DENTIST -PERIODONTIST. Managing the referral relationship

Transcription

1 DENTIST -PERIODONTIST Managing the referral relationship

2 DENTIST -PERIODONTIST Your Question: How do I get GP s to send me patients??

3 DENTIST -PERIODONTIST 1. Join the Military: The military dentists have to send to you. 2. Practice in corporate dentistry: The Drs in the corp have to send to you. 3. Join Insurance Networks: some patients will come because your are In Network. 4. Work the Referral Process. 5. Market directly to consumers.

4 HOW DO I GET REFERRALS??

5 Whether Start Up, Buy a Practice or Associate you must: Get your paperwork in order THE BEGINNING

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17 FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

18 Whether Start Up, Buy a Practice or Associate you must: Meet the Referring Doctor THE BEGINNING

19 FROM DENTALTOWN: Go meet them in person, even if its just stopping by the office to introduce yourself or to leave a card. We have a new perio in the area. He came by and I met him personally (never met the others in the area) and now he'll get every perio referral from me. He's spent a lot of time going to offices, meetings after work, going to bars, etc... and picked up a lot of referrals that way. Same goes for ortho... I've only met the docs at one office and they get all my referrals. And Definitely stop by yourself, and ask if the GP wants to do lunch. I'm always amazed when specialists send referral pads and don't take the time to introduce themselves. We pitch'em straight in the trash. THE BEGINNING

20 Whether Start Up, Buy a Practice or Associate you must: Meet the Referring Doctor 2 Methods: Just Show up- unannounced Call to make appointment Best times- 15 min before day starts or lunch hr or afternoon THE BEGINNING

21 Whether Start Up, Buying a Practice or Associate you must: Meet the Referring Doctor What do you talk about? Introduce yourself, summarize your training. Firm handshake and lots of eye contact. Always bring a goody for their office. Let them know you are here to serve their practice and patients. THE BEGINNING

22 Whether Start Up, Buying a Practice or Associate you must: Meet the Referring Doctor What do you talk about? Ask them where they trained. How long have they been in that location Ask them about their prior experiences working with periodontists (SHUT UP AND LISTEN). Give them your cell # in case they need you for any perio emergencies or to get a patient scheduled in a hurry. Write it on the back of your business card. Ask them for referrals in closing. THE BEGINNING

23 1. Single Doctor THE 4 REFERRAL METHODS

24 1. Single Doctor 2. Two or Three THE 4 REFERRAL METHODS

25 1. Single Doctor 2. Two or Three 3. Full list THE 4 REFERRAL METHODS

26 1. Single Doctor 2. Two or Three 3. Full list 4. No Name THE 4 REFERRAL METHODS

27 1. Single Doctor 2. Two or Three 3. Full list 4. No Name THE 4 REFERRAL METHODS

28 Forms and Letters COMMUNICATIONS WITH DENTISTS

29 FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

30 FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

31 i referred you so-and-so and he should be calling you soon. his main concern is X. restoratively, i'm also planning on doing Y and Z perio is a concern. we have a recent FMX if you want his fmx i can send that over. so-and-so is nice, but can be a PIA at first. we should be able to get through that. look forward to hearing your thoughts. dr. somebody FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

32 pt cc is #17 for one week. soft tissue impaction w/ pericoronitis. deep pocket distal of 18 with bone loss. patient anxious and requests sedation. rx'd amoxicillin, tylenol 3, peridex and dispensed syringe. please evaluate and treat as necessary. refer back for continuing care. thank you. FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

33 POOR REFERRAL SLIP what is frustrating is when i get a patient who is a dental or mental disaster that i have no idea is coming and get blindsided...or when the DDS doesn t have even a rough overall plan in place. or when the patient has no clue as to why they are in my office. i like to walk in the initial exam room and already feel like i know the patient a little bit and have a general sense of what is going on. In this case your assistant should spend some time taking a history with the patient s chief complaint. FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

34 # 3 is problem FORMS AND LETTERS- REFERRAL SLIP

35 FORMS AND LETTERS- INITIAL CONSULTATION

36 FORMS AND LETTERS- POST INITIAL PREP

37 FORMS AND LETTERS- THERAPY COMPLETION

38 FORMS AND LETTERS- IMPLANT THERAPY

39 FORMS AND LETTERS- SPT REPORTS

40 IMHO- at least 1 telephone contact with each referring GP per month! Have a basis for your call like to discuss a particular patient. Exchange pleasantries, show genuine interest in their lives / practice. Discuss the patient. End the call by always thanking them for their referrals GP TELEPHONE CONTACT

41 IMHO- at least 1 telephone contact with each referring GP per month! Keep a data file on each practice / ref dr. Note date of call and any specifics learned about them or their practice. You want to know their staff s names, dr s spouses name and occupation, dr s birthday, dr s hobbies, # of children and names Use this info in future contacts THIS IS RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT GP TELEPHONE CONTACT

42 IMHO- at least 1 telephone contact with each referring GP per month! After your 1 call per month, only call if you have a specific issue to discuss about a patient. Practice telephone etiquette: Try to take calls from referring drs if you are not in surgery (sometimes OK, if you are in sx) NEVER, EVER have your staff call a ref dr, have them get that dr on the phone, then go and get you on the phone RUDE! GP TELEPHONE CONTACT

43 Inter Office Staff Communication First name basis. Call to request records, if needed. Call to let their practice know patient has finished tx and to schedule their first apt with GP. Let them know a Tx letter will be forthcoming. Call to ask who GP refers patients to for endo, OS, and ortho when needed. Call to let them know if there will be any reason patient will be delayed in returning to GP s office. GP TELEPHONE CONTACT

44 Go to lunch Study Clubs Dental Association Meetings Continuing Education Events OTHER GP CONTACT

45 MORE ON THIS IN THE SEGMENT ON MARKETING

46 2 Issues IN HOUSE (in GP s house) Specialists Jack of all trades GP s GP= your team partner or you competitor THE WORLD IS CHANGING

47 LOS ANGELES AREA TO GENERAL DENTISTS My name is Marc. I work with a team of friendly specialists in your neighborhood looking for additional offices to travel to on a monthly basis. Specialists which include Periodontists, Oral Surgeons, Endodontists and Orthodontists. Our Specialists are located within an hour driving distance of your office. They travel with their own Surgical instruments, Bone Graft Material, Implants from Nobel Biocare, Surgical motors, and liability insurance. Our Oral Surgeons all travel with their own AMUS certified experienced chairside assistants along with their IV sedation meds. All of our specialists have graduated from US accredited Speciality programs such as UCLA, USC, Loma Linda and Harvard. from AAP message boards (next page) THE WORLD IS CHANGING

48 They all work off an adjustable production basis making it a Win Win scenario for your patients and your office productions. Insurance Plans such as Delta will reimburse your office almost twice as much if not more utilizing the power of a specialists as a rendering provider under your tax ID. You are most likely throwing away over 100k a year in production being referred out. Isn't it time to consider bringing in a specialist? The entire Dental Industry is shifting towards the In House Specialty platform. Give us a call today for more information. 855-SYNSERG THE WORLD IS CHANGING

49 Message board response: The reality is that the climate we live in provides limited options. There was a time when a recent graduate had their hometown periodontist clamoring for them to join their practice to take on the overload. At that time the cost to open up a practice was significantly less. That was a time when educational debt was significantly less. That was also a time when the general practices wanted to get perio out of the office. That was before the altruistic practice management community rediscovered non-surgical periodontal therapy under the soft tissue management rock. That was a time when performing surgical procedures was more about patient benefits than insurance benefits. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

50 Message board response: This has nothing to do with perio-restorative relationships, perioendo challenges, periodontally-assisted orthodontics. It has to do with money. And it has to do with the decreasing level of care that patients get. If all goes well, a patient treated in this fashion will be fine. But if they are only seen for one-month follow-ups, what happens when complications arise? It is not good for patient care. But, and I see this all the time, it's not about patient care anymore. It's about money. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

51 What are you going to do about this? How do you want to practice? Decide which game you wish to play THE WORLD IS CHANGING

52 My Recommendation: For now, The Referral Route is best in this area. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

53 Strengthen your referrals with consistent marketing. Become their go to clinician for the following: Traditional periodontics. Periodontitis mucogingival surgery Aesthetic and functional crown lengthening Frenectomy THE WORLD IS CHANGING

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58 Assisting your restorative dentist goes a long way in building referrals.

59 Strengthen your referrals with consistent marketing. Become their go to clinician for the following: Implantology Site preparation. Extraction and socket graft, sinus grafting, ridge augmentation. Immediate implants. Implant temporization. Implant maintenance. Treatment of implant complications. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

60 Strengthen your referrals with consistent marketing. Become their go to clinician for the following: Occlusal therapy. Splint therapy. Occlusal adjustment. TMJ therapy. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

61 Strengthen your referrals with consistent marketing. Become their go to clinician for the following: oral pathology. Diagnosis Biopsy- Conventional and immunofluorescent Medical therapy when indicated THE WORLD IS CHANGING

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63 My Recommendation: For now, The Referral Route is best in this area. Gradually work toward Periodontist as Gatekeeper. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

64 Periodontists should be the first choice for patients needing complex dental treatment plans. Who knows better than we how to assign a prognosis? Who knows better than we how to save teeth? Who knows better than we went a tooth should be extracted? Who knows better than we how to preserve a bone in a socket? THE WORLD IS CHANGING

65 The problem is patients don t know it and dentists will fight it! THE WORLD IS CHANGING

66 You should develop a stealth internal marketing plan to strategically make your patients think this way. Develop a practice brochure to give to patients. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

67 You should develop a stealth internal marketing plan to strategically make your patients think this way. Develop a practice brochure to give to patients. Give them your business card Offer a free consultation THE WORLD IS CHANGING

68 To sum up this section: The referral process still works with some GP s and for specific procedures. The more you work on internal marketing directly to patients, the less vulnerable you will be if the GP s choose to stop referring. THE WORLD IS CHANGING

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