5 ways to get high-quality patient referrals

Without an optimized web presence that makes it easy to find information and reviews for your practice, you may be missing out on a primary source of new patients: referrals. 

A personal recommendation goes a long way, but for many it’s not sufficient. When other providers and existing patients make referrals to your private practice, the individual is still likely to conduct their own research online. According to Tebra’s 4th annual Patient Perspectives Survey, 77% of people say they use the internet on a regular basis to search for new providers. 

If you haven’t optimized your web presence, potential patients will likely see results for other providers with a similar specialty. In other words, rather than acquiring a new patient, you'll lose them to a competitor. 

Patient referrals are a key part of patient acquisition, and optimizing your practice’s web presence can help you get more of them. In this guide, we’ll explore optimizing your web presence across your practice’s website, review and directory sites, social media, and patient reviews for best results.

These strategies for optimizing your presence across the internet can boost your reputation, increase your number of patients, and grow your practice.

An optimized web presence is crucial for capturing referrals, but the first step is generating them. Personal recommendations carry immense weight; in Tebra’s 2024 Patient Perspectives survey, 48% of patients cited “word of mouth” when choosing a healthcare provider, making it the second most influential factor.

The easiest way to boost these referrals is also the simplest: just ask. You can post a sign in your waiting room or include a request in an email newsletter. The key is to make it easy for patients to share your information. Of course, this is only effective when paired with high patient satisfaction. According to Tebra, 61% of patients stay with a practice because of the excellent experiences they provide — the true foundation of any referral.

Patients infer a lot about your practice from your website. They’re looking for signs of professionalism and tech-savviness, which inspire confidence they’ll have a positive patient experience at your practice.

If you haven’t updated your site in the last few years, it’s probably time to do so. Your practice’s website needn’t be overly sophisticated but it does need to be modern, user-friendly, and mobile-optimized. 

Make sure your practice’s website includes:

When potential new patients receive a referral to your practice, they aren’t relying solely on your website to gather information. They’re likely to check review sites, like Google, Yelp, Nextdoor, Facebook, or Healthgrades, to conduct research, too.

Since patients are able to submit online reviews for your practice across all of these sites and others, be sure you’ve claimed your business profiles on all of them. Doing so will add more credibility to your practice and give you the opportunity to double check that listings are accurate and consistent across the web.

This also helps you control what a potential patient sees when they search for you by name. It's a common tactic for competing practices to run paid ads on their competitors' names, so claiming and optimizing your profile is the first step in ensuring patients find you first. Some providers even choose to run their own low-cost ads on their practice name to further secure that top spot.

Despite its potential to engage patients, most practices don’t tap into the potential of social media. Tebra's research found that only 18% of respondents follow their doctor’s office on social media, but 45% would if their doctor posted regularly.

Staying active on social media sites is a smart way to engage current patients and connect with future ones. Since referred patients are likely to check your social media sites, practices can leverage their profiles to share information about services while showcasing their brand. 

Rounding out your web presence by regularly posting on social media will make it easy for referred patients to get a sense of what your practice is like and feel connected to it. As more users follow and connect with what you post to social media, the more this content will circulate across social networks — which translates to additional low-cost marketing. 

Patient reviews are hugely influential — 3 in 4 patients say that online reviews are extremely or very important when choosing a new provider, according to Tebra's research. Referred patients won’t just be checking the number of reviews, but their recency and average-star rating, too. In fact, 43% say how recently a review was posted is the most important factor of online reviews. 

Practices can get more patient reviews by automatically requesting patient feedback after each visit. Use a practice management platform that sends a request for review a few hours after an appointment and follows up with those who don’t respond. This gives patients more than one chance to provide feedback and lets your practice collect reviews at scale.

Attrition is natural for even the best providers. Tebra’s research found that 29% of patients have left a healthcare provider in the past 2 years. For long-term practice success, regularly acquiring new patients is essential — not just to grow your business but also to maintain current patient volumes. 

Fortunately for providers, patient referrals are an inexpensive way to get new people in the door — and even better, the same strategies used to get high-quality patient referrals benefit your business in many other ways, making them cost-efficient marketing efforts.

Patient referrals come from being a valued healthcare provider and health advocate. Don’t undermine the goodwill of fellow medical providers or current patients by turning down patients or engaging in gimmicky tactics. 

While healthcare burnout is real, practices should avoid a “no new patients” stance. Since demand fluctuates, it’s important to bring on new patients when possible. And when it comes to referred patients, turning down new business can create friction with existing patients or fellow healthcare providers. 

Practices should also refrain from ploys to drum up new reviews like spamming patients with repeated requests for referrals, or running sweepstakes for individuals who refer the most new patients. Doing so may have the opposite effect and make patients feel like you’re trying to get something out of them. 

As healthcare continues to change, so do the tactics to support a thriving private practice. Take advantage of high-quality patient referrals by ensuring you have a high-caliber online presence to match the patient experience you provide in person. 

In addition to patient referrals, don't forget the value of your professional network. Building relationships with other providers by sharing your practice's specialties and clinical approach can create a strong, secondary stream of referrals. Just like with patients, being a good partner and communicating clearly is key to success.