Nurture New Provider Relationships Beyond the 1st 90 Days

It is easy to remember to check in with new physicians early on when practice setup and outreach activities are in full force. However, it is essential to schedule routine meetings after your new providers are onboarded to determine how they are adjusting and if they need additional support. By continuing to nurture your new provider relationships across the first year and beyond, you will reduce their risk of leaving at the end of their initial contract.

There are several key touch-points that you should build into your calendar following a practice launch to guarantee connections with new providers, and their loved ones, at regular intervals. Use these onboarding best practices to help support your new provider retention.

Establish a Recurring Practice Development Meeting

First, establish monthly recurring practice development meetings throughout the first year that include both the provider and his or her office manager. During this time together, review key metrics, including new patient volumes and revenues, to confirm that the practice is trending according to projections.

Set up a reminder on your calendar to contact the provider at least 1 or 2 times between these monthly meetings via text, email, or phone. Both the format and content of these exchanges should be designed to engage and connect with the provider beyond simply asking how they are.

For example, I might:

• Drop by with an article of interest to pass along
• Send an email congratulating them on their 100th new patient
• Text to remind them of an upcoming meeting or community event
• Make a call to pass along positive feedback from a referral partner or patient

If appropriate, use a similar approach to connecting with their spouse. Finding meaningful ways to engage both groups can help reinforce a supportive environment and strengthen provider relationships over time.

Tie Outreach to Personal & Professional Milestones

It helps if you tie some of these contacts to key recognition opportunities, including Doctors’ Day, the provider’s birthday, and the anniversary of their practice launch. You can also make it a point to acknowledge other important professional or life moments, including completing boards, securing board certification, getting approved by a new payor, performing the Xth case, hitting X unique patients, opening a new satellite location, etc.

The 100-day, 200-day, and 300-day marks serve as important guideposts for formally assessing and addressing any potential provider retention risks.

100-Day Mark

Run Impact Report & Get Feedback

At the 100-day mark, revisit the physician’s referral development plan, providing an impact report that quantifies the results of our initial outreach and marketing efforts. This includes the percentage of visits that yielded a first referral, and how many of those first referrals have converted into repeat referral sources.

Then you will review a list of top supporters and any feedback collected. Compare notes on any top targets that have not yet been referred to, including available data that clarifies potential network connections. As a result, you’ll walk away with a game plan for advancing those provider relationships in the quarters ahead.

I also make time to ask the provider for feedback:

• What is going well within the practice? Within the hospital?
• What opportunities exist to improve patient access or care?
• How does the actual practice opportunity match against the opportunity outlined during the recruitment process?
• How well has the family adapted to their new community?
• Is there anything the family needs to make the adjustment period easier?

200-Day Mark

Evaluate Performance & Remove Barriers

At the 200-day mark, spend time evaluating practice performance, including a deep dive to understand what, if any, ramp-up barriers exist (referral development, marketing, billing, payor mix, case mix, patient access, etc.) and how best to resolve them. You should often engage other experts within the system to complete the appropriate reviews and audits (i.e. billing and coding). This way you can identify and remove any barriers to success.

Around this time, you should also invite the provider’s spouse or significant other to coffee or lunch. This allows me to spend some time with them to understand what they enjoy about the family’s new home, any challenges faced, what they miss about their last location, and anything you can do to further secure a solid fit.

300-Day Mark

Review Action Plan, Expectations & Engagement

At the 300-day mark, you’ll meet with the physician to review progress made over the first ten months, including any outstanding action plan items from the 100-day or 200-day assessments. You can also use this meeting as an opportunity to understand how the provider’s current practice meets their expectations (volumes, case mix, payer mix, locations) and what additional opportunities exist to continue engaging the provider throughout year 2.

Approximately half of the physicians recruited will leave within 3 to 5 years of relocation if not properly grounded. For this reason, an onboarding plan typically includes structured meetings throughout the physician’s first five years of practice. In the subsequent years, adjust the frequency so you can meaningfully connect with the new provider, at the appropriate intervals, as their practice progresses.

Below is a sample schedule that you could build into an Onboarding platform for nurturing new provider relationships:

Other Ways to Build New Provider Relationships

Are there other touch-points that you and your team include in your onboarding plan during the first year? Does your plan extend beyond year one? What specific activities and assessments do you include in your plan?