Referrals are one of the oldest forms of marketing a clinic has. A person who arrives because someone they trust said “go and see her” has already decided you are credible.
Yet many clinics treat referrals as something that happens to them. A few doctors send people, a few patients tell their friends, and nobody is sure why it speeds up or slows down. This guide treats referrals as three separate sources, each with its own habits: other practitioners, community partners and your own patients. It covers the business side only.
Read this first: no payments, no gifts
Do not pay anyone for a referral, and do not give gifts in return for one. That covers doctors, partners and patients alike.
Some regulators restrict or prohibit paying for referrals and rewarding people for sending patients your way. The rules differ by profession and by province or state. In the United States, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute makes it a crime to knowingly and willfully offer or pay anything of value to induce or reward referrals of patients covered by federal health programmes, and the Office of Inspector General says it reaches every referral source, patients included (HHS-OIG).
Patient referral rewards need the same caution. A “refer a friend and get a discount” scheme looks harmless, but some regulators restrict them, so check with your college or board first.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your college or board and get advice before you offer anything of value to anyone. Everything below works without it.
Source one: doctors and other practitioners
Family physicians, surgeons, dentists sending patients on to specialists, optometrists and ophthalmologists all see people who need what you do. They want a dependable place to send them, and they are busy. Your job is to make the decision easy.
Introduce yourself properly
A short, personal introduction is easier for a busy office to act on than a brochure:
- A note to a named person. Say who you are, where the clinic is, which patients you see, and that you would be glad to talk for ten minutes whenever suits them.
- A short visit, arranged ahead with the office manager. Leave the one-page summary and go. Do not expect the physician to come out.
- A conversation at a local education evening or community event, followed by a note to the person you met.
- An introduction from a colleague who already works with you both. It is often the easiest way in.
Keep it modest. You are asking for a chance to be useful, not for patients.
A one-page summary
Give every referrer a single page they can pin up or save. It should cover:
- Your name, registration details, clinic name and address.
- The conditions and groups of patients you commonly see, in the referrer’s plain language.
- What a patient can expect: how soon they are usually seen and how long the first visit lasts.
- How to refer: phone, fax if your area still uses it, a referral email address and a link to your online form.
- Which funding routes you work with, stated factually.
- What you will send back, and when.
Leave out testimonials, outcome claims and comparisons with other clinics. Your regulator’s advertising rules apply to this page, so read our guide to health advertising rules first.
A referral pad or an online form
Some offices still prefer paper, some want an email address, and some prefer a web form. Ask the offices that refer to you, then offer what fits.
- A paper pad should hold the patient’s name and contact details, the referrer’s details, the reason for referral in a line or two, and a line recording that the patient consents to the referral being shared.
- An online form does the same job. Build it in your clinical or booking system, not in a marketing or newsletter tool. Keep it short, test it on a phone, and have a named person confirm each referral within a business day.
Patient details in a referral are health information. Store them in your clinical system, not in a marketing spreadsheet, and never share a patient’s information without their consent.
Close the loop
A referrer who never hears what happened has little reason to send the next patient. A short update after the first visit, and another when care ends, is a courtesy referrers tend to value.
Keep each update brief: the patient attended, the plan in outline, and when you will be in touch again. Send it the way the referrer prefers, whether that is a letter, a secure message or a shared record. Two rules apply:
- Get the patient’s consent before sending anything about them, and record it.
- Send updates through the clinic’s normal clinical records process, as you would any report about care. Never use a newsletter tool, a marketing platform or a spreadsheet. A referral update is a clinical communication.
If a patient does not attend, tell the referrer only what your privacy rules and the patient allow.
Make the referral path clear on your website
A referrer should find how to refer within seconds. Add:
- A “For referrers” page linked from the menu or footer.
- The one-page summary as a download.
- Your referral form, or a clear phone and email route.
- A plain statement of what you treat and what happens to a referral.
A patient told “my doctor wants me to see you” will often go straight to your homepage, so check that they can book without hunting. Our homepage checklist covers the basics. In our scan of 21,478 physio and chiro homepages, 49% of physio and 45% of chiro homepages had no online booking.
Source two: community partners
Gyms, running clubs, workplaces and community centres are places where people mention a niggle to the person next to them. Partnerships here are plain marketing: you meet people, you are useful, and you stay in touch. No money changes hands for sending patients.
Talks
A short, practical talk is the easiest way in. Offer a workplace a lunchtime session on desk set-up, or a running club an evening on building up distance. Keep the content general and educational. Do not diagnose anyone in the room or promise results.
Bring a one-page handout with your clinic name, address and booking link. If you collect sign-ups for updates, state clearly what people are agreeing to and follow the consent rules in our newsletter guide.
Joint events
An open evening with a gym, a charity run or a community health fair can work. Agree in advance who does what, who pays for what, and how each partner is described. If a partner offers money or benefits tied to patient numbers, or asks the same of you, stop and take advice from your college or board.
Listing each other
A link to a partner on your site and a link to yours on theirs is ordinary practice. Describe each other accurately in a line or two, and check the details twice a year. A link to a closed gym helps nobody. Keep your own profile accurate too, using the Google Business Profile checklist.
Source three: patients and word of mouth
Patients can be a significant referral source. People mention a good experience when it comes up in conversation, not when you ask. Your task is to make sharing easy when it does.
Make it easy to share
- A booking page that works on a phone, so a friend can book in a minute.
- A short web address that reception can say aloud.
- Plain cards at reception with the clinic name, address, phone and booking link. Do not attach a reward or discount code.
- Named practitioners patients can mention.
- Prompt, friendly replies to anyone who calls after hearing about you.
Patients should never feel pressure to recommend you. Care comes first.
Reviews
A review is a referral anyone can read. Some patients who would happily write one have never been asked. Follow Google’s policy on review content:
- No incentives. No discounts, gifts or prizes for a review.
- No gating. Do not screen people with a private survey and send only the happy ones to Google. Everyone gets the same ask.
- No pressure, no staff quotas, and no suggested wording.
Our guide to asking patients for Google reviews covers timing and wording, and showing reviews on your website covers presentation. Your regulator’s rules on testimonials may be stricter than Google’s. In our scan, 68% of physio and 57% of chiro homepages showed no reviews.
Record where referrals come from
At intake, ask each new patient how they heard about you, with a short list (doctor or practitioner, friend or family, partner organisation, Google, other). Review the counts monthly against your own recent months. Patients forget, so treat the figures as a guide. Keep patient names out of marketing reports: counts by source are enough.
A plan for the next 90 days
- Write the one-page summary.
- Choose five referrers you already work with and thank them personally.
- Add a “For referrers” page to your website.
- Offer one community partner a short talk.
- Print reception cards and test your booking page on a phone.
- Ask every patient for a review in the same way, with no incentive.
- Record the source of every new patient.
Check it today
Open your website on your phone and pretend you are a physician’s receptionist looking for how to send a patient to you. If it takes more than thirty seconds, that is your first fix. To have us look at your referral path and Google profile together, claim my audit and we will send you what we find.