How to Get More Patient Referrals

When you ask yourself the above question, you will naturally ask the next question:  do I want more referrals from currently active referral sources or do I want more referrals from new referral sources?

The answer to the above will vary from practice to practice, but I will give you a rule of thumb that has gotten many clients out of the danger zone on this.

If most of your referrals come from one or two referral sources, and the volume of new patients coming from the remaining referral sources would not be enough to support your practice, you are in the danger zone. Let me explain. Should anything happen to these more significant referral sources (they move, they retire, etc.), you would not be able to maintain your practice viably.

On the other hand, if you have too many referring very few patients a year, again you are in the danger zone in that you are not very well known by your referral sources, or what you can help their patients with is not that well known.

So, how do you get out of the danger zone? In the first case scenario, you need to diversify your referral sources by developing relationships with new and not yet active referral sources, creating visibility in the community through PR actions, getting patients to refer patients, etc.

In the second scenario, you need to develop relationships with your existing referral sources, so you are not just a name they are trying out for lack of something better, but they know you personally and know you are interested in helping their patients.

So, by now you may realize that a keynote of getting more patients is to be able to develop relationships with referral sources. This is correct. This approach will leave you in a comfortable position.