14 Ways to Generate More Referrals for Your Physical Therapy Practice

Physical Therapists All Need to Bring New Patients Into Their Practices

There are three key areas on which to focus your time and attention when trying to engage more referrals; inside your clinic, outside your clinic, and within your community. In this article you will learn 14 ways you can start generating more referrals in these areas so you can grow your private practice. 

What You Can Do Inside Your Physical Therapy Practice to Generate More Referrals

Focus on the following areas within your clinic to begin generating more referrals!

Greet Your Patients
Offer patients a warm welcome when they enter your facility. Ask about their well-being, and their family if appropriate. The perception of your office staff and how they engage with your patients is just as important as their treatment from you. Introduce yourself, through this simple act you can increase a patient’s satisfaction level by 20%. Establishing rapport with patients leaves them feeling better about their overall experience, and more likely to refer you to family and friends.

Refer Back to Physicians 
Establish reciprocal referrals. You may have a patient in need of physician services and referring them back to a physician you receive patients from can strengthen the professional relationship. 

Establish a Patient Loyalty Program
Incentivize patients to complete their plan of care. Consider a bonus service, such as a discounted or free laser treatment during periods of time difficult to otherwise schedule, like holidays. Offer coupons for products you carry, such as a muscle cream or resistance bands. 

Offer Discounted Service Days
Hosting promotional days and offering discounted services will help boost your foot traffic and appeal to patients who haven’t visited you before. Consider a special senior day, or a service focused day – Friday’s laser treatments 25% off.

Ask Your Patients to Refer Friends & Family
Enthusiastic patients are what we like to call Raving Fans. Ask them for referrals, give them cards to pass out to family and friends, offer them something for referring a new patient. 

Post Blogs
This is a lesser known referral source, many PTs haven’t made the connection between blogging and receiving referrals, but did you know most patients turn to Google before selecting a doctor? Blogs build your online presence and are an excellent way to bring potential patients to your door. Write about the services you offer and the ailments you treat to ensure you are attracting the kinds of patients you want. 

Improve Patient Satisfaction
Communicate with your patients! Send them surveys after their treatment, ask them for feedback on your clinic and services. The more happy patients you have, the more referrals they will send you. Word of mouth travels fast! 

Do These 3 Things Outside of Your Physical Therapy Practice to Generate More Referrals

Maintain Relationships
Building relationships with influential people all around you is key to the success of your practice – more important is maintaining those relationships. Stay in touch, show your appreciation, and ask for feedback from your referral sources.

Prioritize Your Referral Base
Do you have regular referral senders? Make sure you are nurturing those relationships – provide timely feedback on patient progress, send personalized thank you notes for their referrals, hold appreciation events, and send a small holiday gift annually – such as a plant for the office, to really demonstrate your appreciation for the relationship. 

Market Your Strengths
Are you known for a special service or treatment you provide? Market your strengths. What makes your practice stand out, how do you treat more effectively than your competition? Do you provide a service no one else in your community offers such as pelvic health, balance or aquatic therapy? Make sure everyone knows about it! 

Do These 3 Things In Your Community to Generate More Referrals for Your PT Practice

Get Involved in Community Service
Community service and outreach are huge reputation boosters and gives you the advantage of being able to get to know influential people in your community. Support a local sports team, sponsor an event, or just volunteer locally to get to know the members of your community. Your team will likely enjoy getting involved too! 

Host Seminars
As an expert in your industry, people throughout the community will benefit from your knowledge in the physical therapy sector. Attend health and wellness seminars, or host an event at your clinic to speak with people in the community about the benefits of the therapies you offer and who should be participating. For instance, if you offer balance therapy you might consider offering a talk about how to improve balance at any age and provide a free fall risk assessment.

Network Yourself
Attend as many community and social gatherings as possible. Network everywhere you go and encourage those you meet to visit your clinic. You meet people every day who could be your next patient or your next referral source! 

FYZICAL Helps Private Practice Owners Master the Business of Physical Therapy 

Everyday, we empower private practice owners to take control of their business and their life through knowledge, relationships, and support.

Our franchise model is designed to make you a dominant player in the future of healthcare by transforming an industry dominated by hospitals and corporations through the empowerment of private practice owners. 

From all across the nation—in large cities, rural communities, and small towns—business owners with large, multi-clinic practices, solo practitioners and startup clinics, are achieving amazing results using FYZICAL’s business model.

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