Cultivating Good Relationships With Medical Professionals

You often hear of practice management groups who offer their *secret* strategy on how to garner M.D. referrals. They package marketing kits that really are just letters that they claim* say just the right thing,* media presentations etc. I’ve yet to see that any of these are a magic bullet. Let’s face it; there are certain medical doctors who understand the value of referring their patients (and family and friends) to a good chiropractor. However, many M.D.s are hesitant to refer if they are in a tight network of doctors. Even if they know the value of chiropractic care, many physicians groups have contractual or unspoken consequences for doctors who refer out of their group’s scope of practice. There isn’t a lot that we can do about that; however we can work to build professional relationships with doctors in our area if we are willing to follow the basic rules of medical professional communication. Notifying a patient’s PCP that you are treating his or her patient is not only suggested, it is a form of proper documentation, something that this profession needs to improve upon. But with just a few changes in your intake and patient processing procedures, you can see your practice getting M.D. referrals from a variety of sources.

Do you collect your patient’s PCP information? Are you sending a letter to their PCP when you begin treatment, and at the release of care? This is one of the best ways to build a professional network between yourself and PCPs in your area. Here are the simple steps to creating a database of local doctor contact information, and collecting the patient PCP information.

1. Assess your intake forms to make sure that they include the following information. Patient PCP name, number and address. This should be a part of a patient’s permanent file and it should be kept up to date. When you do patient update forms, always include this information and make sure that it stays current.
2. Create a good Outlook or rolodex database with the PCP information easily accessible. Keep current fax numbers as well. When you create the entry, include the name of the person that you spoke to in the office. It always helps to address someone by name, should you need to contact them by phone at any time.
   1. Create a good general “your patient is under my care” letter template. Keep this on your desktop where it is easily accessible. When a new patient comes in, your front CA should be able to pull most of the information that is needed, from the chart. I use a simple patient update form which has all of the information for our CAs to pull from. The letter should be simple – below is a simple guide for you to use.
      Dear Dr. Jones:

      Please be advised that your patient, Susie Smith, aged 52 Caucasian female presented in my office on March 10, 2009 complaining of neck pain and stiffness, shooting pains into the right upper arm and radiating down into the fingertips. Patient stated that this pain has been off and on for the last 3 years, but was recently exacerbated by an incident where she fell asleep in a chair and slept there through the night. She is having difficulty sleeping since the exacerbation, and has missed time from work. I have examined the patient and positive test findings include: restricted range of motion in the right shoulder, positive foramina compression test, and shoulder depressor test. Additionally I found palpable muscle spasms in the right cervical spine. I have advised the patient to use ice and an estim daily as needed, and recommend specific spinal manipulative care at 3x per week for the next 4 weeks. I will perform a re-exam. on the 12^th visit and reassess the condition at that time.

      
      Please contact me should you have any questions.
      

3. Let your CA fill in the blanks of your template letter from the information on the patient’s chart, but always proof it and sign it by hand. Be careful to make sure that they have the correct test results, treatment plan etc. because this will become part of the patient’s permanent record.
4. When the patient has been released from care, whether because they are well, have progressed to MMI, you have chosen to refer the patient out, or they have been released due to non-compliance, send the PCP a follow up letter simply stating that the patient was released from care on (date) and list any lingering symptoms, or the doctor whom you referred them to and reason for the referral. If the patient was released due to non-compliance, you may state the compliance issue. Make sure that you let the doc know what symptoms you cleared up in successful cases.

These are simple steps that will help you to cultivate a professional relationship with your patient’s PCP and as your name is brought before this doctor time and again, he or she will have name recognition and may consider referring to you when another patient may need similar treatment. Of course, some docs may never refer to us. But if nothing else, you are helping to move the profession forward by following professional protocol to notify the PCP that you are treating his patient.

 

Practically Yours,

The PracticalCA