A patient referral program is a marketing system designed for healthcare providers who recognize that new patients are key to growing their practice.
What is your goal with patients?
The look and feel of these programs can vary widely depending on state laws governing incentive-based marketing. But in most cases, a provider will communicate to an existing patient that your office welcomes new opportunities to provide care and ask them to refer their offices to family and friends.
To help motivate patients to communicate, providers often provide tips in the form of sweepstakes, gift cards, discounts on future services, or other tangible responses of appreciation when the referral turns into an appointment for a new patient.
A step-by-step guide to starting a patient referral program
Financially, implementing a patient referral program in your practice is extremely affordable.
Aside from the price of printing literature, cards or signs, your investment is minimal and any thank you gift is only applicable once you have enrolled a new patient in the practice.
That low risk, however, means that some practices take a more indifferent attitude toward your programs, making only a half-hearted attempt to realize their potential.
To get started on the right track, take a look at these simple first steps:
Step 1
Treat the patient referral program as the crucial and valuable tool that it is, making it a priority for both your patients and your office staff. “You must inform patients that you are looking for referrals.” “The signage is important. Don’t let people assume it’s a closed practice to new patients. “
Step 2
Identify applicable state laws or provider ethics that dictate whether they can offer gift cards or other incentives to refer patients, or whether it is best for you to stick with the discounts for the referred patient. (Generally, there are no laws or industry bans on new customer discount services.)
If you have everything clear, consider what you would like to offer.
Some practices give discounts on services for both parties or a percentage of a cleaning or whitening. For example, some enter names in drawings for prizes such as technological devices.
Step 3
Assign some responsibility to the staff
Rather than suggest that everyone try to mention the program to patients, personalize it by asking a specific team member to ask a specific patient about a referral that day.
“That way, it’s not just on one person’s shoulders.” At the end of the week, you can examine how many referrals he has requested and start keeping track of how many end up asking for appointments.
Step 4
To take action.
How would you request references from your office? Will your front desk handle the request or will your providers request patients directly? Will you hand out cards, brochures, or both? Will you send a follow-up email to your patient to remind them or will you make it the first approach?
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