What Keeps Patients Coming Back?
Why access, communication, and referral follow-through belong in your healthcare growth strategy
Healthcare growth conversations often begin with visibility: a stronger website, a new campaign, more physician outreach, or a larger presence in the community.
Those investments matter. So does what happens when someone responds.
Can a patient reach the practice? Does the person answering the phone know how to help? When a referral is sent, does someone make sure the patient understands what happens next?
These everyday interactions deserve a place in the growth conversation.
A national development with a local lesson
On October 13, Humana announced a new joint venture with funds and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners, part of BlackRock, involving nearly 150 CenterWell senior primary care clinics. CenterWell will continue managing and operating the clinics.
The announcement reflects substantial investment in primary care. For local healthcare organizations, it also offers a reason to examine their own patient and physician relationships.
My takeaway is practical: As organizations invest in expanding care delivery, local leaders should pay close attention to how easy they make it for people to access, navigate, and stay connected to their services.
Patients experience those relationships through individual moments—a returned call, a clear explanation, a scheduled appointment, or help resolving a confusing next step.
The relationship continues between visits
A patient may leave an appointment feeling confident about the care they received, then struggle to reach someone with a follow-up question.
Another may receive a specialist referral without knowing whether to call, wait for a call, or contact the referring office again.
From inside an organization, these can look like separate operational tasks. From the patient’s perspective, they are part of one experience.
Throughout my healthcare career, I’ve learned to pay attention to the spaces between those tasks. That is often where uncertainty develops—and where thoughtful communication can make a meaningful difference.
Clear instructions, realistic expectations, and an identified contact give patients a better understanding of how to move forward.
“The referral was sent” is a starting point
In physician relations, much of the visible work involves building connections: meeting physicians, introducing services, sharing capabilities, and maintaining contact.
The experience after a referral helps sustain those relationships.
Consider what a referring office needs to know:
Was the referral received?
Is additional information needed?
Was the patient contacted?
Were scheduling barriers identified?
How will the office learn what happened next?
Each organization’s process will differ. The important leadership question is whether responsibility is clear and communication supports continuity.
A useful exercise is to trace a recent referral through an authorized internal review that protects patient information. Follow the steps from receipt through scheduling and communication back to the referring office.
Ask where the process worked well, where it stalled, and who took responsibility when something needed attention.
That review can reveal practical opportunities to strengthen both patient navigation and physician relationships.
Three questions before planning for 2027
As you prepare your next growth plan, start with three questions:
1. Can patients reach us and get useful help?
Look beyond whether a phone number is published. Review what happens when someone calls, leaves a message, or submits an online request. Are response expectations clear? Does someone own the follow-up?
2. Do referrals move forward with clear next steps?
Examine handoffs, missing information, scheduling barriers, and unresolved requests. Consider whether patients and referring offices understand what to expect.
3. Do referring offices know whom to contact?
A relationship benefits from a reliable point of contact. Make sure offices know how to raise a question and receive assistance when the usual process does not work.
Include front-desk staff, access teams, referral coordinators, and physician liaisons in these conversations. They can help explain where the intended experience differs from the daily reality.
Turn what you learn into action
Choose one gap to address first.
Define the improvement, assign responsibility, and decide how you will evaluate progress. Depending on the issue, that might mean reviewing unresolved referrals, response times, or recurring questions from referring offices.
Then return to the people doing the work. Is the change helping? What still needs attention?
A growth strategy becomes more useful when the organization can deliver on the expectations its outreach creates.
Patients and referring physicians have many reasons for choosing a healthcare organization. Making the next step clear—and following through consistently—gives them another reason to remain confident in that choice.
LMR Healthcare Advisors helps healthcare organizations strengthen physician relationships, align marketing and communications, and develop practical strategies for growth. Visit lmrha.com to learn more.
This article reflects my professional perspective and lessons learned throughout my healthcare career. It is intended for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal, clinical, or regulatory advice.
