Press Room

Physician Marketing 101: Differentiation is as Easy as 1, 2, 3

Posted on August 01, 2008

Medicine is a service business and service businesses depend on client and customer service. How many patients walk through the front door of your specialty practice and claim to have found you through the phone book or the internet? I would guess very few. Despite advances in technology and the sophistication of the “modern day” patient, most of your potential patients are still being referred to you by another physician.

The overwhelming majority of today’s patients still trust the advice and recommendation of their family doctor or primary care physician to a specialty physician. With that said, are you marketing yourself as the specialist of choice to your potential referring physicians? Is your practice set up to accommodate referring physician offices? Urban cities are filled with excellent physicians in all types of specialties. How does the primary care physician or the family doctor choose which orthopedic surgeon to refer their patient? What about a gastroenterologist? How about a cardiac surgeon? More than likely, there are numerous high-quality, well-regarded specialists within the city. How do you make sure that your practice is at the top of their referral list?

After working in this field for several years and helping physician practices understand what it means to market their practice or “sell” their practice, I would like to share a few ideas:

1.) Be available. One of the top reasons I hear as to why physicians do not refer their patients to certain specialists is that the specialist is never available to see their patient. When a primary care physician calls to talk to you about a patient, take the call. If the patient needs to be seen that same day, make yourself available. Sure, there are going to be days that you are stuck in surgery and can’t break away. Are you able to pop in to the office and see the patient between operating room cases? Physicians, and especially their office staff, will take the path of least resistance. How many phone operators or automated phone system choices does a physician have to go through to get a live voice? How long are they waiting on hold before the doctor finally comes to the phone. Offer your dedicated referring physicians a direct line to your office or your cell phone number where they can reach you directly. If you are available to see their patients in a timely manner, they will continue to refer their patients to you.

2.) Communicate often and be informative. You have just taken Mrs. Smith to the operating room for a laparoscopic appendectomy and she has done wonderfully. You make your notes in the chart and move on to the next patient. What if, instead, you picked up the phone and called the referring physician to inform him/her of Mrs. Smith’s status. By keeping the referring physician informed, it shows your honest concern for the patient and sincere appreciation for the referral. It also keeps everyone involved in Mrs. Smith’s care plan. Another complaint that I hear from primary care physicians is that the specialist doesn’t update them on the status of their patients. Mrs. Smith will eventually return to the office to see her PCP and the physician will have no record of her surgery—no operating room note, progress note or pathology report. When you have 1,000+ patients in your practice, it is nearly impossible to keep up with the status of each individual patient. It makes the primary care physician look bad in front of their patient, which will reduce the number referrals from that physician.

3.) Be friendly. Make it a point to spend some quality time in the hospital doctor’s lounge. Have breakfast or lunch among your colleagues with some regularity. The lounge is a great place to get to know new physicians, communicate the progress of current patients with your referring physicians or just build rapport with physicians you may not know well or whom you know refer to your competition. Be intentional in keeping your name and face in front of potential referring physicians. Offer to speak at a monthly physician conference or send a quick thank you note to a referring physician.

Growing a medical practice is similar to most service businesses. Relationships and customer service matter. Physicians will refer patients to the specialists who they know, trust, and have confidence in their practice. Being available when needed and communicating will also drive referrals from one physician to another. Healthcare is a business and competition is always around the corner, if not in your backyard. Providing quality service to patients and their referring physician is a differentiator.