Healthcare organizations play a vital role in many individuals’ recovery journeys. It’s often where people turn after a relapse or where they’re taken after an overdose. Many people who have never entered a rehab facility may go to a hospital or crisis center for help first.
Building relationships with these healthcare organizations can significantly influence the success and quality of your rehab. We cover why and how you can start developing those essential relationships.
The Benefits of Working with Crisis Centers and Hospitals
Working with hospitals and crisis centers as a drug or alcohol rehab has extensive benefits, including:
- Increasing the number of patients entering your rehab and getting treatment for their substance use disorder: Not only can this help fill your rehab rooms, but it could provide treatment to people who may never have considered rehab in the first place.
- Finding patients who need your specific treatments and benefit more from the treatment you offer: Crisis centers and hospitals can link you to potential patients in need of the particular services you offer. This not only benefits the rehab but could help your new client undergo an even more successful treatment after having access to the care they need.
- Saving the lives of people who may have slipped through the cracks: People who visit a hospital or crisis center due to addiction or substance abuse are usually in desperate need of long-term treatment and encouragement. If these individuals were simply treated and turned away, they might have slipped through the cracks and never received treatment for their conditions.
- Providing treatment to overlooked individuals: A lack of treatment may be the reason individuals in these facilities end up in a hospital or a crisis center in the first place. By offering high-quality treatment to them, you improve their chances of long-term recovery.
Tips for Building Professional Relationships with Hospitals
Below are some of the best tips to build a lasting professional relationship with hospitals and crisis centers.
Develop a Great Rehab Facility and Program List
Patient care should always be at the forefront of your approach. A hospital or crisis center that’s sure their patients will be receiving quality specialized treatment may be more likely to refer patients to your facility for help.
Register Your Rehab with the Hospital or Crisis Center
One way to encourage physician engagement is to register your rehab with the hospital as a possible service provider for people suffering from addiction. If no one knows your facility exists, they’re unlikely to refer or advise someone to attend your programs.
Build a Rapport with Hospital Administrators
Building trusting relationships with hospital administrators can help you put your rehab and its treatments out there to be noticed. Again, if no one knows your rehab exists, no one can recommend it to their patients.
Build Trust in Your Rehab
Another critical factor in a working relationship is building trust in the rehab itself. Ensure the treatment offered is always of the highest standard and that people are comfortable undergoing these programs in your facility. Building a reputation as a high-quality rehab with excellent service can help boost your chances of getting patient referrals from hospitals or crisis centers.
Set Reasonable Expectations of Relationship Building and the Results
Having high expectations may cause discouragement when they’re not met or things move slower than expected. Don’t start building relationships with these healthcare organizations with the sole intention of finding clients. Offer value to the facility, make sure you deliver on your treatment promises, and create a relationship where both sides focus on the health and stability of the patient before anything else.
Don’t Give Up
Even if it takes much longer than expected for an effective relationship to develop between your rehab and hospitals or crisis centers, don’t give up. As with personal relationships, professional ones take time and effort.
Keep pushing to be noticed and keep elevating your treatments until your facility is wanted by the hospitals in your area.
Ensure You Have an Effective Marketing Plan
A great marketing and advertising plan is essential to a rehab, especially if it’s new or recently upgraded. Making sure everyone knows about you can help convince people to attend your programs or register their loved ones for treatment.
Get Even Better Results with RecoverWell
If the relationship-building process seems daunting or you are only just beginning your foray into networking for your rehab, you may benefit from using a service like RecoverWell to find serious patient leads.
RecoverWell is a matchmaking software that links potential patients to rehabs according to:
- The substances they abuse
- Their insurance/budget
- Their personal preferences
- Any comorbidities
- The type of treatment they require
The decision-making process for placing a patient in a rehab can be discouraging and challenging. By conducting a comprehensive survey of each patient’s needs, RecoverWell can recommend your rehab to them based on their profile and preferences.
This means you are passively receiving leads for treatment at your specific center for your unique programs. With RecoverWell, you’ll gain more patients, help more people, turn less unqualified patients away, and overall make a huge difference in your community. Request a demo today.
