How can I decide how many referral partners to work with?

When it comes to determining the ideal number of referral sources to work with, there’s good news and there’s bad news.

Let’s start with the bad news first - there is no ‘magic number’ of referral sources that an agency should aim to work with.

And now, the good news - there is no ‘magic number’ of referral sources that an agency should aim to work with.

No, this isn’t a typo. Nor is this meant to confuse you. Simply stated, there is not a one size fits all approach that will work for every single agency.

For new agency operators, it’s a good idea to call on as many potential referral sources as possible. Tell them about yourself and what sets your agency apart from others in your market. Most importantly, you should ask questions about them and try to identify how you can be helpful to their clients or patients.

For established providers, I know of agencies who receive over 90% of their client referrals from one single referral source. This could be a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), or Managed Care Organization (MCO).

If one referral source can generate enough client referrals for your organization, well that’s wonderful, however that’s not going to be the case for most agencies.

Most agencies, such as ours, have strong relationships with dozens of referral sources, from those listed above, to discharge planners, estate attorneys, and social workers. The key words to pay attention to in this paragraph are strong relationships.

It is crucial to understand that much more important than the quantity of relationships with referral sources is the quality of those relationships. There is a big difference between being on a CCRC’s list and having a great relationship with the social workers and nurses who work there.

Here are two questions that you should be asking yourself on an ongoing basis:

1 - Do I want to grow my client census?

2 - Does my agency have the bandwidth to do so?

If the answer to either question is no, then continue to work with the referral sources you have, and consider building out your team before introducing yourself to new ones.

If the answer to both questions is yes, then stop reading this and go introduce yourself to Sally the social worker.

Ask Sally about a frustration that she is experiencing, and share how you can help relieve that pain point. Once you receive that first referral, do everything you can to provide the best possible experience for her client. Because you only get one first chance, and if her client isn’t happy, you will not get a second chance.

Note from Careswitch: we asked a similar question to Tim Murray at Aware Senior Care and he gave a slightly different perspective; both are valuable. Check out Tim's thoughts here.

Home Care FAQs