Referral relationships are the key to any successful healthcare practice. Establishing a network of clinicians you can trust to deliver appropriate, high-quality care ensures every aspect of your patient’s health is accounted for. That’s the essence of collaborative medicine and the trend in healthcare at large. Clinics are starting to see that working together can help each of them expand. Bridging the gap between your area’s demand for healthcare and clinicians’ ability to supply it starts with the establishment of solid local networks. Here are a few tips for getting one started.

1. Identify Prospects

Take the initiative as quickly as possible—always be on the lookout for potential collaborative medicine partners. Make note of who supplies you with patients. Research clinicians who provide care complimentary to your own: physical therapists should consult with surgeons, and psychiatrists with counselors. Take note of highly-reviewed physicians in each non-competing field. Take note of and welcome all newcomers to the area. Make this list as broad as possible at first; you’ll be able to thin it out later.

2. Establish Yourself as a Leader

Once you have your list, find out the leaders in each field and try to bring them together into a collaborative medicine group. Invite them to discuss a topic of importance in your area’s healthcare market. Initiating and dictating the terms of this group positions your practice as an authority.

Cultivate an elite reputation. Establish an online presence, gathering as many high ratings and testimonials as you can. The better you’re seen, the more practices will try to refer to you; be careful when giving out your referral, though. Act the leader and attempt to raise the bar for collaborative healthcare. Remember that the clinics to which you refer reflect upon you, too.

3. Integrate Seamlessly

Digitizing records facilitates your network’s information sharing. This capability is referred to as interoperability, and it drives cooperative efficiency and network integration. Digitized records also facilitate electronic communication with patients, in which 60% of Americans would like to engage, according to the Brookings Institute. Working these communications into a HIPAA-compliant record distribution network could increase your network’s accessibility, care quality, and incentive to keep sharing referrals.

Growing your practice goes together with increasing quality of care. Strategize to create your referral network as soon as possible: with enough time, you could support each other to the top.

Connect with top clinicians in your area with Metro Collaborative. Their collaborative groups, dinners, and workshops create an open space for clinicians to create cross-referral relationships across a breadth of specialty areas. Call (609) 876-9163 or visit their website to begin expanding your presence today.