Danny Bobrow, MBA

As the distinction between oral and overall health continues to blur, the opportunity to develop patient referral sources from both within and outside of dentistry continues to expand.

Referrals from health professionals outside dentistry

Dental specialists have long known the value of cultivating relationships with their general practitioner colleagues.  G.P.s have similar opportunities to connect with colleagues outside of dentistry, the public at large, and even fellow dentists if they offer a service their colleagues are unable or unwilling to offer, or in other ways demonstrate ‘added value.’

Dr. Allan Gross, president of bizcentsfordocs says “Most dental specialists are not comfortable referring potential new patients to just one general dentist considering the relationship he/she has with others.  There is (however, potential) within the medical community.”

Gross relates one example where a dentist noticed a local physician offering alternative medicine.  “The dentist had not placed amalgams for years and thought this doctor might be interested in meeting him.  The doctor was so excited…not only did he become a patient, he sent over 80 patients to his office in a period of less than one year….and how much did that cost in marketing? About 2 hours of his time.”

Other ways to encourage physician referrals is to contact each patient’s physician to receive additional information about anything revealed during the initial medical history, or if any change in status is observed.   In this way, the practice becomes known for its thoroughness and concern for the patient’s health.  This message is not lost on the physician’s team either.

Sleep Apnea care wakes up your referrals?

Treatment of sleep apnea and related conditions is one of the fastest growing areas of oral health care.  According to Philip Goduco, DDS of Goduco Smiles, “I set up lunches with both physicians and dentists, the latter starting with my list of dental school classmates, and continuing with those I know who do not care to affix the oral appliance. I also contact the sleep labs, either directly, or by calling my physician friends and acquaintances. It’s also possible to search the Internet for ‘sleep centers, sleep laboratories’, and so forth.”  Goduco then sets a time to meet, not only with the doctors, but their technicians too, to let them know he is “…looking for a center to which to send my patients to have two studies done; one to establish a base line, and one for titrating the oral appliance.”   Goduco also lectures on the topic, which is another valuable way to create awareness and enthusiasm about his service.

While there is an investment of time and money required to become proficient, Dr. Goduco considers it to be one that has already paid off, and whose return will only increase over time:

Dr. Gross says “There are many ways to be embraced by your community.  A food drive at Thanksgiving, a toy drive at Christmas, a blood drive (have the van in your parking lot), a walk/run charity event that can be co-sponsored are just a few ideas and opportunities that can build your reputation as one who is committed to your community on many levels.”
	Promotion is accomplished both inside and outside your practice. Internal promotion channels include:

		In-Office Display Items e.g. Posters, Lapel Buttons, etc.

Consider a team meeting whose topic is identifying ways to communicate to the health community how your practice demonstrates its commitment to collaborative care (and why, therefore, your referrals will be made to look good in the eyes of those they refer).

Seek out opportunities to exchange information with fellow health care providers and act in a collaborative way to better and more efficiently deliver care to those patients you have in common.  Once that bond is established, just watch the referrals build.
	 
	

While you might ‘get lucky’ and receive as many referrals as you can handle from a single source, it’s more likely you’ll need to develop and cultivate several sources.  I built my dental marketing practice largely by networking over the years to where now hardly a week goes by that I do not receive a referral from one of dozens of sources.  Did every attempt at establishing a referral source result in success?  No way!  Were I to venture a guess, I’d say that one of every 25 to 50 attempts bore some sort of fruit.  And sometimes, it took many years for that to occur.

Realize that it’s not always what you say; it’s how frequently you say it, and that you say anything at all.  For example: if you regularly communicate with your patients, referral sources, the media, etc., the very fact you are reaching out to them reminds them of your existence and, with hope, reinforces your brand identity (just don’t overdo it or you’ll be perceived as a nuisance – in my experience, dentists more often err on the side of too little, as opposed to too much contact, however).  What you are sending to them becomes almost incidental.  How often has someone responded to a letter or telephone call asking you about something completely unrelated to what you sent or said?  It’s happens to us almost daily, and you can bet we don’t care why they’ve called, only that they’ve called!

Gross recommends sending flowers or candy throughout the year as a “…thank you for everybody in the office to see.”  This is a small expense to pay to be noticed and appreciated, not only by the referral source, but quite possibly by its patients.

In general, the successful referral program:


	1.     Develops over time
	2.     Is a ‘numbers game’ in that the more you attempt, the more successes you have
	3.     Involves a learning curve in that the more you attempt, the more proficient you become
	4.     Draws from a number of varied sources
	5.     Makes your referral sources look good in the eyes of its patients
	6.     Makes your referral source’s job easier by e.g. providing timely and complete feedback on the status and treatment of the referred patient
	7.     Automates the process to the extent possible e.g. through social networking sites, without ever losing its ‘personal touch’
	8.     Is reciprocal

The sooner you begin reaching out beyond your patient base, and perhaps your comfort zone, the sooner you and your practice will reap the benefits.

Daniel Bobrow, MBA, is president of the American Dental Marketing Company, a dentistry marketing and patient communications consultancy. He is also Executive Director of Dentists’ Climb for a Cause™. Readers interested in learning more about integrated marketing and patient communication products, systems and services are invited to contact Mr. Bobrow at 312-455-9488 or 

Articles

As the distinction between oral and overall health continues to blur, the opportunity to develop patient referral sources from both within and outside of dentistry continues to expand. Referrals from health professionals outside dentistry

Want to increase your net? Cast a broader one!

For those Baby Boomers (and older) the term is largely pejorative, owing to its association with those who aided the Axis Powers during World War II. But there is another side to the collaboration coin. It is synonymous with team work. 

When all one has is a hammer, every problem is a nail
	

In caring for patients, health professionals have historically had to ‘go it alone.’ This is changing.  Professionals across the health spectrum realize that patients deserve to be treated by those with a ‘well stocked tool box,’ as no one provider can possibly offer all the tools. This is why it is incumbent upon those whose raison d'être is delivering optimum healthcare to establish and build a professional referral network.

The increasing acceptance by dentists, physicians and the public of the links between oral and overall health represent an unprecedented opportunity for dentists to grow their practice while delivering superior care to their patients. We see this as a four step process. First, place yourself in the shoes of prospective network members to ascertain ‘what’s in it for them.’ Second, identify those with whom you already have a relationship (usually more than you think). Third, continue to acquire and share your proficiency in collaborative care with your network.  And fourth, armed with confidence and know how, expand your network.


	Ways you can help your physician deliver a higher level of care include:

Management of oral Inflammation to control systemic inflammation: Dentists are, and will likely remain, the only source for this care.

Management of Sleep Disorders: Dentists can order sleep studies and help physicians determine and deliver appropriate treatment (surgery, CPAP, oral appliance, etc.).

Early Identification of Diabetes: Dentists have the opportunity to identify unrecognized diabetes and pre-diabetes in dental patients and refer them to a physician for further evaluation and care.*

Treatment of Migraine Headache: Dentists’ understanding of the trigeminal nerve, link between the mandible and cranial base and other dentoskeletal structures have proven invaluable in providing relief for thousands of headache sufferers and so owe it to physicians and their patients to become part of the solution.

Identify those who would be a fit for your professional referral network. Sandi Warner Roggow, RDH shares what is perhaps the easiest way to prime the MD referral pump: “We educate our medical professionals at our own check-up appointments.”  In like fashion, use the time treating your physician patients to educate them about how your practice can help enhance their level of patient care.  Commit to ‘wowing’ them with your knowledge and ability to ‘make them look good’ in front of their patients. Create a truly comprehensive examination protocol, and feel free to liberally sprinkle more clinical content, cite studies, your personal experience as you acquire it, etc. so you physician patients are duly impressed by your ability to help them and their patients. Be sure you dental team members are similarly equipped to impress their physicians with your scope of service and system for collaborative care. 

As noted above, begin with the proverbial low hanging fruit. 

Many dentists prepare a health status folder for their patient to take to their next physician appointment. When their MD asks where they got it, they simply answer “My dentist gave it to me.”

Prepare a communication (what we call our 

) for MDs with whom you share a patient.  This is an effective method for getting your feet wet so to speak because your patient’s physician is ethically obligated to communicate with you about the condition of your shared patient. Your communication should begin with your diagnosis and recommendations, as well as an invitation for the physician to feel free to refer any patients who might be similarly assisted by your offering.  Their positive impression and experience with you will lead them to naturally think of you when similar collaboration opportunities arise. Be sure to make it not only desirable, but also simple for them to refer.  Provide them with referral cards, enroll them in an email campaign to educate them while branding your practice as the ‘go to source’ for answers and treatment to medical conditions with a dental solution, hold open houses and webinars, and in other ways continue to share and remind them of your existence and value. 


	Collaboration with physicians has the added benefit of helping your patients obtain insurance benefits for their medically necessary dental procedures, which makes it easier for patients to say yes to your recommendations. A strong relationship with your patient’s physician can help establish the medical necessity of procedures.

*Identification of unrecognized diabetes and pre-diabetes in a dental setting.
	 Lalla E, Kunzel C, Burkett S, Cheng B, Lamster IB.

Daniel Bobrow, MBA, is president of the AIM (formerly American) Dental Marketing Company, a dentistry marketing and patient communications consultancy. He is also Executive Director of 

. Readers interested in learning more about integrated marketing and patient communication products, systems and services are invited to contact Mr. Bobrow at 312-455-9488 or

Marketing Insider: Be a collaborator

No self respecting discussion about communicating with patients of record would be complete without including social networking.

Here are a few statistical tidbits, according to Socialnomics’ "Social media (is not) a fad: It is the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution.":

		As of 2010, Gen Y outnumbers Baby Boomers, and it is this group that has been raised 'on' the Internet.

		Ninety six percent of them have joined at least one social network.

		One out of eight couples married in 2009 met on the Internet.

		It took 38 years for there to be 50 million radios users,

		It took Facebook 9 months to reach 100 MILLION USERS

		If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's Fourth Largest

		The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females

So, if you think social media is just a fad, think again.

The first social media sites to become involved with are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. MySpace is another possibility, but may not match your practice demographic as closely as the others. Books and other resources are available on each of these, but the most direct, and least cost, method for getting started is simply to visit each of their home pages, and register for an account.

Facebook and Twitter are extremely popular sites and make it rather simple to create a presence on their platforms. With YouTube you can upload your own videos, as well as link to them from your own website  (you can also view other videos that might interest you, but this will not help grow your practice!)

LinkedIn is used more for business than social interaction, but can be a useful way to get the word out to your patients (most of whom, after all, are involved in some form of business). If you are specialist, LinkedIn can be an especially powerful tool for communicating with referring practices.

As with any new endeavor, getting started can be a daunting proposition. I recommend you budget a certain amount of time per week, and, if possible, delegate the work to someone who is motivated and, with hope, already knowledgeable about, the subject.
	Once you’ve registered and set up your profile, you are ready to begin building your tribe that is, inviting people to friend you.  

Facebook makes it easy for you to find and invite people to become friends with you (or at least, with your Facebook Profile). We can also thank Facebook for making the word ‘friend’ a verb as well as a noun.

This involves setting up Facebook correctly as well as actively encouraging people to become your Friend. Facebook can also help in this regard, but do not depend exclusively on Facebook to do this job.  

Tips for being found by current (and prospective) patients on Facebook

As with search engine optimization, you can grow your practice using Facebook through organic and paid search, and below I offer 5 tips to help you grow organically. Readers are also invited to receive a report presenting tips on setting up a Facebook paid search campaign.

 One of the first things to do when setting up a like (formerly fan) page in Facebook is select a name. It seems easy enough, but far too many people try to get ‘tricky’ with their name choices. Some people, thinking in Google terms, go with a name like Dentist – Philadelphia – Cosmetic Dentist – General Dentist – Philly Area Dentist – etc.

This may have been the way of the world in the Google Age, but it just doesn’t work for Facebook. If your practice is called “Dental Associates of Philadelphia,” that's exactly what your Facebook page should be called! Your practice name is your brand, and that’s how you want to be recognized, so name your page after your practice and don’t change it.

 This is actually one area where the Google way of thinking can help you, and your main website.  The Facebook “About” box allows you to elaborate upon your practice for 250 characters. Use every character and use them wisely. Make sure to mention the following things early and often:

		Your target area: whatever neighborhoods, cities, counties, or region you wish to target

		Your specialties: mention all your most prominent services

A good rule of thumb is to place as much of the text from your website’s homepage as possible into your “About” box. This will not only help Facebook members see who you are; it can also help your main website’s ranking with Google.

Tip #3: There’s No Such Thing as Bad Info.

 Here’s another great opportunity to not only to enhance your Facebook page’s performance, but also that of your website. Complete all fields on the “Info” tab. Again, your website can be a great source of content for your Facebook page. Include your address, hours of operation, phone number, and link to your website.

Your Facebook page is also a great place to post photos of your practice and team members. The more useful the information you  pack onto your Facebook page, the more effective it will be, both on its own, and in complementing your website.

 As a dental practice, you already have a group of friends out there and many, if not most, are on Facebook. Once you have your Facebook page successfully set up, it’s time to start recruiting your patients to join. If you have an email list of existing patients, send them an invitation. If you have a computer and/or wireless access in your reception area, remind your patients  you are on Facebook and ask them to join your page, (which should be your default page). Most, if not all, your patients will be happy to join your page. You just need to ask!

Tip #5: How to Post, When to Post, What to Post.

 Now that you’ve successfully set up your Facebook page and built a network of friends, what’s next? It’s time to plan your posting schedule. Tread carefully. Facebook makes it easy for your fans to choose to ignore you. It only takes two clicks for your fan to never see your updates again. If you’re judicious with your posts, this should not be a problem.

The most important thing to remember when posting on your page is that all your friends will see the post in their “News Feed.” Ask yourself whether you think it’s something they would like to see. If you have a new member of your dental team joining the office, Facebook is a great place to make that Announcement. If you ordered pizza for lunch and it showed up 20 minutes late, you may want to reconsider making that post.

To my mind, the art of effective social networking comes into play in the crafting of your communications campaign and content of the messages comprising your campaign.  Your overriding objective is to ensure your friends read your posts and, with hope, derive something of value from them. Posting every once in a while when you see a great article about dental health is a good idea. You can also use your posts to promote your practice (perhaps a Facebook ‘Friend Only’ Whitening Certificate for just before the holidays).

Simply put, when you do post to your friends, make it count.

As you can see, there’s no shortage of information to consider in crafting your social media marketing strategy, Thepractice that chooses to take advantage of this burgeoning opportunity will more quickly grow their practice. Set a realistic implementation schedule for yourself so you are not overwhelmed by the scope and breadth of the task.

Our next Issue will conclude our discussion about Communicating with Patients of Record by focusing on how to use online review sites such as Yelp, Angie's List, City Search, DrOogle and Health Grades to grow your practice, which serves to underscore that communication is indeed a two-way street.

No self respecting discussion about communicating with patients of record would be complete without including social networking. Here are a few statistical tidbits, according to Socialnomics’ "Social media (is not) a fad: It is the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution.":  

Communicating with patients of Record, Part II

	The concept of market segmentation has been a part of the marketing scene since long before the phrase was coined. Any time someone with something to sell (or say, for that matter), identified and spoke directly to “…a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function“* they employed a market segmentation strategy.

	Now one might reasonably ask “Why should I bother with all this? Why don’t I just market to everyone in the area, and let them decide whether or not to join my practice?”

	The main reason a business engages in market segmentation is that, when correctly conceived and implemented, it increases ones return on investment in marketing by either reducing marketing costs, increasing response, improving the suitability or ‘fit’ of patients with the practice, or all three.

	In reality, marketing to everyone “in the area” is a form or market segmentation: it’s simply segmentation along geographic lines. In fact, because convenience continues to be an important factor in one’s decision to join a dental practice, it is actually more than merely geographically driven market segmentation. And, if the target audience is defined based on research such as traffic patterns and other available data, it also qualifies as segmentation based on demand characteristics. “People who live or work beyond 3 miles of our practice, or 9 miles, when our practice is located between their place of work and residence” is an example of a well thought out and soundly arrived at segmented target.

Now that we know the "Why" and "Who", let’s discuss "How and What"
	

Knowing who are your ideal target(s) is the first necessary step toward an effective market segmentation strategy.  Your next step is to confirm the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of identifying a given target audience. For instance: You may wish to target people who are prone to, or are already experiencing obstructive sleep apnea. While such lists are available, they come with rather hefty minimum rental requirements, so the cost per lead may be prohibitive. You may, instead choose to acquire a list of people in your community who are male, over forty years of age, and overweight (yes, this list is available).

	Effective identification of your target audience often requires “putting yourself in the shoes” of your target audience member. An increasing number of dentists want to promote restoration or placement of implants. Many are investing considerable sums optimizing their website for terms associated with implant dentistry (sometimes they also optimize simply for ‘implants’ understanding fully this might attract people desiring implants of a different sort: they do this because these people may be interested in ‘augmentation’ above the neck as well.  But I digress). 

	One way we’ve found to increase your production for dental implants is by optimizing your website, and in other ways promoting denture services. Why? Because, as you already know, implants and implant supported dentures are often a superior alternative to dentures themselves, but your audience may not yet know this. Once they’re in your practice or, if your team is well versed in handling first-time telephone callers, even before the appointment, the prospective patient can be educated about this option. But that will never happen unless you choose to speak in a language your target audience understands and finds compelling.  

	Web landing pages can be created that speak to your chosen market segment e.g. 

, and your paid search or search engine optimization campaigns can be structured so the page web visitors are sent to by search engines is determined by the search term or phrase they use. This ensures your website ‘speaks’ to their concerns and desires immediately, which is more effective than their landing on your home page and trying to find what they are looking for.

	Your practice management software and the existence of variable, sometimes termed, on- demand, print technology means you are able to cost-effectively tailor the message and offer of your print communications for each desired target audience. For instance, you can, in a single print run, create a distinct message and offer to: current patients, inactive patients, new residents, home owners, women aged 40+ and even more. How many people are in each group no longer matters because the print job is performed in a single run.


	The days of ‘shot gun marketing’ are over. Technology now permits a laser beam approach to reaching your desired audiences with low cost precision. So take the time to identify your ideal target audiences, determine the most cost effective way to reach those audiences with a message and offer that ‘speaks’ to them, and consistently monitor the results. The payoff is a higher return on your marketing investment and, because your patients clearly understand what you are offering ahead of time, greater case acceptance. Sound good?