A patient who comes in because a friend sent them trusts you a little before they've met anyone. Most practices get some referrals without trying. A referral program is the set of habits that gets you more of them on purpose, and most of it costs nothing. First, one caution that shapes the whole design.
Check the rules before you offer any reward
Many state dental boards restrict giving anything of value in exchange for a referral. Depending on the state, that can include cash, gift cards, discounts on future treatment, raffle entries and donations made in the referrer's name. When patients are covered by federal health programs such as Medicaid or CHIP, the federal anti-kickback rules also come into play. Some states also have their own anti-kickback laws that can apply no matter who pays.
So check with your state dental board or a healthcare attorney before you offer any reward for referrals, including a program a vendor or another practice tells you is fine. What's allowed in one state can cause trouble in the next. A sincere thank-you note is always allowed, and done well, it's most of what a referral program needs.
Make it easy and specific to refer
A happy patient may never think to refer anyone unless you ask and tell them what you're hoping for. A sign at the front desk saying "We love referrals" gives them nothing to act on.
Tell patients what you'd like more of, in plain words:
- "We're taking new patients, and we see whole families."
- "If anyone you know has asked about straightening their teeth, we do Invisalign here."
- "If a friend needs a dentist who's patient with nervous people, send them our way."
- "We'd be glad to see your parents too."
Give them something to pass on. A card with your phone number and web address works, and so does a short link to your new patient page that they can text to a friend.
Ask when a patient is already pleased, such as when they compliment the team or see a finished result. The person they're talking to at that moment is the right one to ask.
Then make sure the other end works. When a referred person calls, the front desk should ask who sent them and book the visit quickly. A referral that reaches voicemail and never gets a call back is a lost patient and a small embarrassment for the person who recommended you. Our front desk playbook covers those calls.
Thank every referrer
A handwritten note from the dentist, sent the same week, is the heart of a good referral program. It costs a stamp, and people remember it.
Before you send it, ask the new patient whether it's all right to thank the person who referred them. The note itself tells the referrer that their friend came in, so it's worth getting the new patient's OK first. Keep the note general. Thank them for the recommendation and leave out anything about the visit or treatment. If you're unsure how privacy rules apply, check with counsel.
Thank people every time they refer someone. Anyone who has sent you several families deserves to hear it from the doctor in person at their next visit. If you want to add a gift or a discount, check the rules first.
Start with the families you already see
The easiest referrals come from people already in your chairs. Ask at checkout whether everyone at home is up to date on cleanings. Offer back-to-back appointments so a parent can bring the kids in one trip. When a spouse comes along to an implant or full-arch consultation, they've already met your team, so make sure they leave knowing you'd be glad to see them as a patient too.
Add a question to your new patient form asking whether anyone else in the household needs a dentist, and have someone follow up on the answer. Keep each family member's care private from the others unless you have permission to discuss it.
Build professional referral relationships
Professional referrals come from people who see patients every day, so one good relationship can send you patients for years.
Specialists and general dentists
If you're a general dentist, the oral surgeons, periodontists, endodontists and orthodontists you refer to know your work, and some will send patients your way when they need a general dentist. If you're a specialist, general dentists are probably your main source. Either way, keep each other informed about shared patients, and give the other office a secure way to send records. If you're the specialist, send every patient back to the dentist who referred them.
Physicians
Primary care doctors, and sleep physicians if you provide oral appliances, see people who need a dentist. Introduce yourself with a short letter or a visit that explains what you treat and how soon you can see someone. After you see a patient they sent, let them know.
Local businesses
Gyms, salons, employers and other businesses near you meet a lot of local people. A lunch talk at a nearby employer, or a stack of cards at a business owner's front counter, can bring in patients over time. The same caution applies here: don't pay a business, or give it anything of value, for the patients it sends without checking first.
One more thing. Referral relationships should rest on what each patient needs. A formal "you send me yours, I'll send you mine" deal raises the same questions as a reward, so talk to counsel before agreeing to anything like that.
Track the source of every new patient
You can't thank people you don't know about, and you can't tell which relationships are working without records. Ask every new patient how they heard about you, on the form and again on the phone, and record the answer in your practice management software. Most systems have a referral source field. If the answer is "a friend," ask who, so you can thank them. If it's "Google," try to find out whether they meant your map listing, an ad or a search result.
Look at the list once a month. You'll see which patients refer often, and which offices have gone quiet. A specialist who used to send patients regularly and stopped is worth a phone call. The same tracking shows where all your other leads come from, which we cover in how dental practices get new patient leads.
Your first step
Find out what your state dental board allows before you design anything, and write it down for the team. Then check that every new patient's referral source gets recorded, and buy a box of good thank-you cards. Pick a handful of offices and physicians to introduce yourself to this quarter, and put the first visit on the calendar. When you're ready to look past referrals, our top 10 ways dental practices get more leads lays out the rest.
