We Love Your Cookies........ But!

General Dentists love receiving gifts and treats from specialists,
but how effective are they?

By: Dr. Rob Barrick DDS

Dear Dental Specialists,

My name is Dr. Robert Barrick. I'm a general dentist and I can honestly say that I indeed love your cookies.

Yes, I love the cookies you bring me every holiday. I love the green ones on St. Patrick’s day. I love the pink, heart shaped sugar cookies on valentines and even the red, white and blue cup-cakes on the 4th of July. I love them all. I also love the movie tickets and the golf passes (especially the golf passes :). I and other referring doctors look forward to them and I agree that they do help us remember to keep sending you referrals. So please keep them coming. Man, I’m getting hungry just talking about them. "Could you pass the one with sprinkles!" Just kidding, I hate sprinkles. But what I really love are Crispy Kreams!!! Bring me a Crispy Kream and I'll start sending you $5,000 ortho cases for sure!

We all know why you do it. You want more referrals, right? Of course, Referrals are the life-blood of every specialty office out there.

As much as I hate to admit it, there are more effective ways to increase referrals than just giving us cookies?

TOP 6 THINGS THAT INFLUENCE REFERRING DOCTORS

1. REFERRING TO THE SPECIALIST IS EASY AND FUN

Standing out above your competition is difficult when everyone is taking by cookies.

Here is a novel idea, how about providing a better and more effective way for them to communicate with you? Like, let's say an "Easy Referral Button" that has your logo on it. It sits on the receptionist's desk and when they push it, it immediately pops up your referral form? Brilliant!!! Keeps your practice top of mind and makes referring easier for them.

And here's the kicker, after they send each referral, they get to spin for a Starbucks Gift card. It is important that you understand that the actual referral passing is most often carried out by the receptionist checking the patient out. You can't forget about them when marketing and impressing the referring doctor.

I chose to have this recommendation #1 because it truly makes a huge difference. Over 7 years of trying to create the best referring platform available for dentists, we continued to face one major issue; GPs struggled to adopt it. After implementing these 2 features into our referring platform, the adoption from the referring offices went through the roof. We surveyed 50 of them and 45 out of the 50 said they absolutely loved the buttons and the opportunity to win Starbucks. YOU NEED TO MAKE IT FUN AND EASY!

If you choose to implement something similar on your own, I suggest having a 3rd party provide the small tokens of gratitude for using their referring system rather than having the gifts come directly from you. It accomplishes the positive feedback after each referral but it is a reward for using and adopting a new system and is provided by the software platform. This way you won't have issues with anti-kickback laws.

2. SPECIALIST IS COMPETENT AND SKILLED

Chances are, if you are a specialist, you are competent and skilled. The hard part is sharing your competence with your referring doctors. You can't just walk into an office and tell the doctors that you are awesome.....or wait, maybe you can. Have you ever taken a general dentist out to lunch and told them about yourself. If it is done in the right way, you can effectively gain their trust by sharing your accomplishments.

Here is an example. A new Oral Surgeon came into town. When he first walked into my office, I honestly felt bad for this poor, new doctor that was most likely going to struggle in a competitive market. I already had a good relationship with another Oral Surgeon and had no intentions to switch my referral pattern. Well...... this new surgeon asked if he could take me out to lunch. Over the course of a roast beef sandwich, he shared with me (humbly) his vast experience working as the Clinical Director over an Oral Surgery clinic at a Dental School. He shared some of his cases and the procedures he enjoyed. Suddenly, my thoughts of this young, new doctor started to soften.

Next, he started inviting my colleagues and I into his office every month or so for a study club. He was often the presenter. He showed pictures and real cases he had worked on. Well, wouldn't you know it, I decided to give him a try and I sent a referral to him.

The patient had great things to say, so I sent another. Slowly, over the course of 6 months, I had completely changed my referral pattern and was sending all my patients to the "poor, new oral surgeon".

3. THE SPECIALIST TAKES GOOD CARE OF MY PATIENTS

Please be NICE to MY PATIENT!

Yes, you may be very skilled, but that quickly gets overshadowed by reports from unsatisfied patients. Because specialists often do not see a patient more than once, there can be a tendency to not bother with good bedside manners. Unfortunately, more often than not, the positive experiences go un-mentioned but the negative experiences are shouted from the roof tops. So most of you are thinking, "Ok, check! I am super nice to my patients." But here is an interesting observation. Most negative reviews we see toward specialists are actually about the staff, not the doctor.

A real conversation I had. "Ok, unfortunately, It looks like I need to send you to an Endodontist to try and find that fourth canal." Patient replies with an outburst of tears "Oh, no! please don't send me back to Dr. ______." Me "Wow, what happened last time?" Patient "The doctor was fine. It was the Office Manager. She was so horrible to me."

I, of course, picked up the phone and told the specialist about it. Unfortunately, over the next few months, I continued to get really negative feedback from other patients about that same Office Manager. Well, I hated to do it, but I started referring to another Endodontist. It was unfortunate, because he was really good. So please take it seriously when you hear of complaints about your staff members. It does have a huge impact on referral patterns. If my patients are being treated poorly by anyone in an office, I'm referring elsewhere.

4. SPECIALIST COMMUNICATES WELL

There is nothing more frustrating than referring to a specialist who does not keep you in the loop. I get it. It's hard enough to just do the work, let alone report back to another doctor for every little thing.

Unfortunately, the only time General Dentists hear back from specialists regarding our patient is when the treatment is complete. We don’t even know if the referred patient made it into see the specialist until we get a paper-letter in the “Snail Mail” telling us what was done. Or when our patient calls us up a year later (Christmas Eve) with his mouth-swollen shut, indicating that he never scheduled an appointment with the specialist in the first place.

Many referred patients are in treatment for months at a time (e.g. implants). I continually find myself wondering what the heck happened to Sally, John, or Bill?

Here are some suggestions on when you should communicate with the referring doctor:

1. If and when their patient is initially scheduled.

2. When each treatment occurs and the outcome. (Including images)

3. If there are more treatments needed.

4. If another specialist needs to be involved.

5. When all treatment is completed.

6. What we need to do with the patient for follow-up care.

7. And finally, a “Thank you”, Please send more!

Should you really send 7 letters in the mail, or call over and over?

We are in the 21st Century; there are much more efficient ways to do this that won’t take up so much of your time. Faxes are, um… (if you are still using faxes, Well, I don’t know what to say). Emails are scattered, un-organized and possibly un-safe.

How about an easy to read dashboard showing the status of all the referred patients and instant notification whenever a patient status is changed? You should look into a cloud based, HIPAA compliant, easy referring platform. There has to be a good one out there. ☺ (ReferralWeb Maybe :)

5. SPECIALIST IS MY FRIEND

All things being equal, the person who we have an emotional connection with wins out.

What can you do? You can set up a lunch or golf outing with other doctors. You can invite a few of them to the premiere of a good movie. Just dropping by and shaking their hand every few months does wonders. Just remember, money doesn't forge relationships, only time and a genuine interest in the doctor will make a real difference.

6. SPECIALIST GIVES ME TONS OF COOKIES AND GIFTS!!!!!!

That’s right. Last thing on the list is the cookies. Like I said before, we all love them, but when it comes down to it, they are # 6 on the list.

Referrals are the life-blood of your practice. Make sure you make them your #1 priority. And PLEASE, don’t stop sending the cookies!

By: Dr. Rob Barrick DDS