5 Tips for Marketing a New Physician
“The best way to add value for your referring physicians is to bring your physician.”
– Kelley Knott, Expert Physician Liaison Consultant & Trainer
As physician liaisons, we have many responsibilities the primary goals are to build local physician referral relationships, grow patient referrals, and increase revenue.
Most of a physician liaison’s time is spent out in the field cultivating these relationships and for the most part on our own.
But sometimes physician liaisons get the opportunity to market with their physicians.
In this blog, I will be discussing five reasons to market with your new physician and tips to help you knock it out of the park.
To be successful in building consistent physician referral relationships as physician liaisons, we need to create VALUE for our referring physicians.
MARKETING IDEAS FOR DOCTORS
“The best way to add value for your referring physicians is to bring your physician.”
– Kelley Knott, Physician liaison Consultant & Trainer
This leads me to my first reason to take your new physician marketing with you in the field.
Marketing With Your New Physician Adds REAL VALUE For Your Referring Physicians
One of the best ways to create value for referring physicians is to provide a convenient opportunity for a referring physician to meet and speak candidly with a specialist.
This meeting not only allows the two physicians to become acquainted but talk openly and frankly about patient care and referrals without requiring the referring doctor to travel or block out lunch.
This way, your referring physicians can put a face to a name and get familiar with the new physician to the practice.
Marketing With Your New Doctor Boosts Physician Referrals
As a physician liaison consultant and trainer, I am often asked the question…
“What can I do to increase patient referrals immediately for my new physician? “
And my first answer is always…
“Market in the field with your new physician.”
When your hospital or medical welcomes a new physician, they must establish their physician referral network. Onboarding, a new physician, involves taking them out as the physician liaison, and making introductions to local referring physicians.
This way, the new physician can introduce themselves, discuss their niche and specialty, and provide direct communication for referring physicians looking to connect.
As a new physician, their local referring physician network will be minimal or non-existent, especially if the new physician joined the medical practice from far away or a completely different territory.
If your new physician is from the area, then it’s crucial to make the announcement of the new location and transfer to avoid referral leakage.
Help your new physician to grow their physician referral network and increase their daily patient base with introductions to local physicians.
Marketing with your new physician creates real value for referring physicians, but it provides direct contact and that competitive edge you need to 3x your referrals fast!
Marketing With Your New Physician Improves Physician Support
One of my favorite things as a physician liaison is the time that I get marketing with a new physician.
Physician liaisons spend days out in the field representing their physicians, but we don’t always get the pleasure of having our physicians join us.
Marketing with your new physician in the field helps re-energize the physician liaison marketing program. Your new physician becomes immediately involved, and witness to the HUGE difference physician liaison marketing can make in patient growth.
Having a new physician’s involvement and support will enhance the marketing in the field and open up more conversations internally helping you as the physician liaison.
Marketing With Your New Physician Gains The Competitive Edge
Competition is part of every business, and healthcare is no exception.
When competing medical practices, physicians, and hospital systems move to town is essential that the physician liaison organizes a plan to market with their physician.
Marketing with your new physician allows them the opportunity to meet and with referring physicians in person.
During face to face meetings, new physicians can discuss their niche, specialty, and the advantage for referring medical practices of having the new physician.
Having a new physician join a medical group is a huge competitive advantage for multiple reasons it opens up the schedule, they may bring a new specialty or focus, or maybe an opening of a new location, whatever it is focus on your competitive advantages.
Don’t let your competitors swoop in and capture your patient referrals establish solid touchpoints with your new physicians and their referring physicians.
Marketing With Your New Physician Keeps Referring Physicians In The Know
As time goes, your healthcare systems may have changed. Changes your healthcare system may have are new physicians, new services, new practice locations, a possible change in office hours or rotations, whatever it is you want your physician referral network in the know.
Whenever you have new additions or adjustments, it’s so crucial that as physician liaisons, we make sure our referring physicians are aware. And to add that extra sense of reassurance bring your new physician along to announce or explain.
After all this about building a no, like, and trust relationship. If you want the referring physicians to go with the flow, keep them in the know.
So, now we know the WHY with the 5 reasons to take your new physician out in the field with you, now let’s talk the HOW…
Physician Liaisons know what it is like to be in the field solo, but when you throw a physician with them in the mix, things are less as expected. Physician liaisons can feel more nervous or overwhelmed than usual when joined by a new physician on the marketing.
Physician liaisons may find themselves asking themselves questions and even let a little self-doubt creep in.
“What if NONE of the offices let us back?”
“What if I say something wrong or make myself look stupid in front of my physician?”
This momentary lapse of confidence and newly acquired self-doubt is normal when thinking of marketing with your physician.
But, don’t let these thoughts of self-doubt linger longer than necessary and let me help you with these tips to marketing with your physician.
Tips for Marketing With Your New Physician
1. Make a plan before the day of marketing with your physician.
Don’t just wing it, when your marketing with your provider have a prepared route of listed offices so you know exactly where to go, improving productivity and proficiency.
2. Prepare your new physician for marketing.
Provide your physicians with easy talking points and some history on the practices your visiting.
3. Have plenty of physician referral marketing collateral.
Don’t make the grievous mistake of running out of materials, as the physician liaison, it is your job to take and be responsible for inventory.
Marketing in the field can be exhausting. As physician liaisons, we know what to expect, but our physicians so not, make them comfortable. Provide water bottles and make sure your car is spotless to help your physicians get comfortable
4. Be confident.
As the physician liaison you’re the pro! Don’t second guess yourself, and most likely, your physician is the nervous one.
Lastly, have fun with it. Physician liaisons rarely get that much face to face time with their physicians, get to know each other. Show them the town take them to a great local spot for lunch, whatever it is have fun and connect.
I always say the more time with the physician, the better the liaison.
Marketing with your new physician can be excited and very rewarding. These are just a few of the reasons to marketing with your new physician but all reasons lead to BIG results.
