Importance of Networking
Unless your practice is a part of a larger organization or system, chances are you work independently much of the time. Networking is a valuable tool that can help your practice flourish in different areas.
WHY?
Not only is it important to get your practice’s name out there, it’s vital for specialty practices to build strong referral networks with primary doctors and other health care providers.
Networking is also a great opportunity to get your name out there for other reasons such as recruiting. If your practice is known for being generally good, staff from providers you partner with may think of you when they want to make a career move.
Another reason to network is to find professional partners. Sure, referrals are great, but advice and knowledge from others in the medical field and in your market can be just as valuable.
HOW?
The first step is to identify which colleagues would be the best to work with. Ideally, you should have three to five names of other providers who could refer patients for every service you offer.
Once you’ve identified which providers you want to work with, you should visit their office. You can tell a lot about a practice by visiting their office. This is an opportunity for you to develop a contact in the office and schedule a meeting if no one is available to meet while you’re there.
But the goal should always be to meet one-on-one with the provider you want to network with. There is no way other than a conversation to discover their goals and how you can work together.
After you have a core group of providers whom you can network with, developing a meeting group could be even more beneficial. A group meeting takes the networking beyond a singular partnership and into an environment that can push progress. What if everyone is having the same problem? Wouldn’t it be great for several people to work on a solution together?