Don’t Depend on Referrals: Specialists Need to Attract New Patients Too
If you’re a specialist, it might be tempting to think you don’t need to worry about attracting new patients. After all, patients are referred to you… they call your office, book an appointment without hesitation, and voilà—you’ve got a new patient.
Not so fast.
As nervous as people can be about seeing a doctor for routine care, they’re even more hesitant when it comes to seeing a specialist. Your treatments may take longer, involve multiple appointments, and come with a higher out-of-pocket cost. So even if they were referred to you, many patients are looking for a reason not to follow through—or at least delay it as long as possible.
And when (or if!) they finally work up the courage to call your office, one misstep from your front desk team can end it right there. If that first phone interaction isn’t handled correctly—which takes more skill than most people realize—they may hang up without booking. In that case, everyone loses.
Worse still, these patients usually don’t seek out another specialist. They just ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
Avoid the Entitlement Trap
Just because someone was referred to you doesn’t mean you automatically get them as a patient. If your team fumbles the first contact, you’ll never get the chance to prove how good you really are.
Knowing How Takes Know-How
Dr. Chen thought his Endodontic practice was doing well—attracting 60 to 80 new patients a month. Then he heard how another specialist had tripled their new patient numbers—from 30 to 90 per month—after implementing the Scheduling Institute’s phone training program.
He realized his own practice had room to grow. He enrolled all 30 team members across his two locations in the same training. It paid off.
“We topped out just last month at 421 new patients,” one team member reported.
“Everything you teach is totally applicable. It doesn’t matter if it’s a specialty—it works.”
Your Patients Need You. Make Sure They Get to You.
You became a doctor to help people. As a specialist, you understand better than anyone the urgency of getting referred patients in the door. If they delay, their condition may worsen—and they may suffer unnecessarily.
So here’s the hard truth:
You’re doing those patients a disservice if you don’t equip your team with the tools to get them in the door.
It’s not the referring doctor’s job to ensure they show up.
Your reputation isn’t enough to guarantee it either.
It comes down to that first phone call—and the person answering it.
Show Your Team How Special You Are
When you invest in your team’s training and development, you empower them to represent you well, deliver a better patient experience, and help more people benefit from your expertise. That’s a win for your practice, your team, and—most importantly—your patients.
Watch Dr. Chen’s full story and see how team training with the Scheduling Institute led to better results.
To take the same first step Dr. Chen took—the one that transformed how his practice attracts and converts new patients—call the Scheduling Institute at 770-518-7575 or CLICK HERE to schedule a time to speak with one of our Practice Growth Advocates.
