How well do you know your referring physicians?

O&P clinics seldom devote adequate time and resources to building relationships with referring physicians. As a result, these clinics are at risk of losing business to competitors that have a more robust marketing program.

While this is a somewhat extreme example, I want to tell you about an interesting dinner I had about a decade ago with the co-owners of an O&P clinic. They were young clinicians who had developed a successful practice in a mid-size market.

While we were waiting for the main course, I asked them what percentage of their business revenues came from prosthetic patients, and what percentage came from orthotics? They told me it was about 50-50. Then I asked how they got their new prosthetic patients? They told me most of the referrals started with a telephone call from the hospital. 

They said most of the amputations were performed by a group of vascular surgeons. So I inquired about their relationship with these physicians. Without any hesitation, they both indicated they had never met them. Really?

I asked them if they ever worried about a competitor swooping in? How certain were they that 50 percent of their revenues couldn’t slip away overnight? They apparently hadn’t thought about the risk of losing half of their revenues to a competitor. If they were providing quality care, and achieving good outcomes, why would the physicians choose anyone else?

Yet I could tell my questions got them thinking. I pivoted the conversation to potential solutions. It only took a few minutes to describe three or four things they could do to start nurturing a relationship with their key prescribers. The simple tactics I encouraged them to try weren’t time consuming or expensive.

Isn’t quality care the best form of marketing?

After that dinner, I started asking more O&P business owners and clinicians about their efforts to build relationships with physicians. Especially the doctors who were responsible for a significant percentage of their new patient referrals. I also asked what they were doing to grow their network of prescribers. Many of the small clinics didn’t have a marketing plan or specific action plan for developing relationships. Their service was good. Patients seemed happy. So they felt confident that the referrals would keep coming.

Providing quality care was their marketing.

In some cities, maybe good patient outcomes is enough. However, if you operate a small O&P business in a market where there are regional or national competitors, you better have a plan for continuously communicating with your referral sources. Otherwise, you leave the door open for larger competitors. They often have a “business development” employee who is deployed into the community. It’s their job to establish, nurture and manage relationships with referring physicians.

Any O&P businesses that isn’t actively engaging with their referral sources is vulnerable. They need to make a commitment to become better communicators. They need to put on their marketing hat, and get to know the physicians who refer patients to their clinic. Don’t give your competitors any opportunity to hijack your referral sources.

O&P Boost can help you tell your story. It’s essential.

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