Eli's Rehab Report

Plus: Discover another creative way to put your marketing efforts to good use.

Don’t miss out on an affordable way to get your name out a referral form. And if you already have one, there’s a chance it could use a makeover.

Example: “As a profession, we’ve gone from being viewed as technicians where the doctor told us what to do, to being much more independent,” points out Pierre H. Rougny, PT, OCS, MTC, director of rehabilitation services for Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, Maine. That said, Rougny was looking to update his referral forms to something that promoted his organization’s rehab services in a basic way without listing every last modality and intervention available.

“We wanted to just emphasize eval & treat and maybe list a few of our specialties,” Rougny says.

See the box below this article for an example of a simplified form, provided by Melinda Nygren Pierce, PT, MS, director of rehabilitation for Presbyterian Homes in Evanston, Ill. “This has worked well for us, providing the therapists with the necessary information while allowing for professional interactions.” In addition, the form has a map of Presbyterian Homes’ locations on the back to assist patients for whom a physician writes a referral, Pierce tells Eli.

Important: As you create/update your referral form, “be aware of state-specific referral specifications,” Pierce adds.

Consider This Counter-Argument

Some disagree with using referral forms since they interpose a physician between the patient and the therapist. “Given the move away from referrals, a referral form reinforces the wrong message,” says Ken Mailly, PT, with Mailly & Inglett Consulting, LLC in Wayne, N.J. “I’d rather see marketing efforts be directed toward the consumer directly.”

Also, since many other therapists use referral forms, the physician may not even use your form when referring a patient to you, so it could also be counterproductive in that way, Mailly warns.

On the other hand: Even in direct access states, providers have found referral forms helpful. “Medicare patients must have a physician referral, and major thirdparty payers require referrals for reimbursement,” Rougny says.

“The doctors could write the referral on a paper towel and it would be sufficient; however, our form cues the physician for the information that we need to evaluate and treat patients under Medicare’s standards,” Pierce says.

Try this: If you choose to market directly to consumers, one of the best, most inexpensive ways is via email, Mailly says. This could be anything from a monthly update to health tips. You could also use email as a means to follow up with current patients and remind them to consider you in the future. “We need to develop lifelong clients, not episodic patients,” Mailly says.

Tip: “A lot of people seem to be concerned that HIPAA would prevent them from communicating with their patients or asking for their emails, and that’s simply not true,” Mailly assures.