The Do's of Patient Referral Programs

Updated November 10, 2014 -

It never fails.  Many of our first-time clients are stymied with confusion because they don't know what they're doing wrong or why their patient numbers are falling.  The biggest reason for this is lack of communication with existing patients.  Believe it or not, they want to hear from you again!

Here are some tips for successfully managing your patient base in order to get the greatest number of referrals possible.

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Always Do These Things for Your Patients

• Invite your current and former patients to special events or occasions such as an anniversary celebration for your practice, open house, a special guest speaker or a workshop event. This will keep your patients in touch with you on a regular basis and will keep your name on their mind on a consistent basis.
• Send them an email, direct mail card, AND call them to thank them for referring a friend or family member to you...every time they do!  The amount of money you will make from just one referral is well worth the time and nominal expense to show your gratitude in these ways.  Have custom-printed thank you cards with an elaborate design ready to send out the moment you receive a referral from a patient.  Be sure to let your staff know that the card should be sent within 24 hours of the date that their appointment was made.
• Give your patients a nice birthday card with a special offer inside.  Not only will they appreciate the gesture of remembering their birthday, they may well come in for another procedure.  Getting a person’s birthday (the year is not necessary) should be a standard part of the information gathering process when you see a patient for the first time.
• Get patients’ email addresses.  Be sure to have a form that they can fill out and put verbiage on the sheet letting them know that you may contact them with offers or educational news delivered by email.  Have a check box on your form that they can check off to opt themselves in to your email program.

By implementing these guidelines for better practice marketing and patient referral programs, you’ll have an influx of new patients due to referrals from your loyal (and happy) patients. Call us today to get your questions answered at (951) 665-8360.

To read our article about "The Don'ts of Patient Referral Programs", click here.