Referral Management: Keep It In House or Outsource?

As a healthcare professional, you know the incredible value of receiving referrals from other physicians. But doctor referrals don't grow on trees, ripe for the picking. Not only do you have to seek them out, but you also have to maintain a steady flow of newly referred patients and, most importantly, nurture and protect those referral relationships.

That requires a certain amount of networking skill and proactive effort, on top of all your many other responsibilities trying to run a thriving practice.

Which begs the question: should you outsource your referral management efforts, or are you better off keeping that task in house?

Pros and cons of in house referral management

It's only natural to first consider designating someone who is already on your staff to act as a referral marketing liaison. Someone who is bubbly and outgoing should be able to represent your practice to potential referral sources, you might assume, especially if yours is a relatively small practice.

The advantages of doing so are twofold. First, they're already a paid employee and, therefore, you won't have to pay for outsourced referral services. Second, they already know all about you and your practice.

But as logical and cost effective as this in house strategy might sound, it does have its disadvantages that could end up hurting, rather than helping, your practice. You could lose in terms of reduced staff productivity and missed profit making opportunities. Your staff is not trained in sales and you will still need to manage their daily responsibilities, and they are not well versed in a reporting system necessary to show results. They will need to learn all of this while staying on top of what is going on with the referral relationships. Enlisting the help of an experienced referral management service provider will ensure your office doesn't miss a beat.

Evaluating your referral management approach

Before you delegate this responsibility to one of your in house personnel instead of outsourcing it to a knowledgeable and experienced healthcare referral service provider, ask yourself these key questions:

• Does this staff member have the time, talent, knowledge, and marketing skills to meet your goals for new referral growth?
• If you assign this individual to take on the role of physician liaison, will their other duties be neglected or left undone?
• If you have to halt this person's marketing efforts because you need them to refocus on their office responsibilities, will that have a negative impact on your new patient referrals and on internal employee morale?
• Can you take time out of your busy schedule to properly and thoroughly train this person on how to achieve patient referrals from other doctors?
• Do you have the resources in place with which you can establish a healthcare referral marketing program that works?
• If you do get a self made program off the ground, how will you manage, track, measure, and assess your in house marketing liaison's efforts?

As you can see, initiating, sustaining, and effectively managing an in house doctor referral system is a challenging endeavor that requires a great deal of time and energy. If poorly executed or half heartedly managed, it could actually cost your practice business that it would otherwise gain by outsourcing this initiative to a reputable referral management service provider like Doctor Referral Institute.

Experience plus proven results with outsourcing

A successful physician referral program is imperative for any healthcare practice with an eye toward growth. However, if you don't have the time or expertise needed to build and maintain a doctor referral program, consider the advantages of partnering with Doctor Referral Institute.

Our team has the experience and a proven system that will increase the volume and quality of your patient referrals, which can significantly boost your bottom line. We know exactly what it takes to obtain condition specific patient referrals and cater to the exclusive needs of healthcare practices of all types and sizes.