As healthcare leaders begin planning for 2027, the conversation will likely include budgets, patient volume, staffing, and marketing priorities. Planning for healthcare practice growth also means examining the relationships that support it.
It is also worth asking a more basic question: How well are we supporting the relationships that help our organization grow?
The answer may look different depending on whom you ask. Leaders may see opportunities to expand services. Patients may be struggling to reach the office. Referring practices may be waiting for updates. Staff may be working around a process that no longer serves them well.
Before setting next year’s growth priorities, take a closer look at three relationships: your patients, your referring offices, and your team.
1. Patients: Make the next step clear
A patient’s experience includes much more than the time spent with a clinician. It also includes finding information, making an appointment, preparing for a visit, and understanding what happens afterward.
Walk through those steps from the patient’s perspective.
Is it easy to find the correct phone number? Are appointment instructions understandable? When patients leave a message, do they know when to expect a response? If they need follow-up care, is the next step clear?
Your team may know the process so well that they overlook confusing instructions or unnecessary steps.
A practical starting point: Choose one common patient task, such as scheduling a first appointment. Walk through it with someone who does not handle it every day. Identify where a patient might need more help or clearer information.
2. Referring offices: Ask how the process works for them
Physician relationships require ongoing attention. A referring office needs to know how to connect a patient with your practice, whom to contact when a question arises, and what information to expect in return.
An established relationship can make it easy to assume everything is working smoothly. A conversation can help you check that assumption.
Ask a referring office:
Is it clear how to send us a referral?
Do you know whom to contact when something needs attention?
Are you receiving the updates you need?
Give the people handling referrals each day an opportunity to share their experience. Their answers may reveal a missing contact, unclear instructions, or a handoff that needs attention.
A practical starting point: Reach out to one referring office. Listen, choose one issue your team can address, and follow up to explain what changed.
3. Your team: Clarify who owns the next step
Patient communication and referral follow-through depend on the people doing the work. Before adding new growth initiatives, ask whether your team has clear responsibilities and workable processes.
Who responds when a referring office calls about a patient? Who follows up on an incomplete referral? What happens when the person who usually handles a task is out?
When ownership is unclear, staff may spend time tracking down answers or duplicating work. Patients and referring offices can feel that uncertainty, too.
A practical starting point: Review one process that crosses roles or departments. Ask the people involved to describe each handoff. Clarify who owns the next step and how others will know it is complete.
Turn what you learn into a priority
You do not have to address every gap at once.
Bring your findings together and choose a manageable improvement. Assign an owner, decide what progress should look like, and set a time to check back.
That might mean clearer appointment instructions, a reliable contact for referring offices, or a better handoff between scheduling and clinical staff.
As you plan for 2027, make room for this work alongside your financial and marketing goals. Understanding how people experience your organization can help you make more informed decisions about where to invest time and resources.
LMR Healthcare Advisors helps healthcare organizations review their marketing, communications, and physician relationships to identify practical growth priorities.
Relationships. Strategy. Results.
