The BIGGEST mistake most people make when working a hospital for referrals is that they neglect developing relationships with key influencers.
There are some 25 other customers besides the obvious ones who can help develop your hospital referrals! Everyone works “the middle”, those Case Managers, Discharge Planners and Social Workers. Yes, these professionals are important and every hospice, home care and other health care salesperson call upon them!! Expand your circle on influence
The secret to building lasting relationships and a stream of referrals is to understand what the value proposition is for the hospital professionals listed below. A hospital is a mini city and knowing how these people can influence your hospice or home care business is key!!

First, here is the list…….

• CEO
• CFO
• Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)
• Chief Medical Officer/Medical Director
• Board of Director
• Hospitalists
• Case managers
• Director of Case Management
• Utilization review
• Discharge planners
• Social workers
• Clinical unit managers/supervisors
• ICU supervisor
• ICU Medical Director
• Other Specialty Medical Directors
• Chaplains/spiritual care
• Emergency Room Director
• Marketing/public relations
• Community Outreach department
• Dietician
• Business office
• Medical ethicist
• Ambulatory services
• Palliative care services
• Physician resident services
• Quality assurance/process improvement
• Medical staff secretary
• Volunteers
• Pharmacy Director
• Managed Care Director
• Director of Support Services
• Education Coordinator

Where to start!!! Complete a Relationship Mapping Grid is a tool to identify and measure key account relationships within the hospital. I have the actual tool if you like. Just drop me a line.
The hospital is a “mini” city and the ability to successful vertical integrate will be dependant upon your ability to develop the relationship equity you have in each of these key areas. This process starts by first understanding the current relationship equity you have or don’t hold!

This strategy is not for the faint of heart as it takes a commitment to the process and time to accomplish. The approach of “go slow to go fast” applies here.
Taking this list above and identifying the individuals in the hospital who holds these positions is where to start.

Second, once you have these people identified, meet with your team to find out if any of your team members know any of the people on the list. Where may an existing relationship exist? Using a scale of 0 which means no relationship to 10 which means a strong relationship exist is a suggested approach.

Third, use the collective wisdom of your team to see who may have a relationship with one of the people on the list. The goal here is to determine the best way to start a process to approach these people and coordinate with your sales staff. Remember, marketing is a “Contact Sport!!”

These three steps will help you achieve a better balanced approach to working your hospital. While some of these people may never make a direct referral, they are in a position to influence the use of your services.
Good luck and let me know how it goes.