How I Stopped Relying on Physician Referrals and Doubled My Revenue
My name is Chad Madden, and I’m the owner of Madden Physical Therapy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I’ve been a physical therapy practice owner since 2003, and over the course of the past 15 years, I’ve learned how to stop counting on physician referrals to fill my calendar. But I’ll be the first to admit that it wasn’t always easy. In the early days of practice ownership, I used to panic. There were four physician-owned PT practices, three hospital systems employing more than 70 percent of local referral sources, and two of the largest PT corporations in the country all headquartered less than 13 miles from my office. And with all of this competition in our immediate area, I wasn’t sure that we were going to make it. When I first opened my private practice, the only way to grow business was by acquiring new patients through physician referrals. But experience has taught me (and most other practice owners) that relying on physician referrals alone is a dangerous game. This is particularly true when an area experiences all of the health care changes that we have.
1. Physicians, nurse practitioners, and other health care providers. 2. Past and present patients. 3. The general public. In 2008, we started to notice a decline in our physician referrals due to some major changes in our local health care system. To cope with that, we implemented automated systems for our past and present patients, and we began attracting a steady stream of reactivated patients and referrals. But we still weren’t doing enough to attract the general public, so I decided to shift my focus. I’ve now learned that the absolute best way to attract patients from the general public is through workshops. Here are three steps that need to happen for a workshop to be successful. 1. Get the room filled. Put people in seats. 2. Convert workshop attendees to scheduled appointments for an exam. 3. Convert those who schedule an exam to a full plan of care. Over the years, we’ve mastered the art of hosting these workshops. We’ve even reached a point where we’ve created a new business — Breakthrough PT Marketing — the goal of which is to share our secrets to success with other come to her with questions, not only does she find the answers in record time, she leaves them a little more chipper than they were before. For her, the greatest joy of the job is interacting with clients. “We get to meet great people,” she says, “Just the kindest, most patient clients imaginable. It’s a pleasure to speak to them!” Besides that, she loves the constant challenge and novelty her work throws at her each and every day. “It’s always different. You never know who you’re going to meet and what interesting conundrum you’re going to run into.” When she’s not fielding calls from her home office, you can often find Carrie spending time with her husband and 4-year-old son, and she’s
private-practice owners who want to stop relying on physicians for their referrals.
We also know that Practice Perfect’s software has been fine-tuned to help you fill your calendar. And when you combine their software with the lessons in our workshops, we’re confident that you can take your practice’s growth to new heights. Today, there are more than 650 ambitious practice owners who are successfully applying our strategies. Among them is a clinic owner who increased the number of average weekly visits from 125 to 225 (55 percent) over the course of a year. In another case, a practice owner invested $2,500 in advertising for one of her workshops, and she was rewarded with 35 new patients. But the biggest takeaway here is that practice owners are routinely hosting workshops and filling their calendars without relying on physician referrals. To learn more, head over to breakthroughptmarketing.com/workshop or give us a call at (951) 537-7753 .
We look forward to helping you double your revenue, too!
Since then, I’ve learned that there are three potential target markets for referrals.
-Chad
Yours truly,
MEET CARRIE, Our Stellar Application Solution Specialist!
At Practice Perfect, we pride ourselves on providing an easy-to-use, comprehensive EMR solution. But we also know that when you’re dealing with such a robust platform, it can be challenging to master all the ins and outs of the software. Luckily, we’ve got Application Solution Specialist Carrie Hardowa in our corner, equipping our clients with all the tips, tricks, and fixes they need to keep their clinics running without a hitch. Since the very beginning of her now seven- year tenure with the company, Carrie has been instrumental in the Practice Perfect client experience. Her keen eye for detail, coupled with her unbridled enthusiasm and warmth, brightens the day of everyone she speaks to. When people
also sure to be outside enjoying any sunny weather that comes her way. “Ideally, I’d love to be surfing every single day of my life,” she says. “But that’s a little hard up here in Canada.” Whether Carrie’s out catching waves or helping clients come to grips with their software, we’re thrilled to have her on our team.
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