Every day, I hear the myths that practices are buying in to.

Chances are, you might believe some of these myths as well.

This is a big deal because…

Believe it or not, you act on what you believe, and that could be stunting your growth.

If you’re buying into popular myths, you’re losing out on valuable opportunities for practice growth.

Here are the top 5 referral network myths that I encounter on a daily basis (and what to do instead).

I’ve tried calling on referring doctors before and it didn’t work.

Referring doctors want to know you’ll be there for them and their patients for the long haul. They’re not going to sever their current referral relationships because you visited them one time. (If they do, consider yourself lucky.)

Consistency is key.

Regularly calling on referral partners will demonstrate your commitment to their patients and increase the opportunity for referrals.

Think about the doctors you refer to. Why did you start referring to them? How well did you get to know them before you started referring?

We’re going to send one of our trusted team members out a couple of days a month or half day a week to call on referring doctors and generate more referrals.

While this may result in some referrals some of the time, you’re leaving a gap in one area of your practice only to provide partial customer service to your referring doctors. 

Are you looking for robust or partial results? A part time investment yields part time results.

For the best investment, hire a full time or dedicated physician liaison whose primary focus is to call on referring doctors.

Our new physician liaison is also going to handle all our social media, patient reviews, and digital marketing efforts.

In my experience, a physician liaison is the greatest patient generating investment a practice can make with the quickest return on investment.

Bogging them down with additional office duties keeps them out of the field and focused on lower yield activities.

Don’t overload your liaison with responsibilities that are easily and inexpensively outsourced. 

Let your liaison focus on field efforts and use the revenue they generate to finance additional marketing campaigns. 

Leave the social media posts to your college summer intern. 

We love the idea of the online referral tool, but our referring doctors prefer to fax their referrals.

Chances are, if your referring doctors aren’t using your online referral tool they either (1) don’t know about it or (2) don’t know how to use it.

Offices who understand how to use an online referral tool and how much time it saves prefer to refer patients online the same way you prefer to shop on amazon or order groceries online.

Yes, there will always be those one or two offices stuck in 1994 who want to fax referrals, but they are the exception, not the rule.

There’s no use calling on referring doctors because our more established competitor is already getting most of the market referrals.

Do you believe you can offer referring doctors and their patients an excellent experience with great outcomes?

If so, then why wouldn’t you tell them about it?

Your established “competitor” down the street may be a discount provider with a cattle call experience. Or perhaps they are booked out for weeks (or months) and can’t compete with your boutique practice and concierge care.

If you’re not sharing your message with potential referral partners, patients are missing out on the opportunity for great care. 

How about you? Which of these myths are you buying in to?

Don’t let these (or any other) myths hold you back. 

If you’re looking to do some myth busting and would like to chat about the best ways to replace fiction with the facts, we can help!