Retaining Patients when an MD leaves the practice

When a provider leaves a practice, there are a significant number of steps that the practice should take in an attempt to retain patients. The value of each patient is hard to measure, but in some practices when the patient can potentially be followed for 20 years or more, the value is immeasurable. Losing patients has a devastating financial impact on your practice.

When the departing physician opens his own practice within close proximity to your location, the likelihood that patients will follow him is pretty high. What, then, are the steps that you can take to insure that your patients stay with your practice?
1. Run a report from your practice management system identifying those patients affected by the departure.
2. After the news about the departure is public, compose a letter to those patients. Ask each patient to consider staying with the practice. Highlight benefits to doing so (keep it short). Include an updated practice brochure.
3. Pay special attention to internal marketing (superior patient service), friendly staff, timely return of phone calls, ease of Rx refills, no-hassle completion of paperwork, etc.
4. When patients request their records for transfer, phone them and ask if they would reconsider staying with your practice. Offer a “complimentary” visit. If the patient agrees, make sure that visit is to establish a relationship with the patient; a one hour-consultation would exceed anyone’s expectations.
5. Insure that you have sufficient coverage for existing patients and those who stay with the practice even if it means hiring a locum tenens.
6. Increase/Improve services:
a. Expand office hours to early morning (before work) and evenings (after work) as well as during the lunch hour
b. Expand office hours to weekends (Saturday AND Sunday)
c. Accept walk-in’s and urgent appointments – leave sufficient time in schedule
d. Make house calls
e. Return patient phone calls within one hour
f. DO NOT keep patients waiting
g. Insure that your web site is interactive; patients should be able to make appointments, register, etc. on line
h. Allow patients to e-mail providers (or have a designated e-mail box for clinical triage)
i. Offer patients a copy of your dictated or recorded medical note at the end of each visit
j. Offer patients a MEDI-KEY that is updated after every visit
k. Consider financial arrangements for co-pays (even the smaller amounts)
l. Place ads in local newspapers outlining your expanded services. Ads should be run frequently over several months
m. Consider other forms of marketing such as radio, TV, billboard, web, etc.
Understand that you will lose some of the departing physician’s patients, but if you do nothing, you may lose all of the patients.