others clinical approach can be appreciated when conversations are steered in the right direction. Another benefit is the ability to trouble shoot and ask pointed questions that yield information, needs and objections.

This week our membership blog focuses on this last point. What can you do if you think you are having positive conversations but you aren't seeing any referrals? How can you improve the number of referrals an occasional referring doctor is providing you? How do you handle a doctor who has been referring but suddenly stops or drastically slows down?  

I speak a lot about relationships with MDs, how to reach out, how to build them and how to maintain them because as mentioned above without tending to them, they can go away. You spend a lot of time trying to get them started it's important to keep them going.

My tip for all readers this week is to setup a tracking system that allows you to see where you need to spend the time, how long it's been and importantly what are the results. If you have good medical relationships but you aren't pleased with your results consider joining us in the membership blog. 

It's important to maintain contact with medical doctors to reinforce patient outcomes and rapport. One of the easiest ways to achieve this goal is to provide a release from care summary report. Reports are also a great opportunity to foster new referral relationships. While all health professionals are inundated with paperwork (electronic or otherwise) the thought of sending a report once a patient has completed care may almost induce a tear or two. Not to worry, non medical legal summary reports for the purposes of informing and updating a physician on a patients results isn't as bad as you think.  Here is a quick outline of how to make it consistently easy. On your letterhead include:

Date

Patient Information

Physician

Physician Address

Dear Dr.:

Below you will find a brief overview of Patient’s Name progress with our office.  

Paragraph 1: Overview of initial symptoms emphasizing the impact on ADL's and pain qualities - bring the patients pain and disability to life. For most patients this can be completed within a few sentences. (members may log in for an example on how this might be easily phrased)

Paragraph 2: Summarize your findings and treatment, home care and work place modifications. Again, this is simply an overview. You're not listing every positive exam finding or how many times a week etc.. It's an overview, a summary.  (members may log in for an example on how this might be phrased as an overview)

Paragraph 3: A simple sentence indicating final results. 

For more detailed information regarding "patient name", please feel free to contact me at the above  number. 

Sincerely,

Your name & specialty

cc: any other physicians who may have been involved with this patient for this particular condition

This is a very basic summary for the purposes of providing an update to a referring physician or at the patients request. Hint: You should be asking every patient for permission to correspond with other primary care or specialists who have a need to be updated on that particular patients care.  It takes minimal effort if done on a daily basis. 

Talking about inactive patients always feels a little dark. So much so, many practices turn a blind eye thinking that a good percentage rate, often examined through retention rates provides the justification to turn that blind eye. I think that's a mistake.

We often hear that losing a patient is the most expensive patient to lose and I would agree with that for two reasons. The first is reputation and the second is not adjusting your marketing strategy between inactive and active patients. 

When did you last take a deep look at your inactive patients?

There is a lot your inactive patients can tell you and even if your stats are good, you should still want to know what they have to say and you should still be tracking that statistic for early warning signs. 

You should also be marketing to them differently because what they have to say is invaluable to knowing how to improve your statistics and protect your reputation.  It's this last point that ties the importance of this issue into medical referral marketing. 

Your reputation is everything when it comes to medical outreach and patients who don't return for care have a lot to say about that reputation, even if they are a small fraction of your practice. Examining your patient reviews on social media and on review sites like Yelp won't necessarily raise a red flag, only a small percentage of your inactive patients will take the time to post a negative review - the others do it by word of mouth and sometimes their audience is their MD, maybe even the MD that referred them to you in the first place.  A correlation you may see when an MD stops or slows down what was a good referral relationship.

Most practices try to reactivate or market to their inactive patient base in the same manner as they do their active patient base. For example, many offices simply keep them on the newsletter list, the birthday card list and assume social media posts will keep them engaged but it fails to address the reason they left. The needs from a marketing perspective are different than the needs of your active patient base and this should be factored into your marketing strategy. 

Think about this way -  you have 1,000 patients and 30% have not been to your practice in over a year for a variety of reasons. Maybe they feel fine, maybe they don't have any pain, maybe they had a bad front desk experience or find your office hours or billing procedures inconvenient. Maybe they didn't think your care or the experience in your office was exceptional. What are these 300 patients saying about your practice? 

Take the time to find out and change how you're marketing to this practice demographic. 

I'm not one to pose a problem without offering a solution. If you think you this situation applies to your practice, consider joining our membership blog for only $4.95/mo,  for solutions and additional insight. Your reputation is everything when it comes to building medical referrals and a successful practice. 

You've had a positive meeting with an MD but you haven't seen any referrals. There are several likely causes but the two most common reasons are:

1. Old habits die hard. An MD may have truly appreciated your approach and information with every intention of referring patients. However, they get busy and their regular routine is easy to fall back into. To overcome this problem make sure you are maintaining consistent outreach and when you are able to speak again, talk about their patients who aren't getting better with the regular approach, or patients who have tried and failed traditional care. This last step is effective at reminding them of your services when faced with a difficult patient as another possible solution when the "habitual" routine fails. Consistency on your part, will result in consistency on their part. 

2. Objections. Did you uncover every objection the MD had? An objection can be any reason at all that simply means they aren't yet sold and not every MD will be forthcoming. You have to control the conversation and make sure you are asking questions that will help the physician voice any concerns. These can range from more serious concerns over safety to more simple ones such as insurance coverage and cost. The objections will vary from doctor to doctor which is why following a sales algorithm is so critical. If you're going to take the time to meet with MDs don't you want to make sure you actually get the referrals? If so, you need to know that it is not only about the features and benefits of your care but also uncovering and addressing physician concerns. If not, even the best presentation may fall flat.

If a physician you have met with has not referred, then next time you speak, ask them if a question or concern has come up since you last spoke. This will allow you to respond to and overcome an objection to get things on track. 

If you like what you're reading please consider joining our members only blog which provides more detail and content or try our online learning course  Marketing to MDs. 

This is a really popular question I often get! The realistic answer is that there is no finish line to cross because you should always want to meet the physicians in your area. It's similar to asking how many friends you should have - do you ever really stop trying? Of course not. It's the same with medical relationships - you should always want to meet physicians in your community, to know who to refer to, to know who not to refer to and to just be a part of a professional community. 

What does vary is the phase of practice you are in. If you are new, you will be actively reaching out to and meeting as many MDs in your community as possible, looking for ones that you align with both in therapeutic approach and in part personality wise.  As you become more established you will transition from actively knocking on physician doors, to meeting physicians through activities such as hospital grand rounds and introductions by other physicians and through reputation.  

There is no magic number or equation that says if I meet this many MDs I'll get X referrals. There are a lot of variables that come into play. How outgoing are you? Are you more shy and introverted or are you a natural born sales person? What is the climate in your area relative to physician attitudes towards alternative care - the same could be asked about the area you live in and economic pulse all factors that drive how patients seek care and are referred. What's the competitive environment - how many of your competitors are also seekind medical referral relationships? Do you have established networks - maybe a family member or good friend that is in the medical community? How likely is it that the first physician you meet will refer you 100's of patients?

With so many variables the only accurate answer is there is no number - you should always want to meet and mingle with the physicians in your community - and degrees don't matter - you never know what specialist is an influencer in the medical community or can escalate you into the hospital system if that is your end goal. 

If you think in terms of numbers the intent is lost - is your intent numbers based for what MDs can do for you or is it relationship based upon which referrals are a benefit? Which one do you think is better for a stable source of new patients that spans the life of your practice? 

It's not to early to start planning for National Chiropractic Health Month. I know it's not until October but you need to be ready to go on October 1st, not start planning. This is a great time to not only engage your current patients and attract new ones it's also a wonderful opportunity to work on your new and existing medical relationships. 

To execute without pressure and to make the greatest impact, now is the time to start making initial plans, especially if you plan on placing any paid advertisement ads, renting space,  ordering specialty food and placing branded product orders. As all of these cost money, planning early ensures you have time to shop around and plan your budget. 

ACA will soon be providing members with a NCHM campaign kit which will further aid in simplifying your events! But events such as these are not just for October, they can also be planned to boost the times in a practice that would otherwise be slow.

January is a great example, when deductibles are reset and holiday spending is being paid off. August is another when families plan the last of summer vacations and pack in the rest of the summer festivities. November and December bring along the rush of the Holiday season and travel. All of these times interrupt the natural weekly rhythm and statistics of even the most established offices. 

When you look at your practice stats do you see months that tend to have dips in them? If so, plan public relations events just in front of these slower times, or look to use these quieter practice times to book more public relations events and plan your other marketing efforts for a strong start when the normal routines return.

Events can range from small daily office events to larger events such as community health talks. Each month, each week and each day has something that can be used to boost practice engagement and presence to help overcome anticipated practice lulls. But to be successful and mindful of spending, planning a couple of months in advance will yield the best results!

Like what you're reading? Consider our monthly membership at only $4.95/month for more detailed planning tips, more articles and best marketing practices. 

Can't get past the front desk? Doctor won't meet with you? Don't give up there are other ways to meet MD's! Getting in front of an MD is one of greatest hurdles for most outreach efforts! Here are some ideas to enhance your opportunities!

• Attend your local hospitals Grand Rounds. These are usually free to attend, don't require an RSVP and take place during lunch. To find them in your area try a Google Search with these key searches "Name of Hospital Grand Rounds" or "Name of Hospital Continuing Ed" Typically these will bring up the calendar of upcoming events. Look to ones that will be of interest to you and will appeal to those physicians you wish to meet. At the very least you'll probably learn something new!
• Network with the MD's you can meet. If you already have relationships work with them to meet other specialists in their network. It helps open doors if you have an introduction and it helps quickly find the physicians your most likely to have success with. 
• Patient Reports. Never underestimate the power of patient reports. Many DC's routinely receive referrals from MD's they have never met but did send reports to. Make it a habit to ask your patients to communicate with their MD's about their care and send a final report. 
• Attend DO continuing education seminars. Many states allow some of these CE credits to apply to chiropractic CE's. This provides a great opportunity to sit side by side and meet physicians in your community. 

Want more tips like this? Our members only blog provides more in depth discussions and ideas! Join now!

It's important to have a targeted goal and a supporting message with each outreach.  Running a chiropractic office is time consuming, so it’s critical to be time effective. Having a set goal and message will keep time on your side and make impact with the MD. A goal may simply be to meet and establish contact with an MD. Or, it may be to further a previous conversation. It will be different for each MD, but once you determine your goal, you can define your message. If a goal is to meet an MD for the first time, what’s important information to convey? In this case, your goal may be to uncover what the MD currently understands about chiropractic care and be prepared to talk about chiropractic basics such as a main condition chiropractic is known to be effective for. Future goals will be built off the outcomes of your previous goals and will include moving the conversation forward to educate the MD on a wide variety of topics including, which patients are suitable for referral and overcoming objections which are typically focused on treatment plans, scope of care, safety and costs. Be targeted with your outreach and you’ll make the most of every encounter.

Additional bonus: By having a goal, you can move forward through an algorithm of sales that ensures forward motion and effective time management. This helps make the most out of each encounter.

Like this post? The above post is a small portion of today's members blog post that includes 4 other tips for MD Marketing.  Join now for only $4.95/month. 

Can't get past the doctors front desk? Doctor doesn't have time to meet with you? Don't give up! Here are our top three tips to meeting more MD's in your community:

1. Attend your local hospital's Grand Rounds. These are usually free to attend, don't require an RSVP and take place during lunch. Focus on topics that will interest you, allow you to ask intelligent questions, and which would attract other doctors who would likely have patients to refer. To find Grand Rounds in your area, try a Google search with terms like "grand rounds" or "continuing education" along with the name of your local hospital. The more integrated and active you become over time, the more likely you may be the one presenting at Grand Rounds!

2. Network your existing MD relationships. Have a neurologist you know? Ask them to provide an introduction to their internal medicine friends (and other specialists). If that still proves to be difficult in obtaining time, make it worth their time and spike the interest factor by offering to sponsor a small round table discussion on back pain with an existing MD friend and his or her chosen colleagues. Just make sure to make it worth your time by controlling the topic, format, reminders and restaurant reservations! Tip - Have the MD provide the initial invitation.

3. Patient Reports. Patient's medical doctors should be a top priority in your outreach, but if you're having trouble getting time with them go the more subtle route by sending them a patient discharge report. Many DC's routinely receive referrals from MD's they have never met as a direct result of taking the time to send a patient report. A simple short report at discharge (assuming this is not a medical legal case) is all that it takes to illustrate beginning and ending pain levels, treatments and length of treatment to really paint a picture on the efficacy of your care. Your intake forms should provide a space to request patient consent to share their progress, findings and outcomes to any MD they have previously seen for the condition that they are presenting to your office for.

For many offices, it's usually clear where your office is and thus your front door. For many others, especially those in large office buildings or in urban areas it's not as clear.  Even if your office is easy to find, there can be road closures or construction that impedes timely arrival.

You can easily enhance patient experience by anticipating issues such as difficulty in locating your offices front door in a large building or alerting patients to road delays. This enhances their experience and yours by preventing frustrated and stressed patient arrivals, not to mention on time appointments!

Here are some tips to consider:

• Post clear directions on your website. Include photo's of your front door or parking structures to park that are closest to your office.  
• If sending electronic reminders for appointments, include your address and if necessary parking instructions as well as a link to your website for directions. Make sure this is mobile friendly as that is the most likely time they'll realize they are lost!
• When a new patient calls in, alert them to any possibility of confusion and provide oral instructions and/or an email that clearly outlines how to get to your office. 
• If unexpected road construction or delays are incurred, call your patients and let them know of any detours or potential delays as appropriate for the duration of the delay. 

This last one happened to me for a recent dental visit. I could have easily left 5 to 10 minutes earlier to get to my appointment had I known of the road condition. Instead I arrived 10 minutes late, stressed and anxious. As did the patient who entered right behind me. 

Finally, a fellow medical marketer shared how this could be taken a step further by suggesting a video or a video montage of pictures be made illustrating where to park, the elevator, the hallways, a map and a picture of the offices front door.  I would add to that a suggestion that you highlight the front staff waiting for them at the desk with smiling faces and waves. 

These very small considerations that make a huge and positive impact on your patients overall experience with your office and makes your office standout from the competition.