Physicians Practice – August 22, 2018
by Karen Zupko
Years ago, a “good referral” was described using the Three A’s of medicine: Availability, Affability, and Ability. A physician striving to build a successful practice was advised to deliver all three.
Managed care contracts and narrow networks temporarily stifled traditional referral building. But the patient rebellion against limited choices pushed the pendulum back to center, and today, high-deductible health plans and out-of-network options have patients once again voting with their feet. Refreshing your referral building activity has never been more important to patient volume or practice revenue.
Here are five ways a modern practice can use the Three A’s in its referral building.
1. Capture and track referral data accurately.
This is the baseline of any effective referral building strategy, but it is very often skipped. Here’s how to make sure the data is accurate and meaningful: