Track, Measure, Manage

Building a coordinated referral network is essential to fill schedules reliably and, when providers collaborate effectively, strengthen patient care. Consistent punctuality and competency alone, however, are insufficient to generate robust appointment books.

In this article, Marc-François Bradley uses his experience in strategic innovation, software-driven practice enhancements, and operational frameworks to offer practical insights into aligning team workflows, optimizing referral pathways, and sustaining patient loyalty to maintain efficient, well-populated schedules.

— Tracy J. Kenniff, MBA, OCS

Optometrists and primary care providers are unlikely to announce that they are no longer referring patients to your practice. They simply begin referring patients elsewhere. This leak may go undetected for a long time (see Signs That Your Practice Might Have a Referral Leak). An administrator at one large regional practice confided in me, "Our biggest referring doctor stopped referring 6 months before we noticed it." Another told me that they were trying to rebuild a referral network that had shrunk by 50% during the previous 2 years.

Your practice can grow optometric and primary care referrals to generate additional revenue, but it is easier to keep business than it is to gain new business. Unfortunately, few practices I encounter have a good way of tracking incoming referrals or managing the workflow and calls required to schedule those patients.

How many referrals did your practice receive last week, and how many of those patients remained unscheduled at the end of that week? You cannot manage what you do not measure.

Tracking Systems

A well-run practice monitors its referral network and begins tracking referrals as soon as they arrive. Tracking systems range in complexity from a simple spreadsheet to a sophisticated software platform.

At a minimum, track each referral and its source and identify who your practice's top five to 10 referral sources are. Whatever your system, it must quickly be able to reveal who is driving most of your referrals.

It would not be unusual for 80% of your referrals to come from 20% of your sources. Regardless, revisit information on your practice's top referring providers on a quarterly basis. Two questions to ask at each of these reviews are as follows:

No. 1: Did any of your practice's top referring providers drop off the list?

No. 2: Has your leading source of referrals changed?

Workflow Tools That Pace Staff

If your practice receives more than a few dozen referrals per week, you probably need a more sophisticated tracking system than a spreadsheet. Fortunately, many software tools are available that provide a referral workflow solution.

These platforms can trace each inbound referral to its source. Staff use the platform to track a referral from intake through scheduling attempts to its ultimate disposition (ie, a scheduled visit, the patient's decision not to schedule a visit, or exhaustion of the maximum number of attempts your practice expects).

The software should help your staff know which referred patients to call and in what order. It can also update referring doctors on your team's efforts.

Stemming a Referral Leak

Tracking referrals can help your practice monitor trends and act as soon as a decline is detected. It can reveal whether referrals are slipping through the cracks, how much time elapses between receipt of each referral and initial outreach, and where scheduling attempts may be stalling within your practice. This information can allow your practice manager to intervene effectively.

Marketing campaigns are designed to build your practice's revenue and brand awareness. A quiet referral leak could undermine those efforts.