Referrals come in. Some never become appointments.
Lost referrals are lost patients, and often nobody notices. Here is how to follow every referral through.
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The short answer
Referrals get lost when they arrive in personal inboxes and nobody owns them. Give referrals one front door, log every one on arrival, contact the patient within one working day and tell the referrer when the patient is booked. Most clinics that do this find they were losing more referrals than they thought.
What good looks like
Your numbers, before and after
Referrals this month
Illustrative sample, not a real person or result.
6 steps
Do it yourself: step by step
0 of 6 done
Set up a single referrals email address or e-referral route, checked at set times each day, and tell every referrer to use it
- Time
- 1 hour
- Typical cost
- £0
- Who does it
- practice manager
Done when: No referral goes to a personal inbox and referrers have been told the address
This problem is Solvable.
Copy this template
Referral tracker and chase script
Free to copy, adapt and use. No sign-up.
Referral tracker columns
| Date received | Referrer | Patient | Urgency | Funding (insurer / self-pay) | First contact date | Chase day 3 | Chase day 7 | Booked date | Referrer notified | Status |
|---|
Status options: New, Contacted, Booked, Seen, Declined, Unable to contact, Returned to referrer.
Phone script, first contact
"Hello, is that [patient name]? This is [your name] from [clinic name]. Dr [referrer name] has referred you to see [clinician name] about [reason, if appropriate]. I'm calling to find you an appointment. We have availability on [date] or [date]. Would either of those suit you?"
If insured: "Do you have your policy number and authorisation code from [insurer]? If not, I can explain how to get one."
Text if unanswered
"Hello [first name], [clinic name] here. Dr [referrer] has referred you to us. Please call [number] or book at [link] when convenient. Thank you."
Day 14 note to referrer
"Dear Dr [name], we received your referral for [patient] on [date]. We have tried to contact them on [dates] without success. We will keep the referral open for a further [x] weeks. Kind regards, [name], [clinic]."
Avoid these
Common mistakes
- Referrals sent to a named clinician's inbox and missed when they are on leave.
- Waiting for the patient to call rather than calling them.
- No status column, so nobody can see which referrals are stuck.
- Never telling the referrer the patient was seen, so they refer elsewhere next time.
- Chasing insured patients without explaining how to get an authorisation code.
Free personal check
Done by Paul Robinson, not software
Answer seven quick questions and I'll show you where referrals are getting lost
What I need from you
- Seven tap answers about how referrals arrive and are handled
- Your clinic name and town
What you get
- Where in your process referrals are most likely to drop
- The three changes that matter most
- What a simple referral log should hold
Within 2 working days
No sign-in, no sales call. I read every request myself and reply on WhatsApp.
Free tools
Check where you stand
Benchmarks
45 percent
Default referral-to-booking rate used in the Solvable calculator for a clinic with no referral log
Solvable estimate
1 working day
Recommended maximum time from referral receipt to first patient contact
Solvable estimate
Paul Robinson
14 years in UK private healthcare
I solve this one for clinic and hospital teams
Want a hand? I'll look at your situation and tell you the three things I'd tackle first.
A few quick questions, about two minutes. I read every one myself and usually reply the same day.
No sales call unless you ask for one. Just a straight answer from me.
I reply personally, usually the same day.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is a spreadsheet good enough for a referral log?
Yes to start, as long as it is shared, access-controlled and kept on a secure system. Move it into your PMS once the process works.
How fast should we contact referred patients?
Within one working day. Urgent referrals the same day.
What if the patient does not reply?
Chase at day 3 and day 7, then tell the referrer at day 14 so they can act.
Should we tell the referrer when the patient books?
Yes. A one-line note builds trust and makes them more likely to refer again.
How do we measure leakage?
Referrals received minus referrals booked, each month, by referrer.
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