Getting a referral is the act of receiving the name of a potential patient from an existing patient. Referrals are a fantastic way to add new patients to your practice. It seems that some doctors feel extremely comfortable asking their current patients for referrals. Other doctors trip over the referral process and miss the chance to easily expand their practices. In an effort to help you take advantage of the referral opportunity, you should familiarize yourself with this "Referral Theory." This theory comes about as a result of speaking to thousands of doctors and treating them at seminars and conventions through the years. For some of you, this theory is going to be a breakthrough which will enable you to take your practice to a new level. Let's take a look at an outline of the "Referral Theory." 1.) Obtain Clinical Results With Your Patient—Before anyone is willing to refer another person for treatment, they must feel as if the treatment they are receiving is benefiting them. You must obtain some level of clinical results with your patient prior to asking for a referral. This does not mean symptomatic results! It means they need to see func-• tional improvement. 2.) Educate Your Patient—Each time a patient visits your practice, you should analyze, treat, reanalyze and then educate them. If your patient is educated during every office visit, their level of understanding about their treatment and their willingness to refer others for treatment will tremendously increase. 3.) Initiate Proper Referral Discussion—Once your patient is realizing some clinical results and has been educated, you simply need to ask for the referral. If you initiate the referral conversation properly and follow the appropriate steps, you will get a referral, on average, every time. The theory may sound simple, but proper implementation of it is the key. A patient may be realizing clinical results, but not at the level that they were expecting. The patient must be educated to understand the level of their progress in order for them to make the decision to refer. On the other hand, the patient may be thrilled with their results and extremely educated, but you do not ask for the referral in the proper way. A patient ready to refer will, then, be deterred because of your approach. How do you show clinical results with your patients? Try instituting a new process at your clinic. Every new patient must receive a procedure that includes either a symptomatic or a functional protocol improvement on his or her first adjustment. On Day 1, you do your consultation, exam, etc.... When you adjust your patient for the very first time, on Day 2, choose a specific protocol that will offer the patient a clinical result. Utilizing instrumentation will offer a wider range of protocols to choose from and will give you the ability to convey, through documentation, the results you have achieved with your patient. Select whatever protocol is necessary so that your patient leaves, after their first adjustment, feeling a difference in their body and understanding their doctor knows what he/she is doing. If you focus on that, it will close the patient for their next visit. You are going to experience a much higher closure rate on your Day 2 patients if you follow this theory. The main reason someone drops out of care in the very beginning is they doubt whether the treatment is really helping them. When you can show, on every visit, that they are actually getting a clinical result, you eliminate this doubt. While you are establishing the clinical result, you must also educate the patient. It is up to you to educate your patient on the protocol that you have used and how it has improved their condition. You need to take all patients to a higher level of understanding of their conditions and their treatments. Initiating the referral conversation is the final step. Properly engage in conversation, reviewing the patient's progress and knowledge of their treatment. Move the focus to someone else they may know having the same or a similar problem. Suggest they take some literature on your practice, or offer to give their referral a call to see if they, too, can be helped through chiropractic. Remember, it is a three-step process. Make sure your patient is getting a clinical result, educate them so they understand what you just did, and then properly ask them for a referral. Everyone knows someone locally that could benefit from a chiropractic examination. You should get two referrals each time you ask for them. You will get one new patient in the door out of every two referrals you receive. Try the "Referral Theory" for two or three weeks. On average, you should obtain twice as many referrals as you had in the past. Overcome your referral roadblock and enjoy the path to success! I Dr. Maurice A. Pisciottano, CEO and founder of Pro-Solutions for Chiropractic, is a practicing chiropractor, noted lecturer, author, producer and research and development technologist. He is well known for his practice management expertise, as well as new patient development programs. He has devoted the past twelve years to the development of the instrumentation and the computerization of chiropractic treatment and documentation. Dr. Pisciottano regularly lectures at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, I A, and at Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis, MO. He can he reached at Pro-Solutions for Chiropractic in Pittsburgh, PA. at 1-877-942-4284.
