MD CE Walking you through it

MD Referral Program 

From the Desk of William J Owens Jr DC DAAMLP

MD Meetings – Continuing Education Lecture #14a

MD CME Presentation today Wednesday June 18, 2014

I thought it would be a great idea to share with you what happened today at my CME presentation.  I tried to get a recording so that you could hear it, but it DEFINITELY didn’t go as planned…that is the bad news.  The good news is that it went rather well and I have been invited back into the practice.  I am going to outline what happened during this presentation and why additional expertise can benefit you when you least expect it.  Remember, the MDs that you will build the quickest relationship with are the ones that you can HELP in one way or another.  Also remember healthcare professionals struggle in their own worlds and that is ALWAYS a common dominator when talking with them. Just like in any sales situation (YES – you are SELLING YOURSELF and your expertise, don’t ever forget that) you have to identify their pain and offer a solution.  That may be staff, documentation, need for referrals or possibly the need to generate additional space rental revenue in their practice.  Part of the reason you are building the relationship is to find out how you can help them and in turn they will help you.  In the last consultation about ASKING for the referral I discussed how and why you should do that, and this is another good time to reiterate that same point.  When you GIVE you can ASK TO GET and that is ok and often expected, where most people at work and in their personal lives go wrong is expecting to GET when they didn’t give first.  So here is how my day went…I am hoping this will teach you that nothing ever, ever goes as expected and that the success or failure of every presentation is judged by you being able to return to the office and the number for referrals you get over time. 

I had this meeting set up by the Representative of the MRI company that I refer to, I only refer to ONE MRI company.  When it comes to imaging and medical specialties, you have to concentrate your referrals so that you can make a difference. No ONE practice is large enough to influence an imaging or medical specialty practice so to be noticed you have to work with one.  When you focus your loyalty on one company it is much easier to have the MRI representative work for you, remember the strategic partnership idea.  The MRI company provides the actual lunch and markets for you, I (and therefore you) bring the expertise and CME, BAM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP!  I had prepared the following for the meeting as I always do ( I have not been there before so I created a binder for them, the MRI rep said there would be 2 providers, so I made only 2). 

Binder – (Contents included – CV, Research Reviews (I will be outlining them in the next part of this consultation, the printed out presentation one slide per page double sided, CE paperwork to get credit and a sterilized copy of one of my initial evaluations) – the evaluation is important so they can become comfortable with you and know that your reporting is the best of the best.   This was a small group so I wasn’t going to use a projector, simple flip chart style presentation.

I also brought a stack of cards rubber banded together.

When we entered the MDs office at 12pm, the MRI representative (we will call him Bob) knew everyone and we just walked through the clinic to the back.  This is typical when you have a guy like Bob to work with and that is what I expected.  Every staff member knew Bob and was very happy to see him, which is one of the benefits of having a guy like him set up the presentations/meetings.  So this is a good time to point this out and this is a VERY important learning issue for you.  There are two types of meetings with the MD, there is a “Presentation” and a “Meeting”.  When you arrive at the MD office it is critically important to figure out what type of scenario you are walking into.  For me today, it was a “meeting” and NOT a “presentation”.

The lunch was already delivered and Bob and I sat at the break room table together, we were alone.  Most primary care offices are either “old school” or “state of the art”, this was an “old school” practice.  Every square inch was taken up by equipment, files or people.  There was one long hallway with about 9 treatment rooms.  Since I am experienced in being in these type of offices, I immediately knew that this type of practice is FILLED with patient advocates and generally speaking the MD is in it for the people, the money comes second.  These types of MDs are great to work with since they will refer immediately.  The first person to sit down was the Receptionist.  They filed back one by one as they finished with morning patients.  This is a typical situation as most offices, if you haven’t experienced this already run behind.  When employees or mid-level providers (in this case it was the receptionist first, the medical assistant second then the physician assistant) arrive it is important to talk about your MOST important credential on you CV first.  That may be MRI Certification, Biomechanics etc.  That puts you “above” the mix and immediately changes their perception of you as a doctor of chiropractic. 

Learning Issue for Part I – When you are introducing yourself to the MD, mid-levels or staff be sure to showcase YOUR #1 credential.  You do this by saying right after they make a comment “That is my expericne too, because I am certified in MRI interpretation by University of Buffalo Medical School and University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic I read 100s of MRIs per month.”  Remember that EACH imaging counts so if you read 4-5 per week you are at 100!  Remeber that if you don’t blow your own horn no one else will…