You want to be healthy right?

You eat right. You exercise. You limit your caffeine intake. Well… Maybe not that but you get the picture.

What happens if you did the same for your referral relationships?

We all know the importance of maintaining strong referral relationships… but it can be hard to put in the work or have the know how to keep those relationships strong and healthy.

Here are the top 6 healthy habits for building strong referral relationships:

1. Offer a great product

Do quality work, in a quality location with quality people.

I’m not talking about perfection or a castle here although I’m sure no one would complain about that. But do offer great patient care in a nice, clean and friendly environment.

No one wants to refer their patients to a practice they wouldn’t go to themselves. Make sure your practice is a place you would feel comfortable sending your own mother.

If you follow that rule of thumb, chances are your referring partners will feel comfortable sending their patients (or even their moms) too.

2. Have a servant’s heart

Your patients don’t exist to serve you. Your practice exists to serve patients.

Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of this in a busy and growing practice.

Do you remember the film The Doctor from the 1990’s where the disconnected surgeon unexpectedly becomes the patient? He vows to become more compassionate after spending some time as the patient.

Now hopefully it won’t take something as dramatic as an illness to remind you to be more compassionate, but it is important to remember that the patient doesn’t see what you see every day. They may be anxious about their visit or procedure. After all, this is their body and their health, and they may not have been through this before.

Take the time to imagine what that might be like, walk a mile in their shoes and serve them well.

3. Have a smooth and streamlined referral process in place

Are you contacting referred patients in a timely manner? Can they get scheduled quickly and easily? Is their experience with your office pleasant and respectful of their time?

When patients are unhappy, they tell people. This could be their family, friends, neighbors and most certainly their referring doctor.

Not only is this a direct reflection of your practice, it’s a direct reflection of the referring doctor as well. After all, they put their reputation on the line to entrust their patient to you.

When their patient is not happy, the referring doctor is not happy, and you lose referrals.

Take the time to walk through your process personally and with your staff. Where are the gaps or holes? What will it take to fill them?

Ensuring a streamlined process will help ensure more patient referrals in the days to come.

4. Don’t steal patients

Do not ever, never, under any circumstances steal patients from a referring partner.

This should go without saying but you would be amazed…

You have the privilege of caring for a new patient (that you wouldn’t have otherwise) because of their referral. Offer the common courtesy of sending the patient back at the appropriate time. Enough said.

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate

If you remember nothing else from this article, remember to communicate.

Let referring doctors know how their patient is doing, where they are in the treatment process and when they will be returning to their practice.

This is the #1 request from referring doctors. Offering consistent communication with referring partners will set you apart from the competition and allow you to grow your referral network.

6. Say thank you (and mean it)

Another doctor has entrusted you with the care of their patient.

This is a patient you would not have the privilege of seeing otherwise. It’s an honor that should be recognized with gratitude and a simple thank you.

Just like it takes work to stay fit and healthy, it takes work to keep your referral relationships strong and healthy. But like your physical health, the payoff is worth every amount of effort you put in.

Try using these 6 simple and healthy habits to strengthen and grow your referral relationships today.