The practice of chiropractic can vary greatly depending upon who you visit. There are great differences in technique, philosophy, approach, collections, and volume. Even with all these differences, there is a one fact which is a constant among every practice-
[quote_center]Referrals are the life-blood of nearly all chiropractic practices.[/quote_center]
Did you know that referrals from other healthcare providers are some of the most cost-effective and stable referral sources? Unfortunately, chiropractors have traditionally left these referral sources outside of their marketing efforts…until now!
In this exclusive article for Circle of Docs, I am going to give you a crash course on how to begin marketing your practice to other healthcare providers TODAY.
- Build Your Contact List
- Address the Big 3
- Patience = Patient’s
The first step which you can begin immediately is the development of your target/contact list. I recommend a list of 50 physicians. This number gives you enough “coverage” without being too unwieldy. Breaking it down- your list should contain roughly 75% Primary Care/Internal Medicine physicians and the remaining 25% should be in relation to your personal sub-specialty. For instance, it may be sports medicine doctors, pediatricians, or OB-GYN’s. A great resource for list development is the WebMD Physician Search Tool. (See a free step-by-step guide to list development by clicking here)
After you have developed your list; the next step is to reach out and position your practice. Reaching out through print material is essential. However, at The Evidence Based Chiropractor, we have found that a face to face meeting is a big time accelerator to the referral relationship process. Please keep in mind that every meeting is not the same. I have heard from countless docs that meeting with local MD’s was a “waste of their time”. But, when I ask a few questions, I soon find out that they had no specific agenda and no framework to work from. You can’t expect a successful meeting when you go in “blind”!
Aside from matching your message to their patients (learn more about this here); you should always address the Big 3 Hindrances to Chiropractic Referrals. Most MD’s are afraid of poor communication, long term treatment plans, and patients that never return. These are huge “under the surface” barriers to referrals. I like to address them all in one simple statement. “Dr. Smith, I want you to know that we send case notes on all referred patients, we always begin with a short term trial of treatment; and we strongly believe that patients receive the best results when their Primary Care Physician and chiropractor are working together.” Simple, straightforward, and powerful. (Get our FREE guide to MD Meetings here)
Finally, you must stay consistent. If you have a little patience, you will start to see new patients coming in your door. Reaching out monthly with research is one of the most cost-effective and highly leverage ways to market your practice. Providing research updates monthly not only positions your practice as a local leader but provides valuable education to your other local physicians. Additionally, marketing through research is elegant and subtle, yet powerful. Setting up a Pubmed or Google alert for research related to musculoskeletal care is a great starting point. However, if you are too busy to create your own research briefs, we are happy to help. Learn more here.
There you have it, a 3 step process to positioning your practice and building referral relationships through research. Now let’s get started!
Jeff Langmaid, DC is the founder of The Evidence Based Chiropractor. He has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the world develop interdisciplinary referral relationships. If you like the content in this article please comment below or share!
