Snapshot:
- Healthy habits
- Get organized
- A-B-C criteria
- Accountability
- Do our homework
- First impressions
- Nice touches
- Practice makes better
Experienced hearing care providers get organized. Personally and professionally, we are creatures of habit with daily routines ingrained for years. Coffee, tea or soda anyone? Guided by practice management software and tight clinical schedules, you encounter unforeseen events in various forms. Beyond your diagnostic and technical expertise, instinctive juggling skills navigate daily challenges to achieve desired patient and practice outcomes.
Similarly, with respect to nurturing medical referrals, getting organized is integral to developing logical initiatives with systematic action steps. As shown in
The 2020 Audiology Professional Dispensing Survey, Doctor or Medical Referrals account for well over 50% of referrals among the audiologists questioned.
Please see Question #8 on Page 10 of the survey here:
With enthusiasm instead of anguish, imagine benefitting from a community outreach program as well-planned as your clinical schedule. Over the years, many practices asked for suggestions on how to methodically map out physician contact protocols. To help, we designed this A-B-C construct
(Click blocks to view PDF):
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We have emphasized, at baseline, it is mission critical to profile current referral sources as generalists or specialists, with therapeutic focus indicating which comorbidity education topics may be of mutual interest. As A-B-C construct details, key criteria for targeted referral sources includes:
- # of current referrals
- # of potential referrals
- Professional relationship
- Whole-person care service line connections
- Proximity of practice (convenience factor)
Referring practices are designated as:
A. Currently referring the most patients
B. Greater potential to refer more patients sooner
C. Good potential to refer more patients later
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As outlined, leading results are driven by allocated time percentages, practice growth building blocks and measurable progress metrics. While each practice’s implementation preferences vary, this logical construct, like daily clinical schedules, empowers you to plan your work and work your plan. Our next supportive layer is a rigorous 10 Step approach to Best Practice’s implementation, from analyzing valuable internal data on referral sources and service lines to making data-driven decisions on best practices fine-tuning of planning and execution process. For each step, Accountable Team Leader and Support Colleagues are specified, with HDI as an expert collaborator. Years of national experience continually teaches us that successful medical referral programs require dedicated teamwork.
With A-B-C’s foundation planning, how do we optimize quality and quantity of MD referrals? To the letter, we do our homework. With all the time and emotion you will invest with each practice visit, start by intently studying their informative website. Learn about practice culture, team members and provider’s clinical interests or academic history. Hint… have you ever been asked at medical events, “where did you do your training?”
Before each professional visit, consider how many dozens of Pharma Reps this practice sees per year. For a moment, from the practice’s perspective, ponder what their typical Pharma experience looks and feels like. From reception desk to practice manager or Doctors themselves, how can we distinguish ourselves, so upon reflection, those we interact with are most impressed? As they say, we never have second chances to make first impressions and as with real ear measurements, targeting specific outcomes matters. Speaking of which, which of their team members or loved ones would benefit from expert hearing consultations?
Have fun, on purpose, and consider sharing nice touches with flair. Here are examples and we’d love to know your favorites
(Click image to view PDF)…
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After each opportune meeting, in a practical manner, document notes while fresh in your mind. Who are influential contacts and “inside coaches”? What are immediate follow-ups and how do cues indicate process or results can be fine-tuned? Are professional integrity and educational enthusiasm exuded with patient-centrism genuinely conveyed? By honestly self-assessing learning experiences, our value-added community outreach micro-skills inspire consistent progress. Practice makes better, not perfect.
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While we follow A-B-C pathways to nurture medical referrals, "D" is for digital and next week’s issue will channel our focus on creative, affordable and effective ways to stay in close touch with your patients and other community outreach contacts.
Speaking of "D," with June as Brain & Alzheimer’s Awareness month, we’ve developed another eye-catching collection of new Dementia designs for your benefit. If you’d like to see them, I’m delighted to share.
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Bruce Essman
CEO
High Definition Impressions (HDI)
314.276.7392
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