To combat the changes and challenges in the current hearing aid market, we saw the need to create a physician-referral program. For us this program became a way to:
Brand their practice as a community health care expert
Educating physicians on comorbidity — the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient — between hearing health and a growing list of associated diseases helps these physicians better care for their patients, allowing the patients to lead healthy and fuller lives.
Deliver quality and cost-effective patient referrals to their practice
Generally, it’s more expensive to bring in a new patient with traditional marketing than it is with a physician-outreach program. For example, it costs $450 to $550 for each new appointment through traditional marketing, whereas a physician-outreach program is more of an investment in time.
Established best practices that have made their physician-referral program a huge success.
Keep the physician informed:
After seeing one of the referred patients, Joyce will take the opportunity to pop into a physician office to deliver the hearing report that we have written.
Have the right physician-referral marketing materials:
Joyce takes inventory of the existing marketing materials prior to each physician visit and works with our Audigy marketing creative team to brand needed collateral and materials. Examples of things we bring to each office visit:
Physician-outreach process begins with having an ambassador:
Having a dedicated physician-outreach person within your practice to build the relationships with local practices is key. Joyce, our physician liaison, takes responsibility for physician outreach.
Get to know the staff:
It is important to build relationships with everyone in the physician’s office. One idea we like is to provide lunch or breakfast to their office.
Prioritize your physicians:
Visit all your “A”-list physician offices once a month.
Measure your success:
Track the number of referrals you receive, the number of these that turned into an appointment, and the number of hearing aids purchased from this group.