Dr. Dean C. Bellavia

1-716-834-5857

BioEngineering@twc.com

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Enhance your Inter-practice Referrals


Wednesday, 19 September 2018 14:46
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Are you getting enough referrals from all of your local dentists?  Do you maintain a close connection with your referring dentists?  Does you team maintain a close connection with your referring dentist's teams?  Do you notify your referring dentists when you send them a referral?  If not, maybe this pearl can help you get more referrals.

 

Just because you exist in an area it doesn’t mean that you will automatically get new patient referrals—unless of course you are the only orthodontist in the area.  If not, then you need to make sure that those possible referring dentists know that you will provide their patients with the best possible treatment and service (i.e., how you treat them personally).  And a good indication of the quality of your service is how you communicate with your local dentists and their staff.

 

If the referring dentist’s team has a daily interaction with your team and know each other on a personal basis then that is a good indication that you have established a good working relationship.  Their dental team should notify you when their patients need orthodontic treatment and you should notify them when your mutual patients require dental treatment.  You should also have your team call and write/text (in proper English) them to refer your patients looking for a local dentist.

They should notify you to set up a new patient exam appointment, hopefully by a phone or give the new referral your “Referral Slip” (see attached) or your business cards.

When you have a mutual patient to refer back to them for ongoing care you should have your receptionist call their receptionist to schedule an appointment.  You should also fill out a “Tx Request” form (see attached), give the patient a copy, mail a copy to their family dentist and keep a copy for your records.  This can be done using paper forms or done electronically.  It also helps to send a Periodic Patient Tx Review (typically half way through treatment) to apprise them of how the patient is doing; see the attached review form.

 

All of this should be the norm for the operation of your practice, which maintains an ongoing interaction between your team and the referring dentist's team.

See the attached PDF about how to work more effectively with your referring dentists and possibly enhance that list with new referrers.  It contains the very successful "PCD Referral Control Program".  And with the explosion of social communications (Facebook, practice websites, etc.) you have access to information that can make your PCD Referral Control Program even more accurate, faster to use and more effective.  Try it, you’ll like it.

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