Physician Relations: Is it Time for a Personal Push?

By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | [email protected]

So much has been written about the current state of healthcare. Some are choosing to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Others are actively leaning into the disruption. Both of those scenarios fit for organizations and their cultures, and also for individual physician relations reps. It takes some grit and determination, but many teams are having good success in spite of it all. Here are three elements that seem to be present in those individuals and teams that are having strong referral relationship growth.

1. Visualize success

Some leaders have told us that new field staff are having more success in virtual referral growth than their veterans. It may be their eagerness to show value or perhaps they are more fearless… weren’t we all at the early stages? In any regard, stories of virtual success abound, and it always starts with being very intentional and making it happen.

Behind the scenes, successful individuals set clear, actionable goals. They include the activities and the expected results and set a process to self-measure. If your goal is clear but you can’t seem to reach it, then ask for advice. Take another look at your approach from top to bottom. Virtual requires immediate warmth and connectivity. Consider your message. Are you providing too much detail or maybe you’re trying to introduce too many topics? Maybe you need to ask more questions to encourage the doctor to engage more. Virtual is an ideal environment to get real-time feedback. Ask your leader to join a call to listen and offer some ideas to move you closer to success.

2. Set a defined cadence

Plan your day, your time, your calls, and your other duties in advance. Shifting to virtual has changed our need for physical routing plans, but that daily organization is still critical for success. And it is still a numbers game, so more calls are needed to get more connections to have more meaningful conversations to earn more referrals. Teams that are having great success are connecting more, setting clear expectations, and establishing their workflow based on current hospital/health system needs.

3. Capitalize on the moment

Some organizations handled the lockdown period better than others. The same is true for the re-opening. Likewise, for practices. If you are an organization that was proactive, a leading communicator through the safe at home period with good messages to your medical community, then leverage the positioning in your messages. Your messages should be positive and physician-centric.

And if you say, “That was our competition. We did not quite have it together…” Then you’ll need to quickly move your conversation to the here and now, and your role in hearing and supporting where they are today. Create a connection, shift the conversation to them and their current state, and then capitalize on something positive you are seeing or hearing. It may be from the hospital or maybe it’s a trend you are hearing from other practices.

“In the moment” conversations are getting good traction right now. Many doctors will tell you the speculation is really hard and predicting what will happen in the next 3 months is even harder. They are dealing with today so we need to as well, like the patients they are seeing, the needs they have at the practice level, their interest in meeting the newest specialists. Each statement we make needs to resonate with their interests.

It’s all logical, but that does not make it easy! Where are you today and where’s the team? Do you feel ready to push the envelope? Perhaps it’s time to look at your program and your approach. If yes, my new book, Physician Relations: The Model, The Method & The Impact is a great resource. We’ve set up special pricing for group orders and we’ve built a tool for you to walk through the book with your team. There has never been a better time to sharpen our focus and be at the top of our game.

To order your copy click here: https://barlowmccarthy.com/product/physician-relations-the-model-the-method-and-the-impact/. If you are interested in group pricing email Tony at [email protected].