Outreach as information
Physician and facility outreach for practices is the work of making sure the people who refer patients know three things: what your practice does, which patients it suits and exactly how to send one. Done well, it reaches the recipient as useful information delivered briefly. Done badly, it is a sales call that a busy nurse has to sit through.
Gateway presents the services of practices we support to referring physicians, skilled nursing facilities, hospital discharge teams and home health organizations across Greater St. Louis and the Metro East. The practice approves what is said, and its clinicians deliver the care.
Four audiences, four conversations
- Referring physician offices. The referral coordinator wants to know what you take, how to send records, whether the patient returns to them and what report they will receive.
- Skilled nursing facilities. The director of nursing cares about a dependable visit day, notes in the facility’s chart, communication with nurses and the attending physician, and how orders are handled.
- Hospital discharge teams. Case managers work against a discharge date. They need one number, a prompt answer on whether you can see the patient and a short list of what to send.
- Home health organizations. Clinical managers want a reachable clinician, orders signed and returned promptly, and a clear split of who does what in the home.
What goes in the outreach materials
- A one-page summary of services, adapted to the audience
- Referral instructions: phone, fax, which records to include and who answers
- The settings and communities the practice covers
- What happens after a referral: confirmation, scheduling and the report back
- Coverage wording the practice has verified, with no blanket statements
- A named contact at the practice for problems
Materials contain no patient information, nothing the practice has not approved and no comparison with other providers.
Visits, calls and in-services
Most outreach is a short, scheduled visit or call with the person who manages referrals. We ask for a few minutes, bring the one page, answer questions and leave. Facilities have sign-in and visitor policies, and we follow them.
Some facilities ask for staff education. Clinical teaching belongs to the practice’s clinician, who chooses the topic and presents it. Gateway can arrange the session and prepare handouts the clinician has approved, alongside any facility visit coordination already in place.
Keeping the promises made on a visit
A first conversation produces questions and small promises: a copy of the referral form, an answer about a service area, a call back from the clinician. We log each contact with the date, the person, what was asked and what was promised, and we make sure each promise is kept.
What we bring back to the practice
Outreach runs in both directions. Referrers tell a visitor things they would not put in writing: the fax was busy all afternoon, a report never arrived, the family could not get a call back. We bring those comments to the practice, because fixing them does more for a relationship than another visit.
We also report the activity: who was contacted, what was delivered and which questions keep coming up. We do not promise referral volume. Where problems trace to intake, scheduling and referral records and inquiry follow-up address them.
Keeping outreach within the rules
Laws on patient referrals restrict giving anything of value to influence them. Outreach under this service is informational and involves no payments to referral sources. The practice sets its own policy on meals and small items with its legal counsel.
An outreach visit is also not the place to discuss an individual patient. Those questions go to the practice through its normal clinical channels.
What stays with the practice
The practice decides which patients it accepts, what it tells referrers about its services and capacity, and how it responds when a referral arrives. Its clinicians hold the clinical relationships with referring physicians. Outreach can open a door. The practice’s conduct after each referral decides whether it stays open, as described under building referral relationships.
How an engagement starts
Send a practice support inquiry or call 314-325-0126. We will ask about your services, your service area, who refers to you now and where you have room for more patients.
We then draft the one-page summary and referral instructions for your approval and agree on a first list of offices and facilities. If patients also find you online, outreach should match what your website says, which is part of healthcare marketing and SEO.
Common questions
Who makes the outreach visits?
Gateway staff present the practice’s services using materials the practice has approved. We tell every contact that we coordinate on the practice’s behalf and that its clinicians deliver the care. When a referrer wants a clinical conversation, we arrange it with the practice’s clinician instead of answering for them.
Should a physician from the practice join the visits?
Sometimes. A clinician-to-clinician conversation carries weight that no summary sheet does, especially with a referring physician or a facility medical director. We suggest saving the clinician’s time for the few meetings where a clinical question or a new relationship calls for it.
What if a facility already works with another provider for the same service?
Then we respect that. We leave accurate information about what the practice offers and how to reach it, and we do not criticize the current provider. Facilities and patients decide whom to use. Needs change, and a practice that was courteous and clear is the one a facility remembers.
How often should a referral source hear from us?
There is no fixed number. Contact should follow real news, such as a new clinician, a new service area or a changed fax number. Some facilities want a regular check-in, and others prefer a call only when something changes. We ask each contact what suits them and keep to it. Dropping by with nothing to say wears out a welcome.