MDNews - Greater Boston

wIth growIng CompetItIon And ShrInKIng reImBUrSementS, SmAll prACtICe ownerS Are tUrnIng to phYSICIAn lIAISonS to BUIld BrIdgeS And drIVe the Bottom lIne. R eFerralS are the bread and butter of any success- ful community-based physician practice. Specialty practices especially rely on referrals from primary care providers (PCPs) to generate new patients and revenue. But as local markets are crowded out by hospitals and hospital-owned practices, independent physicians are increasingly choked by dwindling referrals and high overhead costs. While some practice owners might consider downsizing their staffs, many are doing the opposite. "We're seeing a huge uptick in the amount of employed physician liaisons," says Bricken McKenzie, MBA, FACHE, FACMPE, founder and principal of AdvisorsMD, an Alabamabased healthcare consulting firm. "They're an essential part of any organization and an important part of a practice's overall outreach strategy." McKenzie points to a change in the healthcare setting as the origin of the growing necessity of physician liaisons — a role that didn't exist before the 1980s. "In the past, when physicians rounded at hospitals, they would bump into specialists, and those specialists could educate them on the new procedures they're doing," McKenzie says. "This was also a mechanism for the PCP to communicate problems to the specialists. Since health care has moved primarily to an outpatient setting, you don't have those interactions anymore." repping the rock Stars This decline in physical proximity has made it more difficult for independent specialty practices to make inroads with local care providers. That's where physician liaisons come in. According to a recent Clinical Advisory Board Physician Survey, 66 percent of participating physicians said they were "very unlikely" to change their referral patterns without a physician liaison actively communicating and visiting with them. With a negligible fraction of physicians willing to redirect their referrals without prompting, the margin for referral growth among practices without a physician liaison program is small. "The No. 1 goal of any liaison is to drive referrals to the practice," says Amanda Kanaan, founder and President of WhiteCoat Designs, a medical marketing solutions company based in Raleigh, N.C. "They do this by driving relationships between the doctor they're working with and other doctors. A liaison is essentially the band manager, and the doctor is the rock star. The band manager's role is to use their talents to book the artist." the Perfect Fit Kanaan, a former physician liaison herself, says someone with a background in sales — particularly medical sales — is an ideal choice for a physician liaison. "People with sales experience are skilled relationship builders, and that's really what you need," Kanaan says, noting that former pharmaceutical sales reps "have experience getting past the gatekeeper and talking to the medical staff." With roughly 30,000 drug and medical device sales reps laid off between 2006 and 2012, the qualified applicant pool is brimming for physician liaison positions. But Kanaan also warns against choosing a physician liaison who is too aggressive. The most important quality to look for when hiring a physician liaison, according to McKenzie, is "diplomacy." "They need to have an understanding of clinical practices and strategic goals — be someone who can go out and identify issues with community providers and communicate that information back to their facility," McKenzie says. calculating the cost But what about expense? For practice owners who are on the fence about hiring a physician liaison — or who want to hire one, but can't justify the expense — the decision doesn't have to be either/or. Organizations such as WhiteCoat Designs and AdvisorsMD offer contracted liaison services that allow practices with tight budgets to outsource their physician outreach. These consulting liaisons can be contracted full time or for just a few days each month. As McKenzie notes, insourcing through existing employees can also be a cost-effective option for small practices. "When you're in surgery and you've got three people sitting in your office, how can you make them more productive?" McKenzie says. "Send your nurse out to make office calls a few days a week. You don't necessarily have to hire someone new." The most cost-effective physician outreach strategy is one that drives high referral volumes, which is why McKenzie recommends tracking your return on investment on a regular basis. Tracking referrals not only lets you see the short- and long-term ROI of your physician liaison program, but also helps your liaison hone in on the most profitable referral sources and not waste time pursuing unprofitable ones. ■ mdnewS.com ■ MD News Greater Boston | 11

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