The referral landscape in Houston
Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, HCA Houston Healthcare, Baylor St. Luke's and Texas Children's anchor the market, with Kelsey-Seybold running one of the largest multispecialty groups in the country. MD Anderson draws oncology referrals from across the state.
Houston is the largest medical market in the South and still one of the most independent. Thousands of primary care, urgent care and dental offices sit outside the big systems, spread across a metro that takes an hour to cross. Referral habits are local to each suburb. A specialist in Katy is not top of mind in The Woodlands, which is why practices that grow here work the referral base neighborhood by neighborhood.
Why Houston practices lose referrals
The hospital systems route employed primary care to employed specialists. The independent offices, and there are more of them in Houston than almost anywhere, refer to whoever they know. That is the opportunity. Referral decisions in Houston are made the same way they are everywhere: by the medical assistant, referral coordinator or office manager who knows a specialist's office personally, can get a patient in quickly and hears back after the visit. A practice that is not visiting those offices is relying on habits formed years ago, and habits in a growing market change fast.
Where we work in Greater Houston
Our Houston rep builds a referral map across the metro and visits on a rotation weighted to where your cases come from:
- the Texas Medical Center
- Katy
- Sugar Land
- The Woodlands
- Pearland
- Cypress
- Clear Lake
- Kingwood
- Memorial and the Energy Corridor
- Fort Bend and Montgomery counties
How the program works in Houston
Referral map. Every primary care, urgent care, dental, specialty or facility office in Greater Houston that should be sending you patients, ranked by potential and current volume.
Local rep. A representative who lives in the Houston area, visits 10 to 15 offices a day and is recognized when they walk in.
Weekly report. Offices visited, who was seen, what was said and which sources have started referring.
Exclusivity. One practice per specialty in the Houston market. The relationships built in your area are built for you alone.
Read more about physician referral marketing and physician liaison services, or see how to get more physician referrals.