Why You Must Communicate with Referring Dentists

In real estate, it’s location, location, location. In making your practice attractive to referring dentists, it’s communication, communication, communication. The biggest mistake doctors can make is not reporting back to the referring dentist on a patient’s status. Even worse: not reporting back to them before the patient calls the referring dentist for an update. Fortunately, there are many ways to effectively communicate to the referring dentist and avoid embarrassment.

The referral letter is the main source of communication between the two dentists. However, it takes a week to ten days on average from the time you see a patient to the time the referring dentist receives your referral letter. And what happens if the patient goes back to the referring dentist within that week’s time? The referring dentist is left uninformed and running around trying to locate you to get a report on how you treated the patient. The easiest way to combat this problem is to use a boilerplate letter. After you write down your notes concerning the patient, circle or highlight the “buzz words” that you would like included in the letter. One of your staff members simply brings up the letter on a computer and plugs in the pertinent information. The letter, produced that day, can be faxed or emailed directly to the dentist and later mailed.

Because the referring dentist receives the letter immediately, he or she will be able to answer any questions the patient might have after visiting you. Most dentists will appreciate the timeliness of your communication. Remember, the goal is not to write a five-page explicit report on the patient. A simple page describing diagnosis and treatments is all the referring dentist is usually looking for.

Economically speaking, this type of referral letter costs far less than the standard kind. Think about it. Between postage, a transcriber, stationery and your own time, a referral letter can cost up to $25.00. For about $1.00, you can use this boilerplate letter and have it get to the referring dentist in a timely fashion.

You should also report promptly to the referring dentist if they find something of immediate concern. Let the referring dentist know your findings and the course of action you wish to take.

Not all referring dentists are the same, so keep that in mind when preparing your letters. If there is a small handful who still prefer the longer, more traditional style of referral letters, do not continue to send them the boilerplate kind. Respect their wishes. They will appreciate it and, in the long run, continue to refer patients to you.