The Dreaded Transfer Request (Part 2)

By: Dr. Eric Recker

Your front desk sends a message to you in your treatment room. They need to have a word. You try to finish up your procedure, but you know this likely isn’t going to be good news. 

You walk to the front desk and prepare (brace) yourself. They hand you a transfer of records to an office down the street. You just lost a family. It is a blindside hit. You never would have guessed it. The wind is out of your sails.

What the heck? 

Transfers Happen

First and foremost, take a deep breath. This happens. It happens to everyone. You are not immune. No matter how prepared you are, no matter how amazing your office is, there will always be some who move on. This is human nature. Realizing that fact is paramount. Everyone is on their own journey. For a season it involved you. In the next season, it doesn’t. 

If you haven’t read part one, go back and check it out 👉 right here.

Reflect to Try to Prevent Transfers in the Future

Here’s a few things to consider as you try to prevent yourself from losing your sh!t. You may be able to use this opportunity to learn something about your practice.

1. Have you looked at your systems lately? How is your practice standing apart from other practices in the area? What is the initial interaction on the phone? How are they greeted? Do they get the opportunity to be involved in something bigger than themselves? 
2. How is your culture? People can smell bad culture a mile away no matter how much we try to mask it. As the leader, have you created a culture that your team and your patients want to be a part of? 
3. Is your office more than just a commodity? If you are just a place that provides a twice a year cleaning, then you are a commodity that people can get anywhere else. Why would they be loyal to you? Again, what sets you apart?
4. The person or family that left- how were they with the front desk? Were they kind to your team? Were they truly the kind of patients you want in your practice? You may have just received a blessed subtraction. Remember- patients often treat your team one way and you, the doc, another. What exactly are we losing here?

Finally, consider this- sometimes you aren’t going to learn anything. It just sucks. You may reach out to understand why and you never hear back. People are on their own journey. Whatever you do, don’t let this bring you down. Try to learn what you can and then move on. If you need any help moving on, look at your schedule over the last 3 weeks and see which patients you got to see and how many of those have switched to your practice at one point. 

You can focus on the loss of one, or be thankful for all you have and make sure you are doing all you can to retain them. This is your choice. Always. 

At the end of the day, it sucks, but it will be ok. The sun will come up tomorrow and we move forward. If you aren’t sure about your systems or where your gaps might be, message me and let’s have a conversation!

Photo by Cedric Fauntleroy